[AE.Personal] On taking it lying down.
Last night, throughout my dreams, I kept suffering minor accidents and small injuries, most of which seemed to be completely random and not particularly related to anything else I was dreaming about.
Each time that it happened, my dad was there -- sometimes he had been part of whatever else was happening and other times this was the first indication that he was there, offering to get me some aspirin or Tylenol.
When I woke up in the morning, I found that at some point in the night I had rolled part of the way over in bed, into a very uncomfortable position and thereby aggravted my back (which suffers a minor curvature) and right arm (which I dislocated in my early twenties), among other parts.
As I was taking some naproxen (my OTC painkiller of choice for most purposes), it occurred to me that the unusually slapstick nature of my dreams might have been the distress signals being sent by my pain receptors intruding into the dream, creating the suggestion from someone I trust -- a figure of support and protection in my life -- that I was hurting and should perhaps take a little something for it.
I don't usually take aspirin or Tylenol these days, but they were the first painkillers I was aware of as a child so it's probably not surprising that they are what my subconscious mind came up with.
There's a bit of memetic wisdom of the sort that circles in the form of memes and "evergreen posts" on social media that goes along the lines of, "You know you're getting older when you can injure yourself sleeping."
Well, I am a few months shy of 42, which I know isn't old but it is certainly is older, and while waking up in pain is not actually anything altogether new for me, I can say that it seems to be happening more intensely, more often. After all, this was the second time in less than a week where I spent a day more or less out of commission due to incurring debilitating pain before I was even out of bed.
For most of the day today, I expected that today would be the day I let my ongoing streak of newsletter updates fall by the wayside but during dinner I found myself with an idea that seemed wtihin reach, and so I'm firing it off before I go and very carefully arrange my limbs for bed: another discussion topic for another Friday mail bag.
This one will probably have less commentary from me, as it's more of an individual topic. What I'd like to hear -- from whoever would like to share -- is about the pain and discomfort of aging, the unexpected aches and the new forms of fragility, and on a more helpful or at least hopeful note, any tricks for managing them.
You don't have to be any age in particular to participate; we are all older than we were, and I know as well as anyone that there's no set timetable on which a body will do what a body will do.
If you would like me to share your message with the community, please state within your email that you give me permission, what name (if any) you would like me to use and what pronouns you would like me to list.
And since part of the value of talking about this kind of thing online, for me, lies in finding out that other people are experiencing or have experienced similar things, I'll say that if you'd like to include any questions (I'm thinking along the lines of "Has anyone else ever had ______ happen?" but presumably people who have questions will think of others) or requests for advice for the group, feel free, and if that generates any subsequent replies I can include them in a subsequent mailbag.
Needless to say, but I'm not a doctor or any kind of medical professional and nobody participating in this community-building exercise will be acting as a medical professional. This is more like small talk at an informal gathering, albeit with a specific drift.
Anyway, I'm off to bed, in hopes of the healing power of slumber and no further nocturnal contortions or contractions. I hope you all have a very good night's sleep as well.
-Alexandra