I've tried every wild 'cure' for insomnia from standing on my head to cinnamon baths. Nothing works. Not even medications prescribed by my doctor. If anything the sleep meds make me even more hyperactive.
I didn't always have this sleep problem. It became an onset issue when I was in my mid-twenties and has continued to be a problem. I'm lucky if I get two to four hours of sleep a night.
Sometimes I look over at my husband who seems to knock out the minute his head hits the pillow and feel absolute jealousy. We turn the lights off and within five minutes I hear his gentle snores. How nice it must be to get real sleep.
A few weeks ago, the tossing and turning was particularly bad so I decided to get up as I do many nights and figure out something to occupy my mind.
I did some light reading. I cleaned out the refrigerator. But nothing was working. I decided I'd take a walk down the block. Maybe the darkness and cool night air would help lull me back to bed.
While I was walking down the street, the strangest thing happened to me. First, I noticed the street lamp was flickering which was a little spooky. The sky seemed to have this weird green hue. I still can't explain what it was. Then all of a sudden I saw this flash of light similar to a bolt of lightening which lit up the sky and everything around me lit up almost as if it was day light.
I decided to go back home after that because it was honestly one of the oddest moments of my life. I had gotten a chill too. I was really cold but it seemed to be coming from my feet. They were frozen! I couldn't get home fast enough.
My husband was working on his fifth hour of sleep when I crawled back into our warm bed. My feet were cold. Really cold. I couldn't seem to get them warm. The next thing I know I was waking up but it was way later than usual. My alarm had been going off for probably an hour before I woke up.
I work from home most days so I have some flexibility with scheduling. I don't really have to be up at any particular time. I chocked it up to my body needed the extra rest. I actually felt okay not too groggy.
But my feet were still freezing. I felt like I was walking around on ice cubes. It was almost painful how cold they were. I put on two pairs of my warmest wool socks in hopes they'd warm up.
Throughout the day I was uncomfortable because my feet were absolutely freezing. I layered on socks but nothing seemed to help. At one point I even ran a steaming hot bath thinking maybe the hot water would warm me up. Nothing helped.
That night I slept like a baby. I can't remember the last time I closed my eyes and drifted into slumber like that. But the next morning when I woke up, the coldness had returned to my feet and was now creeping up my legs. Halfway up my legs I felt numb and cold. I layered on more socks. I wore a pair of fleece pants. I was almost numb. All day long I was miserably cold.
I tried explaining it to my husband who made a joke about how women are always cold and maybe I needed to start wearing a sweater around the house.
My husband came upstairs carrying a space heater from the basement. "You can plug this in under your desk if you're still cold tomorrow."
"Maybe I should see a doctor," I told him. "Maybe its poor circulation."
He shrugged, "I'd wait a day or two."
Well I did wait and it kept getting worse. By the fourth day, the cold had moved up to my waist. I was absolutely miserable. Nothing worked. I had layered on clothing. Everything I could find that was "warm" and nothing worked. I ran hot baths. I sat in front of the heater wrapped in a blanket. I pulled out the electric blanket.
When my husband came home from work, he saw me sitting under the electric blanket on the couch with the heater running on me. I was wearing a sweater, a flannel, and a scarf.
"You don't look so good," He told me.
"I am so cold," I told him.
"Your lips are blue, honey. I think we need to get you to the emergency room."
At this point, I could barely walk. My feet and legs hurt so badly. It was painful to put any weight on them. And they were so icy. It felt like stinging pain every time I moved.
The wait at the emergency room was long. I was not much of a priority considering the patients who were coming into triage with bloody cuts, broken bones and heart attacks.
Eventually, I saw a doctor. His first concern was that the nurse could not seem to find a pulse. No matter how much she looked for one. She called him into assist. Then he tested my reflexes. There were other parts of examination that took place.
He seemed to be baffled and finally said to me, "Well by all accounts you must be dead!" He chuckled.
"Excuse me?" I asked.
"Well its just that everything I'm doing to you results in nothing. You've got no pulse, no blood pressure, no reflexes. Its the darndest thing. I really am not sure whats going on...I'm going to get a colleague in here to assist me."
My husband was sitting in a chair in the corner of the examination room. He was very concerned. When the doctor left he said, "What in the hell is going on?"
"I don't know," I replied, "but I'm getting freaked out."
He nodded, "I'm sure it's going to be just fine. We'll get a second opinion."
The second opinion and third opinion yielded the same results. The third doctor, a neurologist, said, "Well by all accounts you are dead but there is no medical explanation for this condition. We're going to admit you and work on transporting you via helicopter to the university hospital. They may be better equipped to help us with a diagnosis."
It's been seven days. The only difference is the cold has made its way up to my chest. I'm very weak and unable to leave the hospital bed. I still have use of my arms and hands for now. I'm sitting here typing this because I really do not know what's going to happen to me.
About thirty different doctors and specialists have seen me, examined me and tested me with no diagnosis or explanation. I'm a walking, talking living dead woman.
Every time I close my eyes, I go right to sleep. I'm sleeping for hours and hours at a time.
Just a few minutes ago, a nurse jokingly said, "You are sleeping like the dead, too."
I think he was trying to lighten the mood but I just don't find the humor now.
My husband smiled and said, "At least you're sleeping now, babe." I shot him a look and he quickly hushed up.
It's very cold in this hospital room.
Submitted October 24, 2017 at 08:24PM by hell-vira http://ift.tt/2z4hxRR nosleep
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