Full moon and sleeplessness

[mint]

I was having a physio session yesterday and the kiné asked how I was.  I said I hadn't slept for a couple of nights and felt a bit sluggish.

She said, in an off-hand sort of way, that perhaps this was due to the full moon.  It was, to me, such an odd thing to have said even in jest and even as I protested that I was not a wolf, I couldn't help thinking about it.

I think of all the nights when I have been restless, gone to make a cup of tea and stopped to admire the moon from our verandah.  I love looking at the moon and not only when it is full.  But I do remember very full moons, for example, just before my dog died and wondering how many, if any more full moons she would see.

To cut a long story short, I was intrigued enough to have a quick google and, blow me, there were stories, conjectures, pseudo science articles and even an experiment!

So, nothing scientific here, but does anyone else have problems sleeping when there is a full moon?

[cajal]

If the moon is capable, with its gravitational pull, of affecting the earth's oceans then what hope is there for we mere humans.

I suffer from a small mild localised form of psoriasis on the back of my neck and right ear canal.

This condition only needs the attention of a prescribed medication at the time of a full moon.

Make of that what you will.

[mint]

Perhaps you should sleep à la belle étoile and see if the moonlight gives you the same relief as the medication?  Only joking................

It does seem very odd to me when the remark was made and, of course, now I am looking retrospectively to see if there is any substance to what was said.

I wish I hadn't heard it though because now I will EXPECT not to sleep this time next month[:'(]

[idun]

Gardeners I know will plant at certain points of the moon, as I am not a gardener cannot remember what they say about this, but I know that they do just that.

I see the tides being affected by it though, so it affects the planet greatly, just not my sleep, little affects that.

[idun]

double post

[Théière]

That wasn't just a full moon, it was also a v large harvest moon which may have lit up the bedroom a bit more causing a disturbed sleep?

[mint]

No, Teapot, we have very effective shutters on all windows and the door.

Also, in the experiment, the people were kept in a lab with no light from outside

[Patf]

Mint - when we lived in Singapore I had a job which involved visiting a psychiatric hospital in Johor Bahru. They had to lock up all the patients when there was a full moon, or they would rampage all over the hospital. So they said.

Before the days of modern drugs.

But I sympathise with you about sleeplessness. I woke at 2.30 am last night and never went back to sleep.

[Théière]

Crikey, are you suggesting we lock Mint up every full moon in case she goes rampaging??

Mint I will PM you my address just before the next full moon [:D][:P]

[mint]

We went out this evening, just after sunset and before the moon rose because OH had heard that there would be meteor showers towards the Plough.

Not difficult to find somewhere without street lighting but the meteor showers were elusive and all we saw were aeroplanes though some stars did come out as it got darker.

Pat, we musn't forget that "lunatic" comes from the word luna or moon!

Teapot, if you come to lock me up, could you slip me something in the nightcap so that I could go to sleep?

[Grecian]

Did you mange to sleep last night mint, or did you spend all night howling?[:D] As Idun has pointed out gardening by the moon seems to be a big thing in France, so there could be something in it. I have tried planting seeds when the moon is doing a double somersault or whatever, not sure it has made any difference to anything that I have planted though.

[Patf]

I've been subscribed to the weekly gardening magazine Rustica for many years. It always contains advice for the week on gardening by the moon, and once a year encloses a calendar for the coming year.

Basically - plant when moon descending, root crops. Moon ascending  leafy crops.

ps There are good recipes there, with seasonal fruit and veg, and on the back page a cartoon series which, Mint, gives many hints for current french language. (Pico.)

[mint]

There is a vineyard near me where they do this moon thing.  If this full moon malarky is going to stop me sleeping, I think I'll enquire about a job to do for these people!!!

I HATE not sleeping because I feel lacklustre the following day.  When I have had a good sleep, I leap out of bed and is generally unbearably cheerful (for other people) too early in the morning!

[mogs]

I am fascinated by the stars, the moons, the supermoons and anything to do with this.

As a young child I had a fantastic book about planets and stars etc. It had pull out pages and I just loved, and still enjoy the subject.

As for sleep, I don't much and seem to live in constant sleep deprivation and I don't think it's anything to do with the moon.

[mint]

Mogs, do you remember when we used to have an insomniacs' thread on here?

In those days, I used to sleep OK, full moon or no, but people used to come on the Forum at all hours of the night to say what they were doing instead of sleeping[:D]

[Chancer]

Women and lunar cycles..........................................

 

Best not go there! [:P]

 

It certainly has a big effect on both the physical and the natural world.

 

I have been waking up at 4am and not sleeping again till 8am for the last few days.

[YCCMB]

I've had insomnia for years. Here in the land of 24 hour supermarkets, it wasn't unknown for me to pop to Tesco at 3 am rather than lie in bed wide awake. I've also tiled the kitchen overnight, washed machine loads of stuff that would get in the way of me doing the normal washing, glazed my ceramics, all sorts.

These days, I sleep better but have odd episodes of sleepless nights. They almost invariably coincide with the full moon, FWIW. Took me ages to notice. I deliberately don't pay any attention to the phases of the moon, as I want to believe it's all hokum and would much rather not give the idea any credence, but a couple of nights ago I was wide awake until maybe 3:30 am, and of course it was the full moon.

Slept like a log 99% of the time I was in France, except for when it was full moon (shutters closed so I couldn't see it).

So, yes, I think there might be something in it, but I try to ignore it in order not to lie awake anticipating that I'm not going to sleep because of it. If that makes any sense.

[alittlebitfrench]

This is really weird. I have got up at 4 am for the last three nights. Normally I get up at 6.

I did realise we had a full moon at the moment.

Interesting

[Chancer]

Like you Betty I dont want to believe in the hokum pokum, I am back in the UK in my shed surrounded by trees and wildlife where I usually sleep like a log, no traffic noise and no tenants going out the front door, its still a full moon so we will see how I sleep but the first day after a journey I would probably sleep well anyway.

 

I think that the animal within us is always ready for fight or flight and I think that we tune out regular noises when we realise they dont pose any threat, I am by an airport here and have lived beside railway lines before without a problem, the traffic (5 am shift change) in France never used to bother me but when I got the first tenant on the upper floor after 9 years I would awaken when their door closed, the same thing happened when I did the flats on the 1st and ground floor, they cut a trench across the road to repair the gas main, the infill job is 100% but if cars drive over it fast it makes a boo-boom vibration, that has been awakening me and keeping me awake despite it probably being quieter than the vehicle noise.

 

finally to add to my woes I have rats or a loir wearing clogs in the ceiling above my bed so I wear earplugs now, here in the UK the squirrels, foxes, cats and pigeons all make a racket on the barely insulated roof above my head but it never wakes me up, its just part of the non threatening ambient noise like the aircraft taking off from Gatwick.

[mogs]

[quote user="mint"]Mogs, do you remember when we used to have an insomniacs' thread on here?

In those days, I used to sleep OK, full moon or no, but people used to come on the Forum at all hours of the night to say what they were doing instead of sleeping[:D]

[/quote]

Yes I do remember that Mint. Wonder what happened to it.

Mind you I try to avoid anything electronic when I can't sleep

[mint]

No, I don't do electronic but I do attempt 11-grid Sudoku and I read books[:-))]

[Patf]

I've talked to our doctor about my problem but he won't prescribe anything. Apart from some herbal drops. (Have I written that before?)

But I occasionally take 2 piriton tablets, which make me drowsy. if I've got a busy day following, and I doze off.

Sleeplessness seems more common in women than in men. Perhaps we're programmed to wake at the smallest peep from our babies  (TG no more of that kind of sleepless nights.)

[NormanH]

"Lunatic" and "lunatique" are slightly faux amis

I have usually heard lunatique used to mean' changeable' 'unstable' rather than frankly bonkers [:D]

http://dicocitations.lemonde.fr/definition_littre/16512/Lunatique.php?id_variante=61640

[Chancer]

[quote user="Patf"]I've talked to our doctor about my problem but he won't prescribe anything.
[/quote]

 

Its only a problem if you allow yourself to think that it is.

 

I know that when I am tired, I mean really tired that I will sleep like a baby, its rare that I work long enough and hard enough to do so day in day out, at times when circumstances have dictated that I got little sleep I slept really well, 5 hours a night over a sustained period is the minimum and I sleep really well, beyond 8 hours and I definitely get insomnia but I just accept it for what it is, somewhere between the two is the optimum, trouble is I dont like early mornings or getting up!

[Gardengirl]

Here’s a link to the original insomniacs’ thread, started by

AnOther, then it was resurrected under something like ‘where are all the insomniacs?’ for a time.

http://services.completefrance.com/forums/completefrance-forums/cs/forums/1/1954159/ShowPost.aspx#1954159

I still take prescribed painkillers which help with pain, fairly often have 4-6 hours sleep, but still have the odd totally sleepless night.

The full moon has had no effect on my sleep, but I did love seeing the many stars when I went out on the balcony just before 05.00. Strange how such a huge moon still leaves the stars so visible.