Friday evening was spent watching a bit of television and then spending an hour or so doing some proofreading for Project Gutenberg. I went to bed at a reasonable hour and after reading a few pages from my current bed-time book, I fell asleep quickly. I think that I slept pretty well, I certainly didn't wake up until about 7am, but as it was Saturday, a day that I treat as 'my day' so I can do whatever I want, I decided to stay in bed for a little longer. But before I got too carried away with doing my thing, I decided that I ought to take my morning medication, so I got the pills, knocked them back with a really good drink of water, and then tidied up the bed before climbing back in it again. If I fell asleep again, that was fine, but otherwise I thought that it would be nice to lie in bed reading my book before getting up to do some chores.
I'm not sure how long I read for, I don't think it was for very long, and I don't remember feeling myself dropping off. but I woke up again at about midday, looked around me, and promptly fell asleep again. I next woke at about 5.30pm, then at 9.15pm, at which time I managed to drag myself out of bed, make myself something to eat, and then eat it. So that was Saturday gone, but the problem was I wasn't sure why or how this had happened.
I have written before about how I have periods where I don't sleep properly and then quite suddenly my body just decides that it can take no more and I seem to spend a day sleeping to allow my body, and probably my brain, to recuperate. However, although I had not been sleeping well for some days, I didn't think that I was that bad yet and if I was to have one of these periods it probably would not come for at least another week. But I realized that there might be another explanation.
Now before you start to think, "She's lost her marbles", I'm going to head off at a bit of a tangent here, but I can assure you it is relevant, and you'll understand where I am coming from in the end. I am very good and always read the patient information leaflet included with prescription drugs (and usually over-the-counter medication too), paying particular attention to the section about possible side-effects. I know that most people never suffer from any of these undesirable effects, some may suffer from one of them, very rarely maybe more that one, but they do represent a 'get-out clause' for the drug manufacturers if you happen to be one of the unfortunates who do react to the drug. I wasn't always so conscientious in this matter, but I had some quite serious reactions to a couple of anti-depressants in the early days of my depression, when we were still trying to find the right drug for me, so since then I have made sure that I am aware of what may happen when I take a new medication.
On Friday my GP started me on medication for my high blood pressure and yesterday morning I took my first dose. The leaflet says quite clearly, in two separate places, that the tablets may make you feel sleepy, so is it possible that it was this tablet that caused me to spend so much of the day asleep? When I took the tablet yesterday, I took it on an empty stomach; this morning I have made sure that I have had something to eat before taking it. Now I have to see what happens as the morning progresses. I'll be honest and say that although I slept pretty much all day yesterday, I had absolutely no trouble sleeping last night. And I can't but help think that I could lie down again now and easily go off to the Land of Nod.
So I am going to have to take things easy today, see how I feel as the day and the week progresses, and if I can't stop sleeping perhaps pay my GP another visit just to check that things are alright.
No comments:
Post a Comment