I'm Sorry...I'm fading...badly!

[FCD]

For the past several months I haven't been sleeping well (maybe 2-3 hours per night), and I've been working hard on the farm/ranch in blazing sun temps, which has only compounded the problems.

I wish there was some ingredient to go to sleep, fast asleep, for like 8 hours.  I can't even remember the last time I've had that luxury.

I never take sleeping pills; they make me feel too weird the next day (and I fall asleep, when I should be awake, BUT I don't fall asleep when I want to fall asleep!).

Recently, I've worked my body and mind to the absolute end of my sanity.  It's Hot (very), and the days are long (very).  I'm pretty tough, but now I'm wore down...like to the nub.

I don't expect anyone to understand.  Sometimes there are things you have to do which allow no mercy...the past few days have been one of these examples.  No choice.  Do it, or suffer the consequences because you don't!  

I won't go into much detail (just to not be boring), but this example is something simple, like...cheat grass.  (MAJOR fire hazard!).  It MUST be cut, and you have NO choice!  

Well, that's what we've been doing the past two days...over several acres.  Sucks.

Very tired (here).  Thanks!

[Nugget]

Not being able to sleep sucks! I go through periods where I can't sleep for more than an hour or two, and I'm not interested in using sleeping pills.

I took some Benedryl for hay fever once and felt drugged up for two days, so when I saw a liquid form I decided to give it a try, using just a tiny fraction of the usual dose. It did nothing for my allergies, but I slept through the night and didn't experience a drug hangover.  I use it now if I've gone more than three nights with less than 4 hours of sleep.

Before I discovered Benedryl I worked a 5PM to 3AM night shift for years; I'd get so tired I couldn't fall asleep.   With my lousey sleep pattern it was miserable! I bought an auto-reverse tapd player and some subliminal tapes with the hidden message that I would get a good nights sleep, and it helped me not only to fall asleep but also to stay asleep.

I also seem to be ultra sensitive to chemical properties, so I had to give up my beloved coffee and anything with caffine in it. I drink one cup in the morning and envy all of the 'normal' people the rest of the day.

I hope you get some relief; sleep deprevation is a terrible thing.

[Ksihkehe]

We have some cheat grass here, but fortunately it's only managed to get a foothold where the last owner thought a lawn was a good idea. I was going to cut it back right down to the soil today, but the weather report now gives us a 25% chance of rain this weekend. I'll believe it when I see it, but a few drops of rain and everything will just about gain another 6 inches overnight and then I'll be out there having to do it again. So, for now I wait. We had some early heat, but it's scaled back a bit. Very little precipitation so far though. It's a double edged sword in this area because lots of rain means the prairie areas have more fuel ready to burn like crazy when it finally dries out and the wind gets ripping, but without the rain the forest area where I live gets very dry and the trees have been suffering from lack of water for a long time. I have about an acre of pine needles to rake up as well and cleared out a good 10-15 cubic yards worth of brush and small trees. I didn't really know what I was getting into when I bought a home in this area, but there's no choice now except to deal with it. I wanted to live somewhere with seasons again, but fire season wasn't what I had in mind at the time.

Have you tried melatonin for sleep? I've used it specifically to get my sleep cycle back on track and it can work in just a few nights, but it can also leave a bit of a groggy feeling the next day for some people. Some people seem to do okay with low doses of 1mg, but I took 3-6mg to help recalibrate the few times I've needed it. At some point the grogginess from it would seem to be no worse than that bone-tired feeling you get from severe sleep deprivation. Keeping busy masks the sleep deprivation a bit, but it only goes so far. I always had the hardest time with sun and driving when I was sleep deprived. Something about the morning sun directly in my eyes made it difficult to not just drop off into sleep. It gets dangerous fast.