An open thread for personal stuff, continuing from here.
As usual for these threads: no trolls, no MRAs, no I’m-not-really-an-MRA-buts, don’t be mean.
Categories
We Hunted The MammothBucking the Backlash
We Hunted The Mammoth
I haven’t even opened the box for mine, yet! It’s a mini iPad. No idea how it works or what’ll be on it. I sure won’t be downloading anything that costs money.
@Emilygoddess, I haven’t been keeping up with the threads, and I missed what you wrote, only noticing from what @hellkell said above.
All the internet hugs and kitties. And nthing about the congratulations about retaining your sobriety. You’re such a strong person. 🙂
And the govt are failing to fulfill the promises they made to Scotland to stay part of Britain. What a surprise! Not like they did this last time as well….
It’s not like the English have a history of dishonoring promises they make to indigenous/earlier inhabitants of lands they acquire… Who knew?
I know, pallygirl! All it requires is a total lack of historical knowledge! (Unfortunately enough of the population did)
Hi everyone, I hope everyone’s been well since the last (very long ago) time I was here… Does it count as delurking if I’ve done it a couple times before?
I’m plagued with insomnia tonight, and decided to grab my computer and re-engage with the internet… So naturally I came here.
Hi, SittieKitty, long time no see! How are you doing? I’m just popping in while my tea steeps.
I’m doing better enough to grab my computer and open it up. So apart from the insomnia not terrible.
How’re you kitteh?
Not bad, overall! Had a few, hmm, events over the last six months – they don’t qualify as dramas, lol. Got laid off in April and am rather enjoying being unemployed. I also seem to have developed acid reflux, which is less enjoyable.
Insomnia sucks. 🙁
Do you drink herbal tea? I was just looking at pages on herbal teas, since I’ve hardly tried any and some seem to be recommended for reflux. I had no idea chamomile has an apple-ish flavour. ::tea ignoramus::
I drink all the teas. I love tea. I would say chamomile definitely has a fruity flavour, as well as that flowery flavour that can happen. My personal favourites are green and mint, and caramel rooibos at the moment.
Sucks about being laid off, that can be hard even if you enjoy it. Otherwise no massive dramas I hope.. Family life been good?
Insomnia does suck, it’s been something I’ve been dealing with for several years but I feel like it’s getting worse…
I love tea, but hate rooibos 🙁
Anything you can think of that’s making your insomnia worse, SittyKitty? Are you on meds for it or anything like that?
It was a bummer being laid off, because I liked where I worked and I’d been there nine years. I’d hoped to be there till retirement – the last person in that job was. Ah well.
Everything else is pretty much the same. My sister’s in Queensland, unemployed and at the “I have no desire to get a job” stage too, though she volunteers at an animal rescue place. Mum’s okay given her age and general health since her stroke a couple of years ago. The kitties rule the roost, as it should be! Over the other side, everything’s just as usual with Mr K and the vast Furrinati household. I posted a new pic of him upthread, dunno if you saw it. WordPress decided recently to start embedding pics instead of just showing links. Goodness knows why!
I think chamomile tastes like grass, personally. I love herbal tea in general but I’m not fond of chamomile at all – it’s tolerable, but not really enjoyable.
I’m not keen on chamomile, but rooibos is the one I’ll refuse to drink
I’ve only tried a couple of herbal teas so far, and they’re of the tolerable variety for me – ginger and lemon, and mint ginger, I think it was. I always drink black tea with milk, so just having water-only tea is a bit of a jump anyway.
I see there’s actually catnip tea as well. Imagine the kitties wanting to sip that!
Raspberry and cranberry tea is quite good. Beautiful aroma, even if you don’t drink it.
Passionflower is another tea that makes you sleepy, if you can’t stand the taste of chamomile. Valerian too, obviously, but some people find that makes them feel sluggish the next day.
Here’s a cute puppy for anyone who needs one:
http://actinglikeanimals.com/wp-content/uploads/pin544145d88f26b.jpg
Congrats on the impending diploma, Kittehs! Are you finding the teas helpful? With acid reflux, I find both ginger and mint just make mine worse.
Also, I fucking hate chamomile. And it’s in every effing “relaxation”/sleep-inducing tea I can find. I’ve started just making my own mint-lavender blend, but getting the loose herbs turns out to be tough in my area.
I can take or leave rooibos, but I’ve read it can interact badly with the class of antidepressants I’m on, so I avoid it.
@Scottish folks: I’m sorry. Not surprised, sadly, but sorry.
Sorry to hear about your dad emilygoddess, but glad you are hanging in there and staying sober.
I kind of just started dropping in here again. I lost my best friend to cancer two weeks ago. She was only diagnosed a few months ago. Things have just been fucking awful. I am pretty much done with 2014 in general, thinking about this year just makes me feel sick. I really feel like I should be back on meds, but I stopped taking them when I relapsed earlier this year. Ugh. I can’t even call for a refill because my psychiatrist passed away in August. I don’t really have the money or time to see a new psychiatrist. So much ugh.
I have a lavender-ginger-hibiscus one which is super refreshing. And a bunch of loose leaf from twinings that are herbal. I haven’t found a tea from them yet that I really didn’t like. I’m not a huge fan of chamomile either, I find it bitter and oddly flavoured. I like the smell but can’t do the taste.
Catnip tea is supposed to be good for getting to sleep actually. I guess it mimics melatonin or something?
I’m not on any meds for the insomnia unfortunately, I wish I were but I can’t do it because of my job. I’m not sure how they would interact with my current meds anyway but it certainly would be useful…
I’ll have to check out the rest of the thread, I haven’t done that yet. I’ve been *slowly* getting back into it; just the thought of opening my computer for a while there was making me anxious and I went through a really bad fuck-everything-leave-me-alone-i-want-to-never-leave-my-bed-and-just-die-here-no-one-would-notice phase for a while too.
Seems like embedding pics would be potentially awful on any site that has trolls intent upon it. Maybe that’s just me talking from awful experiences in the past. I’ve learned very very solidly never to click links unless they’re from people I trust or others have already opened.
I’m sorry to hear about your friend bunnybunny 🙁 That’s really hard. I hope you’re taking care of yourself, speaking from experience I know that can be something that goes by the wayside when you’re *just done*.
@bunnybunny you have my sympathy and empathy. You’re right, 2014 sucks.
Tryptophan can help with sleep (or 5HTP — 5-hydroxy-tryptophan — if you can’t get the pure stuff in your area). It’s an amino acid.
St John’s Wort *might* help, it seems to act like a serotonin re-uptake inhibitor, but it can also raise your blood pressure and, of course, interact with other stuff you’re taking.
Meditation can help you fall asleep, although usually only for squirrel-brain stuff, not chemical stuff. The easiest method I’ve learned: count your breaths to 4, and then start over, and over again. If you find yourself at 27, just start over. The point is to concentrate on the counting, and let your other worries slip away. I used this to relax at the start of my root canal, and ended up sleeping through the whole thing. I’m sure I snored and drooled the whole way through, too.
Haven’t tried Tryptophan. Does it make you drowsy? That’s my big issue with sleep aids, they can’t keep me drowsy if I get woken up because I’m on call and require being alert if I get woken up.
St. John’s Wort definitely reacts with my meds, unfortunately. Can’t take it.
I need to go to a sleep clinic but I find it really hard to find time and opportunity, since you have to go through the whole getting referrals and shit and that takes fucking forever and by the time my referral rolls around I’m usually back into fuck-everything-and-life mode and couldn’t give a crap about making my appointment…
RE: grumpyoldnurse
How’s the ceiling, if you don’t mind me asking?
The ceiling is… well, the rotten bit has been cut away and the roof sealed, so now there’s just a big damp smelly hole in my roommates’ ceiling. Not great, but definitely an improvement!
And yeah, I definitely sleep more during the rough mental health times.