Insomnia and Sleepwalking in Russia

This symbol, on a shop door window in my neighborhood, means the store will not close for a break in the middle of the day, as is the custom for many banks, government offices, even radio stations. -

But for me the symbol is a reminder to not drink tea!

-

 

Where am I? 
-
I remember waking one dark May night, standing, not knowing where I was.  Slowly I felt around, hoping I was in a familiar place and not on the edge of danger. 
 -
Just about every night last May I  kicked my legs, fell asleep sitting on the bed side, or started to travel.  Lucky it was when I awoke before I fell, or crashed into a wall or chair. 
-
Once I fell asleep while walking to the bathroom, tumbling backward off flimsy slippers, smashing my left arm and lower back.  I wasn’t better for a month. I hid my slippers.
-
I sleepwalked just about every night through June.  If I didn’t fall or crash, I’d keep quiet about it as my sonambulism worried Larissa enough as it was. One injury would be partially healed and I would have another.
-
Sleep walking is kind of neat, but risky.
-
It happened first in 1995 when visiting in Pennsylvania . Once I woke up on the back deck, another time in the basement.
-
I used to joke that I should put a sign on my back… Just Sleepwalking! so an angry husband in a strange house didn’t shoot me. That’s a real risk in America.
-
Sleep walking tumbles…
-
I seem to do my best sleep walking in the summer months.  Other years I fell from a train berth, fell at my cousin’s house in Pena, fell in Pena hospital the next night. That cousin, who is also my good doctor, found my face funny, and took a few photos… cut up and bruised like a пианиe pee-a-nee, what we call a drunk.
-
Restless leg syndrome, insomnia, and sleepwalking…
-
It’s a mistake to look to psychology to explain all of our behavior.
-
Years of twitching and kicking in bed (Restless Leg Syndrome), occasional sleeplessness, and sleepwalking for me can be put down to a hypersensitivity to caffeine.
 -
Less is more when it comes to drugs…
-
The last 20 years I have taken Klonopin, Cipralex and other medicines for anxiety or depression and to help me sleep. I realize now that often these drugs contributed to my overall sleep problem.
-
They can be addictive, and can give a slight euphoria that can lead to bad judgment.  Often drowsiness results, which fuels the need for caffeine.
-
How Russians look at all this…
-
Larissa would say in Russian, ‘Robert is a лунатик, pronounced  lunateek, strange to hear because she just meant sleepwalker, not that I was crazy.
-
Russians usually refuse any psychological help, and will not take psychogenic drugs.  To do so they feel shows weakness.
-
People (traditional) medicine is OK with them, but for me such pills as Формула Сна, (Formula Spa, sleep) are worthless or have a reverse effect of keeping me awake.
-
How Sleeping in Russia is different from sleeping in America…

-
It goes back to war and upheaval…
-
The USSR had to find a way to  share housing. With the 1917 Revolution the Kremlin specified that large houses were to be divided into rooms so as to provide maximum shelter for the people.  These communal apartments flourished, with one room for each family  unit, and a kitchen and toilet to share.
-
The devastation of the Great Patriotic War (WWII), left many people homeless again.  Stalinsky six floor walkups were built, solid structures with small apartments.   Later Kruschevsky apartments provided more space and comfort.
-
Small apartments and convertible beds…
-
The pullout bed is part of Russian thinking.  It answers their need for more space.  Immigrants to America continue by habit to furnish their large apartments with space saving beds... convertible sofas, trundles (spare bed on rollers below the first), and wall-folds (Murphy beds)
-
Russians visual a bed as being part of a bed-sofa.  Europeans and Americans think of a bed as a bed- bed.
-
Back to sleepwalking in the village…
-
I’m 67, have a health condition, was aggravated by the cold wet weather, was taking  medications, drinking tea to stay warm, and making a sandwich at midnight or later. 
-
In June I stopped taking sleeping pills, quit fixing Dagwood sandwiches at midnight, and skipped all regular tea. My night walking stopped!
-
No midnight food and no tea all day is hard to follow in Russia…
-

Russians are often night people.  Our Zaloza cousins milk their cows around midnight.  It’s perfectly OK to telephone someone after 9 PM in St Petersburg, as many apartment lights stay on to at least twelve.
-
Staying up so late means a hungry Russky or expat!  Also, Russians are often exuberant people, once away from their public lives and with friends.   Beer, vodka, and tea restore the Russian soul!
-
Russians are big tea drinkers, and like to eat a chocolate-something with a cuppa!

-
Russians on average drink  more cups of tea a day than Americans drink coffee.  From my Scottish background I would say people in St Petersburg drink as much tea as in Edinburgh.  Our favorite is Ahmad English Breakfast .
-
Russian chocolates (with  caffeine) are a pride of the land.  Chocolates are given to the doctor or nurse, and are often brought as a hostess present, along with obligatory flowers, and a bottle for the table.
-
I am motivated!
-
So, with late nights, frequent holidays,  and cups of tea everywhere, it’s hard to keep to what works for me.  But I do, (with occasional lapses).  At near 68, spills are more than just a pain in the neck… they can result in broken bones!
-
Now in October I sleep well in Russia… and hope restless legs, sleeplessness, and sleepwalking will not haunt me again!





Now it’s easy to comment!  Just click comments on the next to last line below.

---

Worthwhile Articles
-
How Sleepwalking Works
-Related articles by Zemanta

• Sleepwalking - All Information (umm.ed®

-
Technorati Tags: Technorati Tags: Technorati Tags: falling asleep,sleepwalking,caffeine hypersensitivity,restless leg syndrome,RLS,insomnia,seasonal sleep problems,Klonapin,Cipralex,anxiety,depression,lunatic,communal apartment,Russian apartment architecture,Stalinsky,Kruschovsky,convertible beds,Russian tea drinking,chocolates,sleepwalking advice.

Stumble Upon Tags: Sleep, caffeine hypersensitivity, sleepwalking, restless leg syndrome, RLS, insomnia, seasonal affective disorder, SAD, Klonapin, Cipralex, anxiety, depression, lunatic, communal apartment, Stalinskiy apartment, Kruschovsky apartment, convertible beds, tea drinking culture, food with caffeine.

-

tweetmeme Tags: Sleep, caffeine hypersensitivity, sleepwalking, restless leg syndrome, RLS, insomnia, seasonal affective disorder, SAD, Klonapin, Cipralex, anxiety, depression, lunatic, communal apartment, Stalinskiy apartment, Kruschovsky apartment, convertible beds, tea drinking culture, food with caffeine.

-
Del.icio.us Tags: Sleep, caffeine hypersensitivity, sleepwalking, restless leg syndrome, RLS, insomnia, seasonal affective disorder, SAD, Klonapin, Cipralex, anxiety, depression, lunatic, communal apartment, Stalinskiy apartment, Kruschovsky apartment, convertible beds, tea drinking culture, food with caffeine.

-
Digg Tags: Sleep, caffeine hypersensitivity, sleepwalking, restless leg syndrome, RLS, insomnia, seasonal affective disorder, SAD, Klonapin, Cipralex, anxiety, depression, lunatic, communal apartment, Stalinskiy apartment, Kruschovsky apartment, convertible beds, tea drinking culture, food with caffeine.