Insomnia.

That horrible affliction where you think the entire world is asleep but you.

You watch hours of cat videos and “like” Facebook friend pics from 5 years ago.

You’ve gone down the creeper rabbit hole.

I first had this chronic affliction with surgical menopause at age 34.

It was hell.

And I stared at the moon.

I was awake for 5 days straight once and had to work and make a horrible commute. At that time I wished a bus would get me.

Once my hormones were sorted with bioidenticals bi-est and pro-gest, and some Ambien was mixed in, I could sleep, though I always felt exhausted.

I think I have found the magic elixir that works for me:
*200 mg 5Htp
*1mg or less of Melatonin
*anti-anxiety med
all about 1 hour before bed
*Add the Calm app set to “Tropical Beach” with Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones and Viola!

Restful Sleep

I tried a new thing to “fall asleep faster” from an article in “Shape” magazine called ASMR （Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response）.

It’s youtube videos with whispering voices and monotonous things like making wool kittens, crinkling paper, moulding crinkly foam or getting a head massage with chopsticks.

You really do have to keep an open mind about it-go with it for a few minutes because you will feel like a creeper at first. One of the people who does this is a man who wears makeup, so if you’re not from the city or a university town, it could catch you by surprise. He’s very talented at it and an ASMR artist.

ASMR is one of those things I didn’t know that I didn’t know.

These are 2 to start with:
*wool kittens:

*Kinder Eggs and Foam
（skip Barbie perhaps）:

*If you want advanced and want to challenge yourself, try the chopstick hair massage-and get over yourself:

You just might have a great night’s sleep.