I've become an american housewife.

Botox, booze and sleeping pills. I've had all three in as many weeks, well almost. I declined the botox. A bridge too far. I've developed a nasty twitch in my eye, Doctor says it could be from stress, lack of sleep or too much coffee, do I have any of those? Um.... So no, sleeping pills are not working and I am not upping the dose and I can't have booze because it racts badly with the pills. 

oh and i onl took hald one so I am in limbo right now.

I hope that twitch in your eye resolves itself soon. In the meantime stay out of Georges.

Pills are addictive and work less well over time. Try a hot bath, a Guinness and if not otherwise accompanied, take a teddy to bed for companionship.
You could also try reading any of the EU Treaties.

Don't take sleeping pills, they're horrible things and if you are feeling in any way fragile they will make you ten times worse.

I know what you're talking about with the twitch thing, I developed that in the corners of both eyes during a particularly stressful period. It is incredibly annoying and very hard to forget about.

Your body is telling you it needs a break.

unaligned wrote:

Don't take sleeping pills, they're horrible things and if you are feeling in any way fragile they will make you ten times worse.

I know what you're talking about with the twitch thing, I developed that in the corners of both eyes during a particularly stressful period. It is incredibly annoying and very hard to forget about.

Your body is telling you it needs a break.

Is the twitch something to do with lack of potassium which is found in bananas? Potassium is necessary for properly-functioning nerves, I read somewhere when I had my own twitch in my own eye.

Plus, if you're losing sleep watch out - your body is giving you warning signals like the battery icon in your computer and it's best to heed them. Losing sleep or getting two to three hours only is a big sign of stress and it'd be best to heed it. Pharmaceuticals aren't always the answer either.

Is work really worth the stress sometimes?

Stress and lack of control of ones surroundings. Horrible. Whatever is causing the stress change it. I know that is easy to say and a lot harder to do. You need either a planned path or a drastic change.

Sometime you can be stuck like a rat on a wheel. The faster you run the faster it goes round but you go nowhere.

Once in my life I was forced to stop and change. Ill health gave me a break and forced me to reconsider and paradoxically it probably saved my life. I had serious serious business problems. I was young and way out of my depth in extremely hostile terrain but was stuborn. I sold up and started again. The best decision I ever made.

cookiemonster wrote:

Botox, booze and sleeping pills. I've had all three in as many weeks, well almost. I declined the botox. A bridge too far. I've developed a nasty twitch in my eye, Doctor says it could be from stress, lack of sleep or too much coffee, do I have any of those? Um.... So no, sleeping pills are not working and I am not upping the dose and I can't have booze because it racts badly with the pills.

Have you left your horrible job yet? A general malaise about the situation could cause the symptoms described.

I know it's a bit risky, but depending on the situation, I would advocate quitting the job, even if you haven't found a new one yet. It'll give you a spur to find a new one, it'll make you feel less powerless (the way you feel when you hate your job but can't leave it), and it'll generally lift your mood. The current economic climate may not make it the best time to implement my advice, though.

Cookie, the job has to go. Just pack it in, go home to the bosom of your family, sleep for a fortnight, walk the dog and don't even look for a job for at least a fortnight.

Do it tomorrow. Seriously. You've been sick since you started that job which leads one to conclude that it's making you ill. There seems to be utterly toxic about the work, the environment or what your work says to your soul but if you're still there on Friday, you have to ask yourself what the pay-off is; and it has to be a big one to make it worth what you've suffered (and I don't use that word lightly) in the last number of months.

Don't worry about replacing the job; the universe will look after you when you're ready.

I think that Cookiemonster is moving on into the field of social research - hopefully his new metier will let him sleep at night.

Getting physically exhausted is good for sleep.

Kate P wrote:

Cookie, the job has to go. Just pack it in, go home to the bosom of your family, sleep for a fortnight, walk the dog and don't even look for a job for at least a fortnight.

Do it tomorrow. Seriously. You've been sick since you started that job which leads one to conclude that it's making you ill. There seems to be utterly toxic about the work, the environment or what your work says to your soul but if you're still there on Friday, you have to ask yourself what the pay-off is; and it has to be a big one to make it worth what you've suffered (and I don't use that word lightly) in the last number of months.

Don't worry about replacing the job; the universe will look after you when you're ready.

Oh I did it, I handed my notice in last friday. I have a new job lined up to start in the middle of August and it's all very nice indeed and I can't wait. But it seems my body, cynic that it is, doesn't believe the good times are on the way and refuses to relax. I thought it would end once I had packed it in (or once I had decided to pack it in and went off the fun pills) but I went straight back into insane panic mode again on Sunday evening. The new job is only short enough contract but I think my body has  sufficiently scared me enough for me never to put myself in the position again. Big (but slow) changes are on the way. Also in the last few months I got a taste of doing something which I really enjoyed, it was stressful but it wasn't negitive stress like a day job so it's created a pillar of light to wander towards that I couldn't see before and it's also shown that it's acchievable even though I will have to work hard to get there. 

cactus flower wrote:

Pills are addictive and work less well over time. Try a hot bath, a Guinness and if not otherwise accompanied, take a teddy to bed for companionship.
You could also try reading any of the EU Treaties.

Depending on which one I read that suggestion could cause me a stroke! 

cookiemonster wrote:

cactus flower wrote:

Pills are addictive and work less well over time. Try a hot bath, a Guinness and if not otherwise accompanied, take a teddy to bed for companionship.
You could also try reading any of the EU Treaties.

Depending on which one I read that suggestion could cause me a stroke!

Useless bestseller fiction usually works for me when I need to disengage.

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

cookiemonster wrote:

cactus flower wrote:

Pills are addictive and work less well over time. Try a hot bath, a Guinness and if not otherwise accompanied, take a teddy to bed for companionship.
You could also try reading any of the EU Treaties.

Depending on which one I read that suggestion could cause me a stroke!

Useless bestseller fiction usually works for me when I need to disengage.

My DS9 Companion is great bedtime reading. It's interesting, episodic and has sufficient depth to engage the mind. It's well-suited to nocturnal literary exploits.

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

cookiemonster wrote:

cactus flower wrote:

Pills are addictive and work less well over time. Try a hot bath, a Guinness and if not otherwise accompanied, take a teddy to bed for companionship.
You could also try reading any of the EU Treaties.

Depending on which one I read that suggestion could cause me a stroke!

Useless bestseller fiction usually works for me when I need to disengage.

My DS9 Companion is great bedtime reading. It's interesting, episodic and has sufficient depth to engage the mind. It's well-suited to nocturnal literary exploits.

Do you read it while sitting in a pillow fort using a DS9 torch? I couldn't read, my mind was racing over and over. I'm back to normal speed now and mulling over some polling numbers from our post lisbon days when we were the darlings of Europe... *sigh*

cookiemonster wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

cookiemonster wrote:

cactus flower wrote:

Pills are addictive and work less well over time. Try a hot bath, a Guinness and if not otherwise accompanied, take a teddy to bed for companionship.
You could also try reading any of the EU Treaties.

Depending on which one I read that suggestion could cause me a stroke!

Useless bestseller fiction usually works for me when I need to disengage.

My DS9 Companion is great bedtime reading. It's interesting, episodic and has sufficient depth to engage the mind. It's well-suited to nocturnal literary exploits.

Do you read it while sitting in a pillow fort using a DS9 torch? I couldn't read, my mind was racing over and over. I'm back to normal speed now and mulling over some polling numbers from our post lisbon days when we were the darlings of Europe... *sigh*

Oh, I have bedside lamp to read it by. I'm not that weird.

Star Trek torches are too chunky anyway.

I see you didn't deny the pillow fort...

cookiemonster wrote:

I see you didn't deny the pillow fort...

That would be a sin of ommission! More grist to my Catholic guilt mill!

You could be all ironic and name it Fort Saint Vitus. 

cookiemonster wrote:

You could be all ironic and name it Fort Saint Vitus. 

It has a sonorous ring to it, I shall indeed, cookiemonster. I read in Pillow Fort Quarterly recently that naming your fort adds 15% to the re-sale price.

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

cookiemonster wrote:

You could be all ironic and name it Fort Saint Vitus. 

It has a sonorous ring to it, I shall indeed, cookiemonster. I read in Pillow Fort Quarterly recently that naming your fort adds 15% to the re-sale price.

Only if it's the right name. Fort Pustule for instance... *shudder*

cookiemonster wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

cookiemonster wrote:

You could be all ironic and name it Fort Saint Vitus. 

It has a sonorous ring to it, I shall indeed, cookiemonster. I read in Pillow Fort Quarterly recently that naming your fort adds 15% to the re-sale price.

Only if it's the right name. Fort Pustule for instance... *shudder*

Oh yes, I forgot about that qualification. Fort Pustule sounds awful. That would take 15% from the re-sale value.

Why not have a holiday Cookiemonster ? Head for the seaside for a couple of weeks and you will be all fresh and ready for your new job.

No time for Holiday CF. Finish up one job and begin another! But they say a change is as good as a rest so I'm ok with that. I was planning a trip to DC in December but that's been put on hold, I may save up and make a bigger trip of it later next year. Who knows I might not come back! 

Guess what I bought last night................give up ?

Anti-snoring mousse.