Rachael Combe was coming apart under the burden of unrelenting insomnia. Nothing helped – until one day her dentist, of all people, told her she had the so-called “young, thin, beautiful woman’s sleep disorder”. Flattered, she investigated
I ’d wake in the middle of the night, gasping for breath as though surfacing from a near drowning. My heart would be racing, my skin clammy, my organs suffused with fear, like I’d been pickled in some bitter brine while I slept, and now, at 2 or 3am, I was fighting my way out of the jar. I’d then lie awake for hours, my life flashing before my eyes – but only the sad, bad, mad parts. Even the happy scenes curdled in this film – I was screwing up my children, ruining my marriage, wasting my life. And my life! Was I dying? This gasping and sweating in the night – something was wrong with me.
The episodes started in my early thirties and went on for years, gradually progressing in severity and frequency until, according to my Fitbit, I was averaging only four hours of sleep a night. I’d always been an insomniac, but this was a new level of hell. In the past, I’d prided myself on being a hard worker. Now I could barely keep my mind on a task for 15 minutes. My body began to break down: my ankle gave out mysteriously, and I had to wear an orthopaedic boot for months. I ached everywhere. I developed rosacea. It was hard to eat out because everything but the plainest food made me sick.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 2017-Ausgabe von ELLE Australia.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 2017-Ausgabe von ELLE Australia.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Books: Shelf-Care
Find a little respite in this season’s most exciting new reads
Men's Rites
Deciding to go through a gender transition isn’t easy for anyone. But the hardest person for journalist Daniel Mallory ortberg to convince was himself
THE big CLEANSE
WE’VE PURGED OUR KITCHEN CABINETS OF SUGAR AND CULLED THE CLOTHES THAT DON’T SPARK JOY, BUT WE MAY HAVE ARRIVED AT THE MOST BENEFICIAL (AND EASIEST) CLEANSE OF ALL
singled OUT
WE’VE ENTERED AN ERA OF MYRIAD RELATIONSHIP STATUSES – COUPLED, FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS, OPEN, POLYGAMOUS, THREE-DIGITALDATES-IN-BUT UNSURE-WHERE-THIS-IS-GOING. But is flying solo the last taboo?
To The Australian Dreamers...
There are still not enough indigenous stories being told in Australia in an extract from her memoir, Miranda tapsell explains why – and what to do about it
Girl's Got Game
LIZ CAMBAGE HAS REACHED OLYMPIAN HEIGHTS OF SUCCESS, PLAYING BASKETBALL FOR THE LAS VEGAS ACES AND SCORING A SPOT ON AUSTRALIA’S TEAM FOR TOKYO. BUT SPEAKING OUT ABOUT HER MENTAL HEALTH BROUGHT HER TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL
Balancing Act
FORMER COMPETITIVE RUNNER SUSAN* REFLECTS ON THE SHIFT THAT OCCURRED WHEN HER BODY LET HER DOWN WHILE SHE WAS AT HER STRONGEST, THREATENING TO DERAIL HER DREAMS OF STARTING A FAMILY
SUSTAINABLE SWAPS
A MORE PLANET-FRIENDLY ROUTINE IS EASIER THAN YOU MIGHT THINK
SUPER NATURAL
EMBRACE THE CALL OF THE WILD IN FREE-SPIRITED COLOURS AND DOWN-TO-EARTH STYLING
STREAMING leading lady
PART OF A NEW GENERATION BOLDLY TACKLING TOUGH ROLES AND TABOOS, BAZLUHRMANN FAVOURITE OLIVIA DE JONGE SAYS IT’S TIME TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY