That which does not kill me just makes me cranky and tired.

[holzman_tweed]

I'm getting older. Beats the fuck out of the alternative. It's obvious in a number of ways: my hair and beard have more grey, I have to worry about things like kidney stones[1], blood pressure, etc.

But the thing that has always been most obvious to me is my sleep requirements.

When I was 16, I could stay up 4 days straight if I didn't have to go to school. That's part of the secret of my success for reading as many books as I did that summer. In my early 20s, I'd take THE VOW[2] when Larping, or if I was too broke to afford a hotel room at a con. In my mid 20s, 48 hours became 24. It's become less and less.

Nowadays, I get tired pretty much daily. Coffee has less effect, but that could be a matter of building tolerance. Just sitting and working my noggin' for an RPG gets me nodding off. The marathon 12 or 24 hour tabletop sessions I used to think nothing of appear to now be a thing of the past. It's frustrating.

I've always known this sort of thing could happen -- how could it not? It's frustrating. But I already said that. It bears repeating.

Of course, age may be only one factor. How hard I work in the day may be a factor, or a million other things.

[1] The good news is that X-rays showed I have no more kidney stones sitting around. The bad news is that they happened to notice that I have gall stones waiting to happen. The good news is that gall stones can be vibrated into manageable bits.

[2] No food, no sleep, just THE GAME[3]

[3] OK, I could go no sleep, but I had to eat.

Comments

[wednesday]

It happens.

It's frustrating.

I know.

I know.


You learn.


I wish I could make it differ.

[buubala.livejournal.com]

Well they vibrated my kidney stones and had to take the gallbladder out so I am glad that you are able to get your gallbladder vibrated. Even though I have health issues I work very hard at running with the best of them. But I know and I also understand. Maybe attend more conventions? Maybe less stress? Hope things settle. Balance is important.

[liana]

It only takes me a week to reset my caffeine tolerance. If you start cutting back on a Friday afternoon, the worst is over by Monday.

Keep in mind that part of the tiredness may be due to low-grade dehydration caused by winter dryness, alcohol and of course caffeine consumption. Another thing to look at is evenness of calorie availability throughout the day, i.e. "sugar crashes".

[docstrange.livejournal.com]

Hear hear on the changing need for sleep and the perpetual looming feeling that "hrm, I could be tired... now." Grr.

How's about you not go for ALL the "traditional gentlemanly illnesses" eh? Ok? Thanks.