Face warming

[bunsen_h]

I'm still having a lot of trouble with insomnia.  For several weeks, I've been lying in bed awake for hours after I go to bed.

Initially, it's a matter of physical discomfort; it takes the pain medication a while to kick in.  But after an hour or so in bed, that's pretty much gone.  After that, I just can't seem to settle my mind.

Loneliness is part of it.  I'm a bit more mobile than I was before; the swimming is helping.  But I'm still fretting about my lack of contact with people.  My stamina for sitting upright is still poor, so my on-line interactions are limited, and I'm low-energy, which limits how much time I can spend socializing, especially with large groups.  The insomnia feeds the energy drain, of course...  but I really need more quiet face-to-face time.  Could use more careful hugs and quiet cuddling with trusted friends, too.

Then there's the temperature thing.  My thermostat is set to let the house temperature drop a few degrees at night.  With the foam mattress topper, the pillows, and the blankets, I'm comfortably warm in bed — except for the exposed part of my face.  My nose gets cold, which would be fine if I were a dog, but I'm not.  Depending on how I'm lying, at least one cheek also gets chilly.  And I can't think of any way of fixing that short of raising the temperature in the entire room (if not the entire house) and adjusting the amount of blankets.  Given that a lot of the "insulation" is stuff I can't take away (mattress and topper, pillows), I'm not sure if that could give me a comfortable temperature balance.

It seems to me that what I really need is a small infrared heater, aimed at my pillow from above.  The electric nose warmer is not an option.
 

Comments

[beable]

*hugs*

I'm going from travel back to travel, but when i'm settled back from that you are on my list of people (also ambiviolent and shonokin) whom I haven't seen for awhile that I would like to catch up with.

[kattale.livejournal.com]

Our bedroom is quite chilly, too, and the entire house dips down at night. If I go to bed with a chill, I stay chilled all night. (If I raise the temperature, I sweat all night, so that doesn't help... I like the cold...)

My solution has been an electric heating pad. I put it behind me on my stack of pillows while I read at night, and it makes everything quite toasty. When I turn out the light, I switch off the pad and redistribute the heat-pad and pillows appropriately (my own minor back pain demands a pillow between my knees, a pillow for my arm to wrap around, and a peanut-memory-foam pillow under my neck/head). The pillows are appropriately warmed, including the one under my cheek (and I switch sides to warm the other cheek if necessary.) The pad and pillows cool slowly over the next half hour or so as I fall asleep. On the rare occasion that I get cold again in the night, the heating pad is right there for me to turn on again and position where I need it.

As it turns out, I don't have anything on this evening - if you would like some company, by all means let me know. Possibly not too late though, I am a bit sleep deprived and achy this week.

[bunsen-h.livejournal.com]

Company this evening, not too late, would be lovely if you're feeling up to it.

[kattale.livejournal.com]

That would be lovely. Say, around 7:00ish?

[bunsen-h.livejournal.com]

Sure -- see you then!

[ambiviolent.livejournal.com]

"how often have you [thought]...my nose is cold, if only I could warm it electrically"?
Um....never, actually.
I think this is how things keep on going wrong, Dr. Honeydew!

[elemnar.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine stresses out over work in his final year of uni, and solves the problem of being too stressed to sleep by writing out everything last thing at night. I sometimes get wrist ache, so it's not always helpful for me, but he swears by it, so it might help you?

And I find just having a source of heat (or two - wheatie bag and hot water bottle) helps me warm up eventually, even if my nose if painfully cold to start with.

Insomnia sucks... I hope you get a good night's sleep soon!

[mentisiterinvit.livejournal.com]

I have the same problem. The rest of me is fine under the blankets, but my face and especially my nose is absolutely freezing. also I can't sleep if my shoulders are uncovered by decent pajamas (which they do, in the crack between the blankets and the bottom sheet.

I've not found a good solution to this, other than buying and wearing good 'jamies'. What works is a small heater in my room, or programming the thermostat to warm up a couple of degrees about a half hour before i go to bed, then to usual temp a couple of hours later.

A bean bag is helpful, but trust me, you will want it on your face, so microwave it to less hot than you would otherwise.

I went to the nature museum with the kids a couple of weeks ago. there was a thermal imaging camera. Most of my face was nice shades of orange and red, suggesting good heat, and that part of my face looked like all the other people around. however in the center of my face, there was a blue/black area corresponding to no heat, and unsurprisingly, to my nose!

Anyway, check your messages, will I see you later today?(saturday)

And "you really should stop smoking Beaker, its very bad for you!" Had me LOL as well as giggling for quite some time afterward!
i.