insomnia, flare ups this time of year more common??? holiday stress...

[valene2009]

hey everyone... it seems that after i take my xanax and melatonin to sleep i am still having trouble
falling asleep and then i wake up wide awake at 4am!!!  anyway,  my eyes had a break for 18 days!!!
but yest i had a bad flare up-the burning.not wanting to stay open..i got so down and depressed...
i am sure the lack of sleep isn't helping.. i was just curious if anyone else has noticed that the holidays bring
on more stress and with more stress our wonderful Sjogren's disease flares up like crazy!!!  i just need someone
who 'understands' to talk with about this!! thanks everyone...

[navydad]

Stress is a killer, it adds up, keeps adding up and then you feel it,, Ya I would say the holidays can do that,, course my eyes have been dry for a few years now, I;m awake almost every day at 4am,, right about the time the pain gets to be to much and I get,, stagger to the kitchen and TRY to make coffee,, (try not to drop the pot), todays pretty bad,, legs jsut dont want to work to good,,

[navydad]

It is Lizzy, its hard to accept that your body has decided for you that you aint gonna get it done,, its taken me all day to get a load of clothese in and out of the washer,, still have to run the sweeper,, (vaccuum),, I wear a glove when I do it, I cant take the vibrations on my hands,, what a depressing disease,, gotta love those articles that tell us, it wont kill you,, LOL,, I beg to differ,,, I still go by my standards of this disease,, for every day alive,, it takes 3 off your life span,, so lets think about it,,, oh I guess I should be done around 2014,, give or take a few

[valene2009]

hey there..thanks for responding... i had another horrible day yest... it is always my eyes..they burn so bad.. at that point u cannot do much..just misery..anyway. hope today is better for all of us... and Navydad-i too clean a little here and there..i find if i do too much i get dizzy and nauseous.. very strange... and i used to be a personal trainer.. sucks how this changes our lives so much..

[Bonnie]

Hi all,

I think it is the stress, Day 7 of waking up at 3 am and not being able to get back to sleep.  Then still having to do a 10 hour shift at work, plus all the other holiday stuff.  Right now I am so tired.  I usually at the weekend try to take a nap in the afternoon to try to catch up a little on the sleep.  Had a lovely nap last saturday afternoon, with my hairy baby.  She is so cuddly and warm and her little snores are very relaxing.  Sometimes when I'm feeling stressed it is good to take some time out with her, she really knows how to relax 

[Patze]

Hi Valene,

You mentioned that your eyes are killing you, by chance do you wear "onion" goggles during the day?  I know they look very odd, but I finally broke down and bought a pair, and they do help keep the moisture in your eyes.  I just refuse to have my picture taken when I wear them.

Here are a couple of websites that discuss dry eyes and glasses/goggles.

http://www.dryeyezone.com/
http://www.dryeyepain.com/

And my motto these days are - one foot in front of the other, it's the only way I can make it around the holidays.  If I dust and vacuum, that usually wipes me out, sometimes I'm lucky and I can clean the floors as well.  If I do all of this, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be dead for the next couple of days, so I do what I can, when I can, and hope that I can function the next day.

Ah, the insomnia...oh my oh my do I hate it so.  Often you'll find me walking the floor two or three times a night; other nights, I just lay in bed until I fall a sleep.  Some nights I don't sleep at all and it's all I can do not to fall a sleep at my desk (thank goodness for public transportation!).

I hope that your eyes start to feel better soon, and that the insomnia goes the way of the dinosaurs.

Take care of yourself, okay?

Patze

[valene2009]

Hey Patze.. well after dealing with this for over 3 years i have FINALLY

[valene2009]

sorry about that.i hit send before i was done.. i am currenlty waiting on rx -wiley x sunglasses with the foam lining that my eye doc is getting made for me.. i wish they would hurry up !! i cant wait to try them

[valene2009]

i live in a 1400 sq. foot townhome by myself (and my brat cats)... i find that if i vacuum one room and then rest a bit it helps... ridiculous but we have to do what we have to do.. i dont have the joint or body pain with sjogrens but i sure get tired most days easily.... and if i push myself i push myself right into the point where i literally cannot get off the couch..like a chronic fatigue..with dizziness .. almost like a hungover feeling.. one room at a time...

[Patze]

So well put Valene!  "Almost like a hungover feeling", says it all for me! 

Then there's bending down to pick up something off of the ground, I usually wind up on the ground as it seems that I no longer have much balance, do you also have that problem?  Sometimes even standing still I find myself swaying, it's no wonder people look at me like I must have imbibed.

Egads, it's awful...but I'm so glad that this board is here!

Oh, and give the "brats" a scratch for me will you?

Take care of yourself -

Patze

[flutterfly]

   i feel ya hon!

i force myself ta turn light off @midnight...which doesn't turn of my noggin or my body off by any means!

up every hour ta pee or hurtin'!
i'm usually up @ butt※crack of dawn most days! NEVER nap!
always wantin' my mind & body ta hush!

can also relate ta balance & swayin' like a drunkard!  

just got a fresh knot on my peeper 4 days ago 'cause i went ta pick sumthin' up
& BLAMO ran my face right inta hard wooden arm chair!

in doc appt. 4 my papa & i can FEEL the sway! just hopin' ta sit down b4 peeps notice!  

not cool!

~*flutterfly...holds on ta stuff... ALOT!*~

[Patze]

Hugs Flutterfly!  I sure hope no damage was done to your peeper!


Patze

[valene2009]

thanks Patze!  gosh i am so thankful for this board... Now i know it is normal to be dizzy and feel like you
could fall over any minute with this silly disease!  i had no idea that these were symptoms.. I kept blaming it on
Evoxac but i even stopped taking it for a few days and the dizziness continued!!  Some days are def better than others..
happy holidays to everyone..

[navydad]

For those of you that can still work with this,, my hat is off to you,, the last few months before I unofficially quit,, I thought I was going to die every day at work,, carrying ladders,,, dropping them, falling off tehm,, making up excuses why I fell,, I would have to replace street lamps using a bucket truck, My god I was running the thing into the poles,,you had to use foot pedals to turn it,, and my feet were going numb,, that was whenI had no idea what was going on with the neuropathy,, anyway, my hat is off to all of you that can still work

[tomsmom]

I'm relieved to read that the wobbly dizzy thing is common among a lot of us.  I'm sad to read some of you have it, but it's comforting to realize I'm not alone.  I have days where I can go go go for hours and others (like today) where I'd be laying in bed all day if I could. 
@Flutterfly-- you sound like me.  I try to sit down too before anyone notices. LOL
I hope that you all manage to have a merry Christmas.