....its getting old

  Have you ever waken up from a deliciously long afternoon nap with a start? A feeling of being late or as if you are being watched perhaps? Then the feeling of 'Am I awake or am I dreaming' comes to cultivate in your mind. This has caused many countless hours trying to figure out if I have missed work, if I was really sleeping, or if it was just the remnants of the dream being had before I woke up. The confusion that comes almost immediately after is starting to cause me to question a multitude of things when just a few years ago I would have been able to just roll out and not question whether I was awake or dreaming.

  This situation has been presenting itself more and more as of late. Many people who have been consulted usually just say its stress causing this almost questioning of reality. If I do not get an answer, I usually get the 'I'm sorry I don't know what to say' look. I think that part is the most frustrating of them all because that means either they think that you are one snap off from being put into a straight jacket or that you are letting something so simple as dreaming start to affect your life. 
  It does sound kind of silly doesn't it? When I started thinking that this was actually silly I went to my favorite web page Google and asked a question. Apparently this is very common.....go figure right? It is called False Awakening. There is a whole section of topics on it and Wiki has a really good article. The most interesting of this article is that it references this phenomena in the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. Really????? I'm having the same issues as the dreamers in Freddy's movies???? Holy Crap!!! Well, that's what I thought at first anyways. This is actually a serious condition which can lead to insomnia, exhaustion, and eventually if the problem is not addressed then insanity. So that means its a long road to hell. YAY ME!!!!
  I have no idea really how to stop this. I try and go to sleep early, not drink coffee, consume melatonin, and even resorted to having night caps to try and bring the sleep on. Sad fact is I am afraid to sleep. I do not like waking up and questioning almost every aspect of what I do each morning if it is real or if it is a dream. I am afraid of the downfall that is steadily approaching. It has started to affect my life, my love life, my job, and worst of all my attitude. I used to be a strong willed woman who came from a very strong willed family. I even have family telling me its all in my head. And ya know what???? That's true it is all in my head. However, I have no idea how to get it all out of my head. I long for the days past that I was able to sleep almost anywhere without the fear of a dream or of the False Awakening. 
  There are remedies and help pages out there for this issue. I have searched long and hard. A few things can be done like eating a small carb filled snack right before bed. Exercising before bedtime as well will help as per some of these sites. However, while looking an old time recipe popped up saying that this was the best trick of all. Warm milk!!!!!!! Who would have thought that this age old remedy is still used and also talked about to be used to help in sleepless nights, nightmares, night terrors and False Awakenings. I'm glad this is something that is so easily available and will be trying this out in the next few weeks to come to see if that has any effect what so ever on this not so fun issue. No one likes to question their reality. Least of all me, I like to be firmly planted on the ground. Wish me luck in this adventure and hopefully the result will be what I am hoping for.
  With that, I close another entry and say Auf Wiedersehen! Until the next time........