Sleeping well

 I have had sleep disturbance as getting older. It is early morning awakening. Definitely, an aging process and an inheritance from my father. I used to get up in 5 hours sleep. Recently, sleep has been shortened to 3 or 4 hours. 

When I get up that early, I would try to do something of writing or posting in the internet. But in such early morning awakening, my brain won't work so well. I should spend a few hours without doing anything meaningful and then fall asleep for a while around the dawn. I became concerned about this sleep disturbance because the beta amyloid protein in the brain responsible for Alzheimer would be degradated only during sleep. Sleep distuirbance could be a risk factor for Alzheimer. 

Last night, I have taken a sleeping pill of short to intermidate action after several years interval. It sure has worked. I could have decent sleep for 6 hours plus. Getting up an hour or so after sunrise, I felt as if I were 30 or 40 years of age. No dizziness,  which is often described as a side effect of this kind of med for elderly. The only issue which could occur to me is dependency as the other benzodiazepines do. It is avoidable if I take the minimum amount of med with longer action and gradually reduce the dose. It is what I used to explain to patients when prescribing sleeping pills when I worked as a doc.  

I am amazed at the benefit of such a med. I should go on using it when necessary. The psychiatrist on charge of me asleep beside me may prescribe any better med when I want it. 

I know alcohol may deteriorate the quality of sleep. I have taken a glass of beer, that is, a can of 350ml beer, around sunset, when I finish working hard in the garden farm. My psychatrist suspects I depend on it. But I hardly believe that. I could go without it if necessary. It works only for a few hours. By the time I go to bed, I am totally sober so far as I subjectively recognize. With that beer, I could fall asleep for an hour or two early in the evening. Later, it could indirectly cause sleep disturbance with me. Sleep could be lighter than when taking no beer. I might have to give up taking that beer if I may have further sleep disturbance. I have already got that beer tonight, though.

There are other factors influencing the quality of sleep. No doubt, activity in the daytime is prerequisite for good sleep. When deadly tired, I could have sound and long sleep. The problem is that I could not always be deadly tired. If going on that way, I might sleep eternally. But I still try to work hard in the day time. In winter, I may go for walk around here.

Some kinds of music always lead me to good sleep, even though it won't necessarily work for early morning awakening. In my case, such musics are not so many. Recently, the Well Twmpered Klavier played by Richter, St. Matthew Passion conducted by another Richter, chamber musics of Faure and chamber musics of Brahms are my night cap musics. Intimate world is before me and I often feel each composer is telling me something. I am often amazed to feel Faure or Brahms is actually talking to me telling me he would talk this only to me... One of Brahms' work I love listening to is the 2nd movement of his 2nd piano quartet. This performance is absolutely excellent. The tempo is poco adagio. The strings start as if walking slowly with his/her lover while the piano sings a romantic song. There are different themes sung by each instrument while the beginning motif is always maintained. In 3 minutes from the beginning, after an moment of general pause, the piano abruptly expresses a burst of emotion while the strings accompany with the beginning motif in fortessimo. The same episode is repeated with the strings singing the same theme in unison while the piano accompanies them with arpegio. The general pause sounds like a bit longer than expected. It emphasizes the movement of the emotions in the theme played after each pause. I believe it is what the 1st violin player, Daishin Kashimoto, presently the concert master of Berliner Philharmoniker, intended to do in this portion. I was deeply moved by their performance expecially for this part.

Nothing is better than such an intimate and soothing chamber music.

Oh, it is the time for me to take the sleeping pill for now. Good night!