PKR Bj Mac's Recovery

[RestAssured]

BJ,

Would you like for me to create an invention so you can sleep? I have already finished MG's and I must say it looks GREAT! I have lots of time to create these inventions while I am working on my Master's. They are so impressed with my "gift of gab" that they just "give" me a hundred to say "Sonja, you are amazing!"

 

[karmigirl]

BJ,

Your house is going to be a really colorful place when we all get there.
I too could not get a good night sleep for quite awhile. I just stayed up until I just couldn't keep my eyes open anymore then went to bed, took a few days but it worked. Would nap when I could and tried to have patience with it. I found that once I got more active that sleep came more readily for me, when the body just isn't tired I just cannot sleep. I also did not go to bed until I knew I would fall asleep right away, I iced and elevated etc on the sofa and that seemed to help alot.

 

[BJ Mac]

BJ, you and me both. I woke about 3 am and finally got up an hour later. Not sure why I've not been able to sleep through two nights in a row. My brain is just going crazy, not just with my growing "TO DO" list, but also with random nonsense and long term worries. I need to let go of this. I'm taking something to help me sleep tonight, that's for sure. You're knee is three months younger than mine. How is the swelling?

It is swelling and uncomfortable. My doc wanted me off the percocet by 3 months which is next monday, so I have not been taking that anymore, which I was only taking at night until last week. I started on Ambien and am not sure that it is even helping, I get 5-6 hours sleep max and not all in a row. I am soooo tired. So if I am not sleeping because I am not exercising enough and exercising more makes my knee swell and hurt more and keeps me from sleeping, and if I can't sleep I don't heal as quickly and shouldn't work out... Sounds like a crazy vicious cycle to me. That is why I had my PCP prescribe something for sleeping, but it seems that I still wake up hurting and then my mind starts spinning with all the things that I need to do...

I wish you a good night's sleep.

 

[Morning Glory]

What you need to do is nothing. Sit your butt on the couch with you iced knee elevated and do nothing. Everything can wait, it will be waiting for you when your knee is well rested and unswollen. I know you don't want to do that but you know that's what you should be doing. I know, I know.....easier said than done.

 

[bottomshollow]

BJ, ditto what MG said!!!!! All this up and doing

Take you Ambien and go to bed!

 

[ChrisO]

BJ,

I understand the no sleep issue. That is why I'm here reading posts most nights. I find that pain I'm able to ignore in the day is hard to escape at night. If I figure this out I'll share, if you find the ans. first please let me know.

I hear red wine is good for you.... too bad I don't like red wine. If you like chocolate there is even a chocolate red wine drink called chocovine.

Good luck,

ChrisPo

 

[Roy Gardiner]

... my hubby announced last night that his favorite jeans needed to be washed! Well he had just taken them off and it was 10:30. So off to the laundry to gather towels and other stuff to throw in with them.

Why didn't you just announce where the washing machine is? Or, even simpler, take the jeans and set fire to them?

 

[RestAssured]

Why didn't you just announce where the washing machine is? Or, even simpler, take the jeans and set fire to them?

Roy, that is funny! The reason being is they are FRJ jeans or fire retardant jeans! They are a special type that is used in the oilfield for safety, and I can just imagine me with my matches trying to get the blaze started!

The next day we had a little "chat" and he ordered 6 more pair though! I don't foresee myself up washing jeans that late again, unless I can't sleep. Hmmm... I could vacuum right now since it it is 5:00 a.m. I wonder if my hubby would notice!

 

[BJ Mac]

Roy is right, your hubby is a grown man, I am learning that we must not do for someone else what they can do for themselves. If we go and do all that then we are enabling them to take advantage of us. Now it is one thing if we have previously agreed to do something for our spouse in return for something else, but seriously jumping and doing his laundry... I did way too much of that "people pleasing" behavior, I know.

 

[RestAssured]

Hello BJ!

My hardheaded buddy! Swollen knee from overdoing it hmmm! Let's see. Try this prescription and let me know how iy goes. Take a day to do NOTHING, let those kids of yours cater to you, and keep the leg elevated and iced. Have your daughter prepare something for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and then, if you can still find it, use your darned weaker to go to the bathroom during the day, and then back to icing and elevating! At night take the Ambien, and think of all the blessings in your life, not your to do list. God will see you through everything so why worry? Tylenol is good for inflammation by the way. I worry about you my friend, and I will be praying for you!

 

[RestAssured]

Roy is right, your hubby is a grown man, I am learning that we must not do for someone else what they can do for themselves. If we go and do all that then we are enabling them to take advantage of us. Now it is one thing if we have previously agreed to do something for our spouse in return for something else, but seriously jumping and doing his laundry... I did way too much of that "people pleasing" behavior, I know.

Yep, you are right about that BJ! We have instituted a new policy in the house. I will work on any laundry during the day that is in the hamper, and that he has carried into the laundry room.

 

[BJ Mac]

MG, this not sleeping well is WITH my Ambien, it is so frustrating. Now, I realize that over the last 18 years I have not slept through the night and some of that was spent with the necessity of monitoring a child that may have grand mal seizures in his sleep. So, I guess the main problem is that my body has been trained to be on the edge of "high alert" even when I sleep, so what I need to know is, "How do I reverse this? How do I get my body back to where I can lay down and rest and let it all go?" So, maybe you (oh, no it was Linda) had something, when she mentioned meditation, a kind of centering and letting go of everything. I realize that God of the entire universe can handle it all, so how do I get to the place where my mind and body acknowledge this and let go for an 8 hour sleep???? And if I do wake up, how do I leave it all 'out there' and not start the 'spin' again? These are my questions and my dilemma.

 

[BJ Mac]

Hello BJ!

My hardheaded buddy! Swollen knee from overdoing it hmmm! Let's see. Try this prescription and let me know how iy goes. Take a day to do NOTHING, let those kids of yours cater to you, and keep the leg elevated and iced. Have your daughter prepare something for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and then, if you can still find it, use your darned weaker to go to the bathroom during the day, and then back to icing and elevating! At night take the Ambien, and think of all the blessings in your life, not your to do list. God will see you through everything so why worry? Tylenol is good for inflammation by the way. I worry about you my friend, and I will be praying for you!

The thing is that I have the "head knowledge" that I need to back off and let things go and others wait on me. The insanely hard thing is for me to practice doing it. We have been cleaning out the storage room, which desperately needs to be done and I want to do it and other things before my sons go back off to school because I can really use their help with all the lifting and moving...

Now, going over the list of my blessings instead of my worries or my to do list is an excellent idea. If I practice repeating my blessings on my way to sleep or when I wake up in the middle of the night that should be very helpful.

 

[BJ Mac]

Oh and, "Good job!" on your new laundry policy.

 

[BJ Mac]

Chris, I have found a red wine that I do like, although a bottle of wine lasts forever in my house cause I so rarely drink it, although at one point my personal trainer recommended a glass of red wine before bed each night. And we have a cocovino at our local winery that tastes like a cherry tootsy pop. Yummy, but so sweet that I can only have a teeny of it.

 

[Roy Gardiner]

... I have found a red wine that I do like, although a bottle of wine lasts forever in my house ...

Me too, one lasted almost an hour yesterday, must be a record.

So, I guess the main problem is that my body has been trained to be on the edge of "high alert" even when I sleep, so what I need to know is, "How do I reverse this? How do I get my body back to where I can lay down and rest and let it all go?" So, maybe you (oh, no it was Linda) had something, when she mentioned meditation...

You have the right idea with that red wine; a pint or two of that, no bother, and it's good for you.

 

[BJ Mac]

Oh Goodness Roy, all that drinking wouldn't go so well with me... but the thing is that if I do have a glass of wine before bed, I am still up in the middle of the night... I do not mind waking up if I roll over and fall back asleep, but when my mind starts going and going and I can't fall back asleep. That is the most frustrating part. Now, you are probably just going to tell me to open another bottle of wine. Not doing it! Soooo, any other ideas???

 

[Roy Gardiner]

Well I was kind of kidding really, I don't have any trouble sleeping* so can't really help. Sorry.


*Except on aircraft. I tried once just carrying on drinking, but ended up wide awake and plastered. Yuck.

 

[RestAssured]

Oh Goodness Roy, all that drinking wouldn't go so well with me... but the thing is that if I do have a glass of wine before bed, I am still up in the middle of the night... I do not mind waking up if I roll over and fall back asleep, but when my mind starts going and going and I can't fall back asleep. That is the most frustrating part. Now, you are probably just going to tell me to open another bottle of wine. Not doing it! Soooo, any other ideas???

Have you tried a night mask that blocks out the light? My husband can't see very well, so he has to have a light shining in the room. I use a sleep mask, and that helps a lot.

 

[Phoenixx29]

Hi BJ, have not been on your thread for a while, but things don't change do they - you still can't take it easy. Have you tried prescribing yourself a "pamper" day - so instead of "resting" which you clearly have trouble doing, treat your hair, get a face mask, put some soothing/relaxing music on etc and just stop that brain of yours working overtime. What's the worst that can happen if you don't get everything on your to-do list done? I'm sure the washing or cleaning won't mind having to wait a day or two....

I have to say red wine for me also is a great sleeping aid - not sure I would risk it though once I'm on the painkillers. Does hot chocolate or milk work for you? There's supposed to be a natural sleeping aid in milk I think.