Too Much Time in the Land of Nod

The good news

A 2008 Swedish study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the day after the Fall time change, there are fewer heart attacks, indicating a correlation between getting extra sleep and a reduced risk of heart attack

The bad news

A 2016 study in Epidemiology found that this period (time change) is associated with an increase in the rate of unipolar depressive episodes which is likely tied to the shortening of the daylight hours and disruption, again, of circadian rhythms. (source)

‘the fuck are unipolar depressive episodes? That's regular old straight up depression versus bipolar – no manic periods. An aside, I’ve always thought I’d enjoy being bipolar. Just the manic times though. THINK of how much I’d get done – MORE painting, MORE pots and sculpture, MORE reading!

WUT? You can’t have the ups without the downs? Damn. I knew there was a catch.

Yesterday, here in Valhalla by the Sea it was rainy, dark and dreary AND, on top of that, with the fucking time change it’s really dark way early.

Now then, when it's dark, our bods release a hormone called melatonin. This hormone gives us the high sign to feel sleepy. Yep – you guessed it, I was near comatose all goddamn day. Sure, I worked, I hit the gym BUT I was sleepwalking (sleep ellipticalling?). Afterward I made an executive cheer-me-up decision – Ten and I would hit La Paloma for a late-ish lunch – it was Taco Tuesday after all.

My fish taco was yummy as uszh but I made the killah mistake of having a single glass ‘o’ the grape. I KNOW that wine, even just one cuppa, before five makes me snoozy so on a day when I was already having a rough time keeping the peepers open, why’d I indulge? All I can say is that some days I’m NOT so very bright.

We got home where I took a hot shower (I had a chill. It was cold out!) which felt GREAT but this put my melatonin levels at flood stage. I decided to indulge in a rare nap. I avoid naps – I’m always fearful that, instead of waking refreshed, I’ll be unable to dodge the siren song of my toasty bed. I’ll not rise until the following AM. That’s just about what happened yesterday. I woke only long enough to get Coco her dinner, sift her litter box and do a couple other day’s end chores and then I was back to the Land of Nod for ten full hours. SHEESH!

The other thing I blame for my somnolent state? The damn Lorazepam that I’ve GOT to take so that I can get into the damn tube (MRI). It truly does a number on me – the effects last for days. I need to investigate other chill-me-out avenues. My next MRI isn’t until the end of January – I’ve got time.