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Let's talk about Sleep

I had a very vivid dream last night.  This is not new information for those of you that follow my twitter and my, at least monthly, posts of #LastNightsStrangeDream.  I have strange, vivid nightmares all of the time, and take Prazosin to stop them.  However, something about the misfiring or strange chemistry of my migraines make Prazosin not work.  My dreams are long movies filled with characters from the waking life of my younger self.  Often, those characters spew hatred at me or I watch them die, then I wake up and try to shower away the great disappointment (and regain control over the left side of my body which feels disconnected from me after nights like this).  I don't encourage this behavior.  I encourage a strong sleep schedule and work with therapists and doctors to make it consistent and refreshing. Yet, I know I'm not the only spoonie that struggles with many factors impacting their sleep.

The Nocturnal Brain by Dr. Guy Leschziner addresses many of the difficulties that impact sleep. There is nothing I love more as a spoonie than seeing a Doctor address the lack of support we have for the things that steal spoons from us.

I received Nocturnal Brain from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This book is an amazing collection of case studies and information on the studies, or lack thereof, on the neurological processes that impact sleep.  At first, I thougt that this book may be too scientific for the casual reader.  However, as I continued along with the book, the cases were so interesting that I feel any reader would enjoy Nocturnal Brain.  Dr. Guy Leschziner does an amazing job of showing how sleep disorders, and some other neurological syndromes, impact the entire life of those diagnosed with them.  He shows how diagnostic process harms patients and lack of knowledge lets down doctors. This book encompasses everything any reader could dream of from a book about sleep.  I encourage it for medical professionals, the chronically tired, or anyone with a chronically tired person in their life.

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