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Sleep in heavenly peace
Dec. 11th, 2011 10:41 pmCliché of the day: I feel like a new man.
I've been habitually tired for a long time — I'd guess six months, but it could be longer. I didn't feel rested when I woke up, I felt more or less foggy and thick during the day, and about three hours before bed my brain turned itself off. That last is the worst — those are my most consistent writing hours, and I spent a lot of nights staring at the screen with oatmeal in my head before giving up and going to watch an episode of CSI. If anyone's been thinking to themselves, "Hey, jere7my's been a little off lately. He's not as sharp as he used to be," you're right. (I don't know if anyone has, but it's seemed obvious to me.)
I had a lot of theories. I messed with my breakfast choices; I fretted about my caffeine intake pattern; I speculated on lingering illnesses I might have; I tried to link it to biking (or not-biking). Most upsettingly, I worried that I was just getting old — that fogginess and dullness were part of the progression of my brain toward senility, and it would keep getting worse.
Then I noticed three things: One, I woke up refreshed in other beds, at Arisia and at my mom's and in Bar Harbor this summer. Two, I was feeling pressure points when trying to fall asleep in my bed, and felt generally dense and heavy. Three, our mattress was about seven years old, which Consumer Reports says is close to the end of a mattress's useful life.
Bing.
Last Saturday, we went to Watertown Mattress, where Mike the helpful and gregarious made us lie on a half-dozen mattresses, steered us toward the ones he sensed we'd like, ratcheted down the prices until we relaxed, and told us mattress lore. (Q: Why are most modern mattresses one-sided, when the advice has always been to flip them every few months? A: Because the fire code changed in 2006, making it more expensive to bring mattresses up to code. Manufacturers cut costs by fireproofing only one side of their mattresses.) I nearly fell asleep on one of his mattresses, and we bought it.
Yesterday, three fellows wrestled a new Simmons Graball Plush Firm up the stairs and a sagging old Sealy Posturepedic down the stairs. Last night I had my first sound, restful, uninterrupted night's sleep in...I don't know how long. I bounced out of bed, was pleasant to my wife during breakfast, and had a clear head all day.
It's only been one night, of course, but I am optimistic that this is going to make a major difference in my quality of life. If you're sleeping poorly and your mattress is older than a first-grader, you might want to follow suit.
I've been habitually tired for a long time — I'd guess six months, but it could be longer. I didn't feel rested when I woke up, I felt more or less foggy and thick during the day, and about three hours before bed my brain turned itself off. That last is the worst — those are my most consistent writing hours, and I spent a lot of nights staring at the screen with oatmeal in my head before giving up and going to watch an episode of CSI. If anyone's been thinking to themselves, "Hey, jere7my's been a little off lately. He's not as sharp as he used to be," you're right. (I don't know if anyone has, but it's seemed obvious to me.)
I had a lot of theories. I messed with my breakfast choices; I fretted about my caffeine intake pattern; I speculated on lingering illnesses I might have; I tried to link it to biking (or not-biking). Most upsettingly, I worried that I was just getting old — that fogginess and dullness were part of the progression of my brain toward senility, and it would keep getting worse.
Then I noticed three things: One, I woke up refreshed in other beds, at Arisia and at my mom's and in Bar Harbor this summer. Two, I was feeling pressure points when trying to fall asleep in my bed, and felt generally dense and heavy. Three, our mattress was about seven years old, which Consumer Reports says is close to the end of a mattress's useful life.
Bing.
Last Saturday, we went to Watertown Mattress, where Mike the helpful and gregarious made us lie on a half-dozen mattresses, steered us toward the ones he sensed we'd like, ratcheted down the prices until we relaxed, and told us mattress lore. (Q: Why are most modern mattresses one-sided, when the advice has always been to flip them every few months? A: Because the fire code changed in 2006, making it more expensive to bring mattresses up to code. Manufacturers cut costs by fireproofing only one side of their mattresses.) I nearly fell asleep on one of his mattresses, and we bought it.
Yesterday, three fellows wrestled a new Simmons Graball Plush Firm up the stairs and a sagging old Sealy Posturepedic down the stairs. Last night I had my first sound, restful, uninterrupted night's sleep in...I don't know how long. I bounced out of bed, was pleasant to my wife during breakfast, and had a clear head all day.
It's only been one night, of course, but I am optimistic that this is going to make a major difference in my quality of life. If you're sleeping poorly and your mattress is older than a first-grader, you might want to follow suit.
