What to do with your Nights

For the past two years or so, I’ve had horrible insomnia. But – it wasn’t every night, just occasionally. It got really bad a few weeks ago, to the point where it was every night, and I would be exhausted. The strange part, I wasn’t stressed. Rather, I had a chemical imbalance, I was chronically low on serotonin. I have a doctor I’m seeing, who provides me with bio-identical hormones such as progesterone, estrogen, and thyroid, which I have always been deficient in since I hit puberty, due to a thing called PCOS, or poly-cystic ovarian syndrome. I’ve been on supplemental hormones for almost six months now, and the theory is that soon the hormones will make my body normal. :-)

Anyway, getting back to sleep (enjoy the pun!), I had another hormone that was off-kilter. The doctor put me on 5-HTP and melatonin. The 5-HTP was the part I really needed. My body was pure dopamine, instead of a pretty balance between dopamine and serotonin. The 5-HTP is an amino acid which, when taken, the body will then convert to natural serotonin. Which… the body then converts to melatonin when the lights go out. What a great trick!

I wanted to mention this whole event because that last week, in which I really got no sleep, I realized to a degree how precious days are. I guess it’s like when people are sick, and they realize how a lot of their freedom to use their days is gone. I realized that even though I had the same time every day, I was so tired that I couldn’t use it to read and learn like I like to do. I couldn’t think well, I didn’t understand my kids as well, it was a great loss. I hope to remember this and make better use of the days that a good night’s sleep give me.