Monday 4 March 2013

Got Sleep?

One of my most reliable migraine triggers (can a bad thing be reliable?) is lack of sleep.
I have been quite lucky up until recently, I have been the person who climbs into bed, stretches, shuffles around and then promptly falls asleep.
In the last month or so however, something has changed. For some reason, as yet unknown, I find myself tossing and turning into the wee hours of the morning with no sleep in sight. Aside from an increasing sleep debt (which only so many afternoon naps available), I am worried about the impact on the frequency of migraine attacks. In the usual run of things, increasing fatigue has been the pre-cursor to increasing migraines.
Being the proactive person that I now am, I have taken matters into my own hands (or in this case someone else's hands) and looked into solutions for my growing insomnia.
This week I have tried to work on the 'comfort' of my body. I have noticed that I am finding it hard to get comfy in my bed. My shoulders and hips ache, my neck and head hurt and even my jaw seems to be piping up with complaints.
In response to this I decided to take harsh action.... and get a massage! Monday morning finds me sitting in the the local Chinese Massage Therapy establishment with a lovely young lady call Viv doing her best to work out the knots in my shoulders.
Let me tell you Viv worked hard! Solidly pummelling and kneading my neck and shoulders for half an hour, only pausing to comment 'That must hurt' or 'I heard that muscle crunch'.
I bravely endured this treatment until the desire to fall asleep overcame the desire to be massaged further at which point Viv called it a morning.
I tell you, I left that appointment walking on air, confident that for the first time in weeks my relaxed body would not drift but plummet into deep sleep. Ha!
I am sure this would have been the case if my shoulders did not gradually develop the feeling of having been beaten with a phone book (leaving no bruises) over the course of the afternoon. Who would have thought that deep tissue massage could have as painful repercussions as say, going 5 rounds with iron Mike Tyson?
Oh well, next on my list to try is binaural beats, at the very least I am expecting no extra discomfort! I will keep you posted.

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