How do you do insomnia?

(This post has been edited to add photos now that Blogger is cooperating!)

To add to the craptastic adventures in my uprooted love life, I haven't been sleeping for the past three weeks. After not getting any sleep for roughly two weeks, I took to visiting the coveted primary care physician and asked for help. She kindly gave me a prescription for Ambient. At first I was a little excited thinking I was finally going to get some sleep. That was until I read up on the drug and learned how addictive it is. I know that my body has a high tolerance for drugs - meaning I usually need more than the average person of my size in order to get an effect. So what does this mean for me? It has potential to be a dangerous combination for me. Obviously I hesitated at filling the prescription. But after two more winkless nights I gave in. Let me share with you all a short passage from the patient education slip that the pharmacist gives you:

"Some patients taking this medication have performed certain activities while they were not fully awake. These have included sleep-driving, making and eating food, making phone calls, and having sex. Patients often do not remember these events after they happen."

Ok... anyone else see a problem here???? Do I need a babysitter while I get a little shut eye????

I decided YES!

Two darling friends decided to give a gal a fighting chance at some beauty sleep and camped out in the living room. Both nights resulted in a full 2 1/2 hours of sleep. I don't get it. This stuff is supposed to knock you out to the point of performing crazy acts. All I got out of it was 2 1/2 hours of recharging sleep. (For those of you keeping track here, we're now up to 15 days = 5 hours of sleep! Not a winning equation.) It would appear that I'm not going to be one of these patients performing strange tasks in their sleep... hell, I still wasn't sleeping!

But I pressed on hoping that maybe a bit of a build up in my system would give me the bliss I was looking for. Two more nights and I was up to a whopping 4 hours per night. Desperation was setting in. After a week of the 'magical pill' I was still only getting 4 1/2 hours of sleep for a total of 22 hours of sleep over 3 weeks (as a reference, 1 week usually contains approximately 56 hours of sleep). You don't need to be a math teacher to see that things were still not adding up.

During these nights of insomnia one might think that a lot could get done with all those extra hours of wakey-time. But no. I've been so exhausted that things aren't even getting done during the typical non-sleeping hours. Even knitting has fallen by the way side for the most part from either non-interest or a lack of being able to concentrate even on mindless patterns.

A few things have gotten done though and I think we'll switch to the good news of this post.... two FOs!!!

Both projects were easy enough to be able to follow while under the influence of sleep deprivation. First up was Calorimetry. Made with the remaining skein of Noro from the Fall Bag, I thought it was the perfect colorway for me. (Unfortunately Blogger photos are broken or something so you'll have to visit Ravelry for visuals - My Calorimetry.) I do love the colors but by following the pattern, it's a little too wide for my head and doesn't stay on very well. It may just become a gift for someone more suitable.

(Photo added - yeah!)

Second up is Stolen Moments knit up with 5 skeins of Rowan Linen Print that I got for $1 per skein. What a deal!!! It didn't come out to be as wide as I would have liked it, but then again I haven't blocked it yet either. Maybe that'll make a huge difference. (Again blogger isn't allowing photos so you'll have to visit Fall Moment on Ravelry.) This was actually knit over a period of two sleepless nights. At least something good came out of them.

(More photos added - double yeah!)

So my question is, is there anyone else out there suffering from extreme insomnia? And if so, what do you do to steal away a few moments of blissful shut eye?