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Post by petrossian on Jun 18, 2009 13:48:53 GMT -5
I'm having my apt inspected again next Wednesday. I passed the first inspection in February but someone complained about a smell again so they threatened to evict me and I have to have a judge come and look at my place again next week. I am determined to pass again.
I am on antidepressants and I don't want to change the dosage before the visit - it does have side effects but at least I know what I'm working with.
My problem is that I can't get out of bed in the morning. I literally lie in bed until after noon unable to get up. It's become a real problem so I thought I would ask if anyone has been through the same and if they have any suggestions.
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Post by breakingfree on Jun 18, 2009 14:13:26 GMT -5
Hi petro,
I have been where you are. It is a tough place to be and the only thing that got me through it was taking my meds and knowing that my son depended on me. Hugs to you--I am with you in spirit,
BF
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Post by puppybox on Jun 18, 2009 14:14:40 GMT -5
Hi! Glad you're feeling determined even if you're having trouble getting started in the mornings. Getting a dog helped me in this regard. they wake up early and lick your face. But unlikely to help your inspections to aquire a puppy. I'm sure others will have more practical advice.
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Post by littlecupcake on Jun 18, 2009 14:57:38 GMT -5
I am trying to overcome something similar now. I have all night to sleep and all day to clean, but most days I end up getting back in bed and staying there for hours. What helps me most is telling myself that I'll just clean for a few minutes, and I'll at least have done something that day. Sometimes I keep going and sometimes I stop there. Also, if you can make yourself take a shower and get dressed early, you might find it easier to keep going through the rest of the day. Good luck!
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Post by creativechaos on Jun 18, 2009 15:08:35 GMT -5
petrossian, would taking blue green algae supplements and b vitamins give you a bit more energy so that you can get up earlier?
consistency is the most important thing. i can be up at 6 am and stay up til one am and if i am not consistent with my efforts, nothing gets done anyway. so make your time awake focused and make it count, and don't worry about sleeping too much. ten minutes of focused effort every hour can get a lot done. find your rhythm. it may be 5 min. doses or 10. if you do 15, be sure to take breaks in between. i find if i do ten min. of work and 5 min. rest or diversion, that works great if i have a lot to do.
about that smell: do YOU smell it? do you smell it when you walk in the door from being out for awhile? can you identify what it MIGHT be? could it be that the smell is something that is within or between the walls (and coming from a neighbor's, if you share walls in common) or under the sub flooring - something that isn't even connected with you at all? if you could prove that, then it would be up to the landlord to fix it and they would have to stop threatening you with eviction. look into it if possible. maybe ask some builders if they know what it could be. if you know that you have done your level best to keep up with things, it could be something in the building materials, the carpet, etc. there could be an invisible leak or critters living in the walls or under the building, or some funky glue used, or particle board, or a host of other things. you might try googling bad house smells to get some ideas of what it might be.
best to you, cc
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Post by CourageouslyLion SeeksSerenity on Jun 18, 2009 16:37:46 GMT -5
about that smell: do YOU smell it? do you smell it when you walk in the door from being out for awhile? can you identify what it MIGHT be? could it be that the smell is something that is within or between the walls (and coming from a neighbor's, if you share walls in common) or under the sub flooring - something that isn't even connected with you at all? if you could prove that, then it would be up to the landlord to fix it and they would have to stop threatening you with eviction. look into it if possible. maybe ask some builders if they know what it could be.
if you know that you have done your level best to keep up with things, it could be something in the building materials, the carpet, etc. there could be an invisible leak or critters living in the walls or under the building, or some funky glue used, or particle board, or a host of other things. you might try googling bad house smells to get some ideas of what it might be. I don't have any advice about the stay-in-bed issue. But I do agree with what creative chaos said about the possible source of the odor. It might be something that's not your fault. Perhaps a mouse was living inside the wall between two apartments -- and died there? This is a common source of apartment building odors. Who knows? I've been following your story closely ever since you first posted. The impetus for my joining Squalor Survivors three years ago was that a neighbor complained -- to ME -- about the smell emanating from my apartment. Thankfully he didn't tell the landlord, but I was still scared. I haven't posted much on your threads, but I've read them all and have been cheering you on. My issue is that I was born with almost ZERO sense of smell. Apparently, most of my olfactory sensors don't function. I cannot smell anything, even when a skunk has just sprayed in the neighborhood and everyone else is horrified. I can't smell body odor or farts. I can't smell it when the cat litterbox needs changing. So I really feel helpless with the topic of odor. That's why I haven't posted much on your threads. But I think of you a lot. Lack of a sense of smell is called "anosmia". I'm partially, but not completely anosmic. Most anosmia is triggered by a medical event that happened. Is it possible that you have some olfactory damage? Sometimes respiratory issues cause that. Or a blow to the head, or a fall when you were small? "Zicam" can kill your sense of smell. (I'm the exception to the rule in that my olfactory malfunction condition was congenital.) Regarding your current situation: USUALLY, the reason a squalorer cannot smell an odor, is because, even though her sense of smell works properly, the squalorer is USED to the odor. OR, it could be, as mentioned earlier, something else in the building that's not your fault, but you're still USED to the odor. I know you've mentioned on other threads that you think there's an insidious plan to get you to move out -- because they either don't like you, or they want your apartment for someone else. And therefore, they're making unverifiable claims about a non-existent odor, just to scare and harass you. If that's what's REALLY going on, I hope you sue the pants off them.
I don't remember what country you live in. But if you (or anyone else reading this) live in the USA, you can go to www.lawhelp.org then click on your state, then click on "housing" to find out all the laws about landlord/tenant/cooperatives legal stuff. To find out your rights, and to get names of local legal clinics. However, you may want to consider that .... there's a possible medical reason why you can't smell whatever your neighbors have been complaining about? Regardless of what the cause of all this is, know that I'm thinking of you and sending positive thoughts your way. Sorry for "hijacking" this thread from your intended purpose. I know you wanted to know what to do to help yourself get up OUT OF BED in the MORNING.Hugs, Lioness -
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Post by petrossian on Jun 18, 2009 17:23:11 GMT -5
Dear Courageously -
Thank you so much for your post.
Honestly, even if it's not on the current topic these posts have helped me tremendously over the past few months because I don't feel alone. Plus the lawhelp.org is a wonderful resource and I'm going to keep it.
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Post by moggyfan on Jun 18, 2009 17:27:53 GMT -5
Well, look at it this way: Even if you DO stay in bed until after noon, that still leaves you a lot of hours in the day to make the progress you need on the apartment.
Once you do get up, can you get yourself moving and working? If so, I wouldn't let the hours you keep distract you too much between now & next Wednesday. You can deal with readjusting your medicine and sleeping schedule after the inspection.
I know this has been suggested before, but is there someone you trust that you can call upon to conduct a "sniff test" for you prior to the inspection? If you can't smell anything yourself, there may indeed be no odor, but it also may be that you cannot detect it because you are accustomed to it.
Best of luck!
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hopehope
Banned
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 3,815
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Post by hopehope on Jun 18, 2009 21:11:31 GMT -5
small bites small bites small bites also -- you have to have something hapoy to do first thing in the am -- something you like or love that is not stress related. so you have something pleasurable to get up for. as others have said -- there are a lot of other hours to do the task. best to you hopey
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Post by 7sweetbabiesgranny on Jun 18, 2009 21:14:41 GMT -5
Been there done that!! again and again...... Well.... Look at it this way. WHO would want to get up and do a whole bunch of work that possibly won't even be done at the end of a day of backbreaking labor? Not me that's for sure. So I trick myself when in this kind of situation. Think of something I want to wear. Somewhere I want to go. AND THEN DO IT! Guess what? I'm out of bed! Yeah me!!!! I too have/could lay in been all day. feeling worse and worse, guilt will do that. So maybe you start a couple of hours later than you should, but really, big deal. Good luck!!
3sweet
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Post by howardsgirlfriend on Jun 18, 2009 23:29:52 GMT -5
Maybe putting the coffeemaker and the TV (and whatever else works for you) on an automatic timer would help. The sounds and aromas might catch your brain's attention.
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Post by lilith on Jun 19, 2009 0:22:14 GMT -5
Drink a lot of water before you go to sleep so you will have to get up. Once you get up to pee go sit in front of the computer. You can't sleep sitting up or at least not usually. Once you feel like you can stand up without going back to bed, have breakfast or caffeine.
Good luck. I'm in this with you.
Love, Lilith
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Post by Meme on Jun 19, 2009 0:52:37 GMT -5
re smell- whoever is coming should be going into the other places and see if they can smell anything there- the places where the folks are complaining as it could well be appearing to come from your place but not-----it could their sinks are not properly vented etc. this info came from my friend who is the care taker of apartments- and this was what they discoverd- some one had changed some plumbing in one of the bathrooms but the smell effected other places rather than where the change had been made- plumbing is strange as it has to be set up correctly or will allow sewer gases to back track-
re getting up- set alarms that go off but where you have to get up to shut them off--across the room is a good idea- start backtracking the time- if you are now getting up at noon then set the alarm for the first day at 11 oclock and then the next day at 10 - this gives you three or fours to get used to getting up at 8 oclock- then keep using that alarm until you find you are automatically getting up at 8 or the best for you. You should lots of time for cleaning even if you sleep until noon- you should be able to clean until at least 9 pm with out disturbing any one else- hugs
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Post by Script on Jun 19, 2009 10:35:41 GMT -5
My problem is that I can't get out of bed in the morning. I literally lie in bed until after noon unable to get up. I am on Elavil (20 mg) for fibromyalgia and Celexa for depression. I have a bad drug hangover in the morning, but I get up anyway. My DH & I got up early for decades for his work, and the habit took hold in my head. I tell people that I get up at 7, and wake up around noon. You'd be surprised at how much you can do while still fuzzy-muzzy-wuzzy, in the housework dept. Here is what I do: *I get up as soon as I wake up (or more commonly, when DH wakes me up) *I open a window as soon as possible: WINTER AND SUMMER. *i put on fitness clothes, with the hope of doing some exercise at some point in the morning. The change of clothes is also a signal to me that BED TIME if over for now. *I make coffee (this is a new one for me: I was NOT a coffee drinker AT ALL until I started on the meds). *while the kettle is boiling I unload the dishwasher. Still on auto-pilot and then continue from there. Moving slowly, groggy and wobbly: but at least I AM OUT OF BED. etc etc good luck with your inspections.
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Post by urocyon on Jun 19, 2009 20:03:52 GMT -5
*I make coffee (this is a new one for me: I was NOT a coffee drinker AT ALL until I started on the meds). Interesting--I wonder how many of us really got started on coffee while taking drowsy-making meds. Good suggestions. Some tasks are easier to do when not feeling quite awake. It takes me a couple of hours to wake up, even without medication these days. Yes, I hope the inspection goes well, petrossian. If you're not too sleepy later in the day, cleaning later might work as long as you don't make a lot of noise after 9 p.m. or so. I'm a natural night owl, and just have to work around it.
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