THE PRINCESS & THE PILLOW: FINDING THE PERFECT LINEN FOR A GOOD NIGHT’S REST
I’m fussy. I’m not fussy with food, weather, traffic or coffee. I’m fussy with pillows. And bedsheets. My husband knows the first […]
Category: About Me
SLEEPING THROUGH THE SILLY SEASON
Insomnia is a bugger of a thing all year long, but when the holiday madness starts to settle around me, it can play havoc with my carefully constructed routine.
REST, RELAX & REJUVENATE
Type “How To Relax” into Google and you’ll find 39,300,000 results. Clearly, relaxation has become something us twenty-first-century folk need a lot of help with.
THE WEARINESS OF FATIGUE IS MORE THAN FEELING TIRED
Today I want to sleep. I want to go to sleep and never wake up. To luxuriate in the endless bliss of […]
HOPES & DREAMS
Life is filled with moments where we hope. And where we dream. I have learned to be wary of hope but to embrace dreams.
LONG IN THE TOOTH
Not so long ago, I needed to go the dentist. It was a highly traumatic experience for me. With the level of trauma I had, you’d think I’d perhaps had a root canal, tooth extraction or dental implant. But no – I had a check-up.
AGING WITH RLS: THE LADY IN THE PURPLE HAT
We’re all getting older. This is a shared human experience – whether we want it or not. Caring for my grandmother as she gently floated to the magnificent age of 98 and two thirds, I became aware that older people seem to be more exaggerated versions of their younger selves.
GOING MENTAL: THE IMPACT OF INSOMNIA ON MY MENTAL HEALTH
This is the story of a woman who went mad. Lack of sleep will do that to you. When I was a baby I didn’t sleep fantastically well. Things haven’t improved.
SILENCE OF THE LAMBS: SLEEPING ALONGSIDE SLEEP APNEA
My husband has sleep apnea. He has both central sleep apneas (CSA) and obstructive sleep apneas (OSA). When he had his sleep study done, it showed […]
SO WHAT DO YOU ‘DO’ IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
Even with well medicated restless legs syndrome (RLS), I’m often awake and twiddling my thumbs during the night. Wondering what to do with myself.
DRIVING ME NUTS: STRATEGIES FOR MANAGING RLS IN A CAR
In order to go away for a delightful break, I have to get there. And that involves some sort of transportation – in this case, a car. Just thinking about having to travel in a vehicle induces an anxiety response – increased heart rate, shallow breathing, messy headspace and a nervous jiggle.
OUT & ABOUT
A month or so back I won a travel writing competition. I was pretty excited about that. To enter you had to submit 150 words about your favourite travel destination. As per usual I wrote about 1000 then had to trim it down. So it ended up a little truncated however, it passed the test and I won.
30 RECOVERY SONGS
Music is powerful. Babies are comforted by music in utero. My son used to wake up and dance to the ‘Sound of Music’ when I was six months pregnant and performing in the show. So it stands to reason something as emotionally challenging as recovery from [name your problem] can benefit from soaking in the soporific sounds of music that speaks to the heart.
A WINDOW INTO MY WORLD OF RESTLESS LEGS SYNDROME
How easy is it to talk about restless legs syndrome? To try and describe the indescribable sensations. To talk about treatments that do and don’t work. And to look at the impact it has on everyday lives, every single day. But what does it look like? Today I want to give you a little window into my world of wiggly legs.
DON’T TELL ME NOT TO TAKE MY MEDICATIONS
There are many conditions where friends and family encourage you wholeheartedly to take whatever treatment options are prescribed by health professionals. Illnesses like diabetes, multiple sclerosis, asthma, cancer. There are some conditions, however, where people you know and love, and sometimes people you’ve barely even met, have a robust opinion on how you should look after your own health and wellbeing.