Are you getting any sleep Stephen? People keep asking me if I'm getting any sleep, and they are often surprised when I say "Yes, at least 7-8 hours a night"...

But now I'm starting to wonder if I'm actually getting any real benefits of sleep... Since Chrys passed, I've been taking a prescription sleeping pill that knocks me out for at least 7 hours a night, Ambien CR (not that scary "Lunesta" pill that they advertise on TV with the neon psychedelic butterfly that takes away all your pesky thoughts)...

However, I've noticed that every day I wake up more tired than the day before -- and I've been getting sicker with a respiratory infection even though I'm on antibiotics... so last weekend I tried sleeping a night without the pill -- and I tossed and turned all night - and even when I did sleep I had horrible nightmares about the ICU where I kept trying to bring Chrys back...

And today I realized another freaky effect of the sleeping pill -- I can't remember having ANY dreams while I'm on the sleeping pill... not ONE...

"They say" that dreams are your brain's way of working out stress and trauma in your life... so I propose a new sleeping pill that gives you a HORRIBLE night's sleep -- Instead of taking all your bad thoughts away with a neon butterfly, you are attacked with millions of neon cockroaches -- and all your nightmares flood into your head at once -- allowing your brain to absorb and quickly work through all the trauma in your life at once (usually after only three to four nights of treatment - Talk to your doctor. Side effects may include night terrors, sleep crying, nausea, vomiting, and temporary insanity)... But once the nightmares are out of your system , you can sleep comfortably without the aid of sleeping pills from that point on...

Sign me up for the trials, Pfizer, cause I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired...  ¶ Thursday, March 16, 2006