Thursday, April 19, 2007

CAUTION: Lack of sleep may cause memory loss!


After having said that, let me fill you in on what happened!

I was speaking on the phone with someone and they needed my address. After they asked me for it, my mind went blank. I mean totally blank....I could not remember my own address. I had to look at a piece of mail to tell them my address! How absolutely ridiculous is that !?! I was pretty frightened and felt that there was something REALLY wrong with me. That has never happened to me before. I was certain that some form of dementia was setting in!

I called the doctors office and explained what had happened and asked for the earliest appointment they had. The nurse, who happens to be a friend of mine, calmed me down and asked if I had been getting enough sleep. I responded "no" and told her approximately how much sleep I had been averaging a night. And then she laughed.....she LAUGHED! I'm scared out of my mind and she is laughing? She said it sounded normal to her, but asked if I could hold and she would speak with the doctor. When she came back, she told me the doctor said that if that was all I couldn't remember on the little bit of sleep I was getting, I should consider myself fortunate. And she told me that the doctor was going to order some prescription sleep aid for me. He did, and I picked it up at the pharmacy yesterday and.....I slept last night. ALL.NIGHT! Wow, what a difference sleep can make!

It's called Ambien and boy does it work fast. The information leaflet states that you should go directly to bed after taking it as it doesn't take long to work. Understatement! I took it and barely made it up the stairs before I felt the effects of it. I'm supposed to take it for 7 nights in a row, making sure that I am able to get at least 8 hours sleep each night before I have to be awake and active. The doctor said that 7 nights should be enough to re-establish a sleep pattern and then try and sleep without the pill. If I have trouble after 2 nights to resume taking it again for 5 nights and try going without it again. Hope it works the way it's supposed to. I don't want to have to take pills forever in order to be able to sleep.

So, I'm gonna take my pill and see if I need to count sheep.....ZZZzzzzz

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy counting!

If it makes you feel any better I forget my phone number, even if I have slept like a baby! I must be old.

xxx

Anonymous said...

Hey uh Mom? How much you wanna sell one for??

I slept awful last night.

Renee said...

Glad you're finally getting some sleep, Martie!
I swear to you, sometimes I can't remember simple things, like my phone number or my kids' birthdays!

Martie said...

jd's rose - I didn't even have to count those sheep...woo-hoo! Thanks

slick - son, I can't sell them to you or anyone....that would make me a drug dealer. But if your already here and having trouble sleeping, well then.......

renee - I often can't remember my phone number either, but I think that's because I don't call it often enough, lol. Sure was scary though!

River Rat said...

Glad to hear you're finally sleeping! I can't believe those things work that fast! Wow, the power of modern medicine huh?

Martie said...

river rat - now I'm wondering why I waited so long! LOL

Bainwen Gilrana said...

I've only heard good things about Ambien. I hope it works even better than it's supposed to for you!

Smalltown RN said...

Oh my dear friend....

Yes sleep deprivation can do all kinds of wierd and wonderful things to our body and mind. I am glad the doctor prescribed something for you and that you are getting a more normal sleep pattern.

Suns shining today....Yeah!!!! it's absolutely glorious...going to drive with the top down on the car today!

Cheers my friend and happy weekend!

janet copenhaver said...

Oh yes drug induced sleep is wonderful.

Anonymous said...

(((((Martie)))))

I've heard that going to bed at the same time helps you sleep better. I guess your body gets into a habit. Anyway, that is hard to do on the weekend (for me).

Sinus issues (I think) mess with your brain too. Last Sunday I stopped by Auto Zone for some wiper blades. I am pretty good with car makes and models. But, for some odd reason when the guy asked me the year model of my car all I could think of was 1989. I knew that wasn't the year model. LOL I finally I gasp and stalled sputtering the answer...1999. He looked at me like I was an alien with four heads.