Hi Cass,
Well, you know that I am unhappily looking for regular work as well. My PCP upped my dose of the Synthroid & that has helped me feel a bunch better & finally get some sleep.
But there so many sleeping medicines out there. I think maybe you should see some kind of doctor about
getting something, at least for the short term. There are hypnotics (like Ambien or Lunesta), anti-anxiety meds (like Valium), anti-psychotics (like Seroquel), anticonvulsants (like Lyrica or Neurontin) and antihistimines (like Benadryl). Depending on what you tolerate & what may be contributing to your sleeplessness, doctors can write for any of these meds so just because you don't tolerate a few of them doesn't mean there aren't options.
If you don't want to go the drug route, my personal favorite is acupuncture. I know it has really helped me in the past. It does take a couple of sessions to work, but often it is covered by insurance & it's all natural. They can also sometimes help lower stress & other problems with acupuncture. Massage, hypotherapy, meditation & yoga can also help, though usually those aren't covered by insurance & I know money's tight for you right now (as it is for me).
There is also lots of information out there about
"sleep hygiene". Here's one link:
http://www.sleepeducation.com/Hygiene.aspxMostly those things don't really help me, but I know a lot of people are helped by them.
As for being unemployed, I would say try to find something to get up for every day -- even if it's only an hour or two of volunteer work in the morning followed by 4-5 hours of job hunting. In most states, you can still qualify for partial unemployment even if you are working a few hours a week (provided you would otherwise qualify for unemployment benefits). In my state, you can even manage to get a bit more money for yourself by doing this. There are a decent number of part-time temporary jobs (esp. with the holidays coming up) where you could at least have a little bit to do.
I know it totally sucks not having a job. It just ruins everything else. I think the only thing worse is not having anything meaningful at all to do with your time. I don't know what options are available to you in your area, but maybe you would consider checking out the AmeriCorps site. They will even give volunteers money for university classes at the end of a period of service in some cases. Their site is:
http://www.americorps.gov/I sure wish I could do more. I feel so badly for you. I definitely think you need to start with getting sleep. Not sleeping makes everything else a million times worse. Once you get some sleep, maybe there are some other things you can do to start to feel a little bit better. I totally get that nothing would feel as good as landing a job & getting back on solid financial ground, but maybe there are some "compromise" options we can both find to help us survive until we can find real work.
Hang in there!
frances
PS -- I know I'm not a mom -- yet. But honestly there's only one toy I even remember getting as a child. It is the time you spend with your children that matters in the long run. I'm sure it's hard when they are begging for something & you wish you could afford it, but try to hold on to the fact that the best things in life really are free -- spending time with them, telling them how much you love them, taking them to volunteer at a soup kitchen/food pantry so they can see just how blessed they really are, working on a small craft project with them [my favorite growing up was making pine cone bird feeders -- we got the pine cones from our back yard, spread them with peanut butter & would split a bag of birdseed with several neighbors -- after we finished, we would check out a book from the library about
birds & would try to identify the ones that came to our feeders -- honestly, I don't think we ever got any of them except maybe the robins & cardinals correctly identified, but it was fun!], making snow angels, etc.
Keep reminding yourself that you are a WONDERFUL mom. It's so easy to get caught up in wanting things, but in the end your girls will remember you & how much you cared for them much more than they will ever remember how many presents you bought them. :) (((((hugs)))))
Post Edited (Frances_2008) : 11/1/2009 1:16:39 PM (GMT-7)