Have you ever experienced insomnia? Insomnia is a real problem and can have real side effects. I am by no means trying to play those down however, sometimes you have to look at the lighter side of things.

I am an insomniac myself so these signs are all things I have a personal experience with; I was laughing at myself at some of them and feeling the real pain on others. If you are an insomniac or have ever experienced even one night of being unable to fall asleep I am sure you can relate.

1. You fell asleep the night before at 3 am and think you actually went to bed early
2. You can function on 3 hours of sleep
3. The moment your head hits the pillow your brain turns on and you have to start writing, reading or distracting yourself in some other manner
4. If you look at the clock and think to yourself “oh its only midnight it’s still early”
5. You consider 6 hours of sleep in one night a miracle
6. Falling asleep takes forever
7. You can’t remember the last time you went to bed at a “decent” hour.
8. Drinking a cup of chamomile tea, let alone a whole pot of it does nothing for you.
9. You “wake up” after the clock strikes midnight
10.  Consider watching mindless TV as part of sleep time
11.  You try to reason or negotiate with your body and mind on why they should go to sleep, and have even on a few occasions begged yourself
12.  Your are still being productive while everyone else is asleep
13.  You lay in bed and start making up your own dreams to try to “trick” yourself to sleep
14.  The majority of your Facebook posts, comments and likes happen after midnight, making you late on a conversation that probably ended over 5 hours ago.
15.  You are just getting to bed as your neighbor is leaving for work.
16.  Are afraid if you start taking sleeping pills you will never naturally fall asleep again
17.  You have literally mastered “I am just resting my eyes”
18.  You sometimes have a small window of time when falling asleep would be a breeze, but only if you can take advantage of it right then, otherwise you miss it along with the sleep.
19.  Are somewhat obsessed with counting how many hours of sleep you got the night before.
20.  Your partner snoring doesn’t annoy you, but makes you insanely jealous instead.

Are you an insomniac? Have a sign you would like to share? Please do I am always amazed at the power, imagination, and strength of insomniacs.

Update: When I wrote this I was tired (shocker), felt alone, and was looking for a bit of humor in my pain. I didn’t realize how many of us are suffering from lack of sleep because we can’t shut off our minds or other reasons. However, since having written this post and due to the reaction and popularity to it, I came to realize I am not alone. A weird blessing I guess you could say?

Sleep deprivation, or lack of, is a serious issue, shared by many of us. With that said, I have been exploring natural ways to beat this problem and wish to share my experience with you all. The first in these trials is using essential oils. So far, I love essential oils to help me fall asleep and stay asleep. The sense of smell is strong and until I tried it I didn’t realize just how strong it is. Read more on the Best Essential Oils For A Betters Night Sleep here. I hope it helps.

Let me know your thoughts and please share any tips that help you, my fellow insomniacs, fall asleep and stay asleep.