Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Sleepless in Phoenix

Well folks... Cody is on day... ten? twelve? Fourteen? (I'm not actually sure) of an insomnia bender.

He goes to bed at 8.

He sleeps for an hour or so.

He wakes up thinking he hasn't slept.

He freaks out that he hasn't slept.

He comes running out into the living room, frantic and screaming at us that he's not sleeping. He thinks we're lying to him that he has, in fact, been asleep.

He wants water, tea, crackers, medicine, backrubs, pressure massage, beanbags, blankets, books, vidoes, music... anything that he thinks might put him to sleep.

None of which actually work. It's all stuck in his head now and it's the very suggestion that he MIGHT not be able to sleep that is eating at him. It starts the minute he walks in from school. Nothing distracts him from it. Nothing redirects his obsessive thoughts away from it. It just keeps happening and we are at a loss to break the cycle. Is it the obsessiveness of the autism biting him in the butt? Is it the sleeplessness of the bipolar playing in? Is it just an anxious 8 year old stuck in an ugly cycle? Is he eating something that is messing with his sleep cycle? A side effect of his meds? AHHHHHH!!! I don't know.

Over and over again, night after night, he wakes up and gets more and more frantic about not being able to sleep. He's angry, demanding, anxious and LOUD.

We're tired, concerned, frustrated, baffled and - yeah - a little annoyed.

"Go to bed."

"Go to bed."

"Go to bed."

"Go to bed."

"Go to bed."

"Go to bed."

"Go back to bed."

"Go back to bed."

"Go back to bed."

"Go back to bed."

"Go back to bed."

"Go back to bed."


It's. All. Night.

Anyone got any ideas?

1 comment:

  1. Well folks... update here. You've all given us some FABULOUS ideas and things to ponder and THANK YOU for that! We've tried the melatonin and last night he slept better than he has in YEARS. Seriously. So THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. :) We are ALL sleeping better now. :)

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