Why is everything so much more concerning if one wakes up in the middle of the night?
I usually wake in the night these days but it's momentary and I'm back asleep before I have time to think about it.
A couple of nights ago I woke up at 1am (ish) having only been asleep a few hours. I went back to sleep but it wasn't 'good' sleep. I was awake again before 3am. This time I couldn't get back to sleep - I was properly awake. At least I felt fully awake.
"Why?" I wondered. In the past if I woke properly there was a discernible reason: usually I would have had rigors which indicated the onset of sepsis to which I am exceptionally prone because of my uretic stent. However it's several years since I had an 'attack' and, so far as I could tell, I felt fine.
But the mind plays silly-beggars at 3am. What if I wasn't okay? I have been known to wake up and been delirious. It's difficult on the phone to the emergency services when one is delirious. Fortunately the emergency services can see my phone number and therefore my history on their screen. They even know the code for my front door. There is usually an ambulance here quickly. The magic word that scares medics (and me!!) is 'sepsis'.
I've only had full blown sepsis once and I happened to be in hospital at the time. I came around from my operation and by the afternoon I was delirious. About three days later I came around. Of course I just thought I'd been asleep for an hour or two but I was puzzled as to why I had so may tubes all over the place . I felt washed out and woozy but I was fully conscious.
The nurse who happened to be taking readings when I woke said "Well, Graham, good to see you. You've been a bit of a worry." Apparently, according to the doctor, that was a masterful understatement.
Had I gone to sleep in the middle of the night at home I might not have wakened up at all.
Anyway after worrying for a short while I went back to sleep and, as you can tell from this post, I woke up again full of life.
It's good you woke up, you never know what your body is trying to tell you but I'm happy to hear you are doing well. The only time I get woke up is usually by 1 of our 4 cats.
ReplyDeleteThat must be very disconcerting, always there in the back of your mind.
ReplyDeleteI, for one, am very pleased that you did wake up again!
It's natural that you worry - anyone would. It seems you are well known in the locality and they have your best interests at heart.Wishing you peaceful sleep tonight.
ReplyDeletePrayers you sleep better and have no health issues
ReplyDeleteThe planetary alignment, 7 planets in our solar system align in an arc in the night sky 25 January, might be at play disturbing Earth's electromagnetic field or whatever it is that goes on. Each hemisphere has a best time to view it. It began on 10 January. It happens about every 100 years.
Whatever time I go to bed, I seem to wake up every few hours during the night nowadays - usually either pain or toilet related (in familiar ways, so just irritating rather than worrying). For some reason, at this point in my life I seem to get my best sleep in the morning hours. Sometimes my breakfast almost collides with lunch... (When awake in the night, I listen to audio books (set on timer). It makes the time feel less "wasted".)
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