Still aging but not as gracefully

 I remember when  I could fall asleep anywhere. Once I was asleep, I slept for hours. As a teenager, I could hit the bed at 10 and sleep until noon the next day. That has all come to an end as I age.

This morning  I woke up at 1:30 a.m. I tossed and turned until 3:00 and decided I wasn't getting back to sleep so I got up, had my one cup of coffee, turned on Netflix and grabbed the computer.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, "1 in 3 adults worldwide have insomnia symptoms. and about 10% of adults meet the criteria for insomnia disorder." There are two kinds, acute and chronic which mean pretty much what you might think. Acute which is short term and chronic which is long term. 

I have never slept the way most people do. My sleep habits usually have me sleeping about 5 hours a day, which is pretty good for me. I never understood people who sleep for 8 or 9 hours. Or nap. What the heck is a nap? If I fell asleep during the day, I felt like crap when I woke up. No refreshing sleep feeling in my house. 

Lately, if I can manage 3 solid hours a night, it was a good night, but that is not enough. My average night consists of 2 hours, bathroom break. 1 hour, bathroom break. 2 hours, bathroom break. and on and on. I am not sure if something wakes me so I have to take a bathroom break or if I have to take a bathroom break so I wake up. 

I have often heard that growing older was not for the weak. The older I get, the more I find this to be true. The is very frustrating for someone who has always been the energizer bunny who existed on 4 hours sleep a night and could then run races for the other 20. 

The stomach meds I must take twice a day for the heartburn which became the GERD which turned in to Barrett's Esophagus from the many acidic and fatty foods that I crave all the time which my body cannot handle with no gall bladder and the above conditions. Every day I must take them

The steroid inhaler which causes the weight gain so I can continue to breath after years of smoking, throwing caution to the wind. I still want a smoke every day and if it was possible, I would still have one. Required twice a day for the past few years. 

The loss of hearing in my right ear due to a Parotid tumor which was diagnosed two years ago. They are benign and they grow very slowly, but it is there and I know it and I cannot hear sometimes out of my right ear. Doctors say this is not the tumor but TMJ, another symptom. I don't believe them. 

I am still mobile and still working. I still love doing yard work and getting my hands dirty. I would love to do more, but my energy level is not what it was when I was in my 30s. My aging is not as graceful as I would hope, but it is aging and it happens to us all.