Category Archives: sleepless in Vancouver

Good news, I guess. No infection or any innard bits that need to be removed. I mean, yes that part is very good.

Doctor thinks it’s some sort of intestine irritation and since it hasn’t had a rest (because I keep eating and stuff) it keeps flaring up. I am on liquid diet for 24 hours. H’ep. I’m SO HUNGRY. My stomach is growling right now. If you put a chili-cheese dog in front of me I would inhale it.

But no, I’m going home to scarf up some yummy broth. MMMMMMMM.

I also got a prescription for something to help with the stomach cramps, if needed, so I can get a good night of sleep. Back to work.

Turns out my digestive problems have nothing to do with beans, spices, food poisoning or a virus.

How do I know?

Because I’m still having the problems.

Last week Weds and Thurs were much better such that I thought I was just “working it out of my system.” Of course I didn’t have much appetite and was eating things like rice and broth or canned fruit.

Friday I felt back up to speed and had a great day and ate small quantities but normal foods and guess what? Up most of the night Friday with roiling stomach pains.

Saturday carefully watched the food intake and had only minor pains although my spouse had a wild night out and when he got home neither of us could get back to sleep so we talked and finished watching a movie: Beauty Shop with Queen Latifah which is a funny and sweet movie.

I was very hungry yesterday and even as I ate my Easter dinner (in Barbie portions) I suspected I was dooming myself, but the food tasted great and I felt fine. But you guessed it: 11pm. Stomach cramps which kept me up until 2a.

So I’m averaging about 4 hours a sleep a night and 800 calories a day and I’m feeling completely looped, tired, hungry, shaky and weepy. Is this how super models and actresses feel every day? How do they function?

I have a call into the Doctor now.

Well, looks like the andouille had nothing to do with my digestive pains. I was moving a bit slow on Monday but otherwise a normal day. I went to yoga class, came home and ate a small dinner consisting of several foods I ate Sunday but nothing spicy or beany.

Woke up at 11:30pm with an even worse belly cramps than the night before. I couldn’t sleep to save my life and also spent a great deal of time in the bathroom.

I figured I’d “sleep in” and go to work later and be fine but I ended up staying home all day. While my first thought was that it was some sort of food poisoning issue, Bob pointed out that there’s a norovirus making headlines in Clark County. I’m not sure if this is compatible with my sick Sunday night, fine Monday day, sick Monday night routine so maybe it was some food thing.

But that means that over two nights I got maybe 6 hours of sleep and I felt awful all morning. I took several naps including an epic from 1pm to 3pm and when I woke up I felt closer to normal. I’ve even eaten a bit and expect to sleep great tonight and be back in action tomorrow.

I’ve had more health issues since January than I’ve had put together in the last 5 years. What about all the yoga and clean living?

Last night I woke up at 1:45am with a hypersonic wind tunnel digestive thing which means a lot of uncomfortable inner turmoil. I drifted a bit but for the most part, I tossed and turned and couldn’t get comfortable.

Friday I made a pot of bean soup and Saturday I made that gumbo. Sunday night I used the leftover andouille in the bean soup and I think this is what put my digestive system over the top.

Not a good way to start Monday: bleary eyed and feeling like a refugee from an all weekend kegger.

I have this frustrating situation going on in my life right now which I don’t know how to deal with. It’s caused a bit of teeth gnashing and sleeplessness.

Last night I woke up at 4am. My brain ground away and I could not get back to sleep.

I started talking to Bob, not because he was awake but because he was there. “I can’t sleep,” I said. “I’m [mad about this situation].” He snored on.

I said a few more things and he flipped over and flung and arm and leg over me, with great love but effectively pinning me to the mattress like a bug on a card. I stared at the ceiling. Eventually he turned back the other way.

I tossed and turned some more. Periodically I’d remind him, “I can’t sleep. That thing made me mad.”

At 5:30a he rolled over and told me: “You’re getting sleepy again.”

argh. We returned from High Sierra on Monday night and I took Tuesday off and did a recovery day with lots of laundry duty and other chores like buying food. Tuesday night I slept poorly due to some sort of sinus type thing which felt like the inside of my skull was being polished with a putty knife. I figured it had something to do with dancing around in the dust all weekend. I felt crappy on Weds, my sinus ache started to feel like a cold — blowing my nose every five minutes, generally fuzzy head. I slept poorly again Weds night. At HSMF I bought this frozen fruit on a stick, dipped in chocolate and peanuts treat that was so fantastic, I couldn’t stop talking about it so we invented our own home version (Bob did) using Magic Shell and I thought that might be contributing to my sleep problem. Dragged my ass around all day today. Didn’t eat any Magic Shell, sugar or take anything that had a ghost of a chance of keeping me awake and had a refreshing adult beverage which I thought would help. No luck. I’m not even sleepy. I tried all my usual insomnia tricks but I keep coughing and having to sit up and blow my nose. I’ve already taken two calms forte — three is my record. And that’s not making a dent in my sleeplessness. I wouldn’t mind being sleepless if I didn’t know that it means tomorrow I’ll be dragging ass and probably cranky and incapable of getting anything done. And we have a busy day planned. Breakfast with Ken and Joyce, new dishwasher buying, mailing off packages and taking foam peanuts to the mailbox store. And that’s just for starters.