Defeating Insomnia

S has been enjoying some months on the day shift when suddenly he was assigned again to the dreadful night shift. Most call center employees can attest that being on the night shift can be a nightmare. More so for those who have insomnia. If it’s hard for them to sleep at night it’s ten times harder for them to try to sleep in broad daylight when everyone around them is abuzz with activities. It has been my husband’s problem for years now.  The worst part was once he finally dozes off one small sound or movement and he’s up in a jiffy thinking he’s already had his full eight hours of sleep when in fact he just closed his eyes five minutes ago. It has been a source of frustration on his end and my heart ached for his suffering.

I have tried everything to make him sleep – from drawing the shades so he won’t be bothered by the bright sunlight to turning the airconditioning on so he won’t be bothered by the heat. I have even tried massages just to relax his body but whenever we tiptoe to the bedroom one tiny creak and  he’s awake and try as he may he couldn’t find his sleep after that.

Then one day, I decided to pull out our extra foam mattress and put it in the middle of our living room. I declared to my little boy that absolutely no one should ever enter daddy’s room while he was sleeping and I meant every word of it. One time, Z even cried buckets of tears just because he left his favorite toy car inside the room.  Still I refused to let him in. We camped in the living room for a couple of nights. It was a sacrifice we had to make.

So what’s the verdict? It was a great success! For the first time in what seemed like years he was able to sleep the full eight hours! It was unbelievable! In fact, I was so ecstatic I even proclaimed it a miracle. We did it again the next day and the next and with the same result. S would complain he would get lonely waking up finding himself alone in bed but I refused to melt. Z had some late nights after that because of he found it too tempting to stay awake with the TV on (we don’t have one in the bedroom) but it was well worth it.

On hindsight, maybe S didn’t have insomnia after all. Maybe he was so used getting so little sleep that it became a habit.  It was a bad habit that went on for years, sadly. You might be wondering what happened next. Are we relegated to sleeping in the living room now? Fortunately, it just took a few days of him getting enough hours of sleep (6-8) that pretty soon his body refused to take anything less. My heart would still skip a beat every time he moves  while sleeping but thankfully, he doesn’t get up like a soldier ready for battle anymore. He dozes right back to dreamland.

So that’s how we defeated insomnia. It might be even too early to declare a victory after all we’re only into the second week but I’m positive we finally did it.