by Eileen Norman

Created on: January 29, 2010   Last Updated: January 30, 2010

                                          Sleepless Clinic

 Recently, I admitted to my neurologist that I have been having attacks of severe drowsiness, sometimes even while driving. When at home, I resort to "snaps" (short naps) to revive me. When driving, I always have a cup of coffee and a back up coca cola with me.  Now, after a TIA,(mini stroke) my doctors were urging me to give up caffeine, so I was becoming worried about driving.

 My doctor quickly scheduled me for a night at the misnomered "Sleep" Clinic.

 I was less than thrilled, to put it mildly. After my husband acquired one of their lovely CPAP machines several years ago, I had to move to a separate bedroom.   First, when he turned over and faced my way, a constant blast of cold air hit me.  Because of back pain and sciatica, I sleep in a "nest" of four pillows. So, to block the blast, I added two more pillows as a barrier.  That helped, though our bed now looked like a snowman cemetery.  But as soon as I solved the artic blast problem, his mask developed air leaks which produced a loud high pitched wail similar to a tornado warning. 

 Obviously the CPAP is effective for him, since this does not wake him up!  However, I leap at least 6 inches into the air each time it happens. Thus, began my frequent trek with my "nest" of four pillows to the guest bedroom.

 I must share the blame for my sleeping problems.  Growing up during World War II meant moving to my Grandmother's when my dad was drafted into the Army. Since my aunt and her children arrived there when we did, I had to sleep on a sofa bed with my mother. 

  Mom, who had only two years of college, did so well at her job in personnel training on the near by Air Base, that she was promoted to Director, taking over the job of a PhD.  Stress City!  She began to come to bed late and nervous.  If I so much as scratched, let alone coughed or wiggled, she lost it.  To this day, I don't do relaxed deep sleep until around 5a.m.when she used to get up to go to work. 

 Whether by conditioning or personality (I love

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