How well did you sleep last night?

[Pyraxis]

I dreamed the brakes went out in my car.

[odeon]

Not enough.

[lutra]

Slept well. Early in.. early out (bed).

[odeon]

Not enough.

This.

[Lestat]

Very nicely, although it took me a long time to actually GO to sleep, once I did, I actually fell asleep nice and deeply. Probably because I had stayed up very late, until 4-5am maybe later in order to work upon, well, upon what I DO.

Lol I actually fell asleep, drifting off to the constant quiet trickling noise in the background of the water pump recirculating coolant through one of my condensers and back into the main reservoir tank, and ended up nodding off and accidentally spilling the (non-precious and thankfully non-corrosive) contents of a test tube down my back, thankfully just a dilute sodium bisulfite/alcohol/water solution with a few drops of a test compound placed in it. Woke up and thought 'why the fuck is my back and my shirt wet?' then saw the test tube, near empty with just a quarter ml or less of what was a full tube, I hadn't even planned to fall asleep, I'd just sat down on the couch, slouched with my legs over the arm, watching a horror movie, and must have dropped off to sleep when it finished

I'm just glad that I didn't fall asleep whilst holding a test tube of say, caustic alkali of some sort, or concentrated acid/s/other corrosive substances. Woke up with my blast shield still clamped onto my head, visor down over my face (I always wear a blast shield, doesn't mean there is any blasting going on, its basically sort of like a welding mask, with a flip-up/down visor that can be locked into position, and goes right the way from covering the front of the head to about chest level, with a metal-lined polycarbonate shield, which serves to stop anything that might come rocketing my way of a corrosive/toxic/both nature, or something pyrophoric in flammable solvent that decided to volcano at my face, as well as things like acid spatters, corrosive mists and the like, and its definitely been a worthwhile purchase, that I've not regretted for a moment, probably saved my face a couple of times too)

Better to have it there and never need it, than need it and never have it, no?

[lutra]

So so, I'd say. Don't feel as fit as I'd like to be (after waking up). Hope a nice shower (soon) and a second cup of coffee will help a bit.

[Phoenix]

Last night was bad. Hoping for better tonight.

[Lestat]

*sneaks in to fluff up miss K's pillow, leaves a hot mug of hot chocolate by her bedside and sneaks off again with a smile*

Hope you sleep better tonight hun.

[Phoenix]

Thanks. I never sleep well when the SO works nights.

[Lestat]

Aw

For on-off use now and then, valerian might be useful, as well as chamomile oil added to a bath, jasmine is another good one for relaxing. The valerian is by mouth, and has some genuine sedative effects, its mild, but still effective in a real manner, not just some new age bollocks. Has some compounds in it that bind GABAa receptors, at the loreclezole allosteric binding site, a different site, but similar properties to benzodiazepine sedatives like valium, although milder. Be aware though it has some mighty peculiar effects on dreaming, namely it makes me dream like crazy. It feels like being on a bloody rollercoaster ride it can be that intense sometimes, although a tolerance to this effect arises so fast it can't be used in a dream-manipulating manner for more than maybe two doses spread over 2 nights in a row, but it also declines quickly too (tachyphylaxis), overuse big time could be addictive physically but its not really the sort of plant that lends itself to such use at all by its nature. Don't be put off by the smell either. It smells rank, and get the high-dose extract pills. Liquids are disgusting and they stink something awful. It doesn't mean you have a bad batch, it just smells nasty.

It does work if your restless though, to help you get a proper nights sleep. Although do expect VERY vivid dreams, especially if using it just once in a while. Weird stuff in that respect. Really weird, but in a good way. Available online, or from health food shops (they always dramatically understate an effective dose btw) and its very safe physically.  Also, its usually better product if its just valerian rather than some cocktail of small amounts of several different herbs, something like 200-400mg extract, rather than powdered root, in capsule or tablet form is best, a few of those and you should get a good nights rest and wake up a purring kitty the next day:)

[Phoenix]

Yogi makes a sleep tea that I'm going to try.  (Valerian, Chamomile, Passion flower and skullcap)

[Queen Victoria]

Woke up once at 1:13, said "Oh well" and promptly fell back to sleep.

[odeon]

Like a baby.

[lutra]

Woke up at about 4am, went downstairs, made a cup of tea, ate some cheese and went to bed again. Slept some more and woke up late. In all.. not that bad, not that great.

[Phoenix]

Another long night.