What was supposed to be a relaxing weekend got a little weird. All thanks to sleeping strangely, or something simple and dumb like that.
A few times a year I get a pinched nerve in my neck. It’s usually the result of sleeping on my stomach too much. Which is a problem because I prefer to sleep on my stomach. Anyway, sometimes these episodes are particularly powerful, and this weekend was one of those occasions. Strong pain through my neck, upper back, and left arm got in the way of my having very much fun on our weekend at home.
We did have brunch on Saturday morning at a cool little spot, then hit a couple hipster stores around the corner. By the time we got home, I could barely move my neck so I went for the muscle relaxers. I don’t do well with muscle relaxers, so that’s a sign of how uncomfortable I was. Sure enough, I dropped off to sleep about 20 minutes after taking one, and when I woke was groggy for the rest of the day and evening. I took another at bedtime thinking that would knock me out, I’d wake up in the morning refreshed and ready to go.
I got half my wish: it knocked me out alright. I slept straight through from 9:45 to 7:10, rolled over and looked at the clock, then went back to sleep for another hour. When I got up I felt like garbage. Drowsy, a little dizzy, and just plain out of it. Damn muscle relaxers! My sensitive system clearly can’t take them.
We went to a birthday brunch for one of my sisters in law, and I kind of muddled through that. When the rest of the family headed north to our nephew’s county fair parade, I returned home and sat on the couch watching TV and reading and trying to stay awake for four hours. I knocked out a couple episodes of Better Call Saul and about 50 pages of the book I’m reading, so it wasn’t a total loss. And my neck was feeling better. But I missed the fair, which I both always enjoy and is a great picture taking location.
Fortunately I woke this morning feeling close to normal again. All the after effects of the meds seem to be gone. My neck isn’t 100% pain-free, but neither is it keeping me from doing normal things.
Pinched nerves. Another chapter I should have included in my “getting older sucks” post from my birthday.