From Taking Medicine to Understanding It - What an Afternoon of Sleepiness Taught Me - 2026/7/3 (Fri) Reiwa8

Today was unusual.

After eating agar jelly instead of a regular lunch, I felt so tired that I lay down to rest.

I closed the curtains, put on my eye mask, and soon fell asleep.

When I woke up, nearly three hours had passed.

It had been a very long time since I had slept that much during the day.

The first thought that came to my mind was,

"Could this sleepiness be caused by my pain medication?"

Yesterday, I started taking a new painkiller for my fractured arm.

When I read the information sheet, it listed possible side effects such as sleepiness, nausea, and constipation.

I did not feel nauseous today, but I also realized that I had not had my usual daily bowel movement.

Of course, that alone does not prove that the medicine was the cause.

Still, I was surprised that the changes in my body naturally connected with what I had read about the medication.

Years ago, I simply took whatever medicine my doctor prescribed.

To keep working, I relied on medicine, energy drinks, and nutritional jelly drinks to get through each day.

When I was teaching full-time while attending acupuncture school at night, my highest priority was simply making it through the day.

Later, after studying the human body and medicines in acupuncture school, I began learning about medicines again.

Little by little, the way I think about medicine changed.

Medicine is not just something to take.

It is something to understand by learning what its ingredients do, where they work, and how they affect the body.

Now that I am away from work, I finally have time to observe my own body more carefully.

Breaking my arm was certainly not something I wanted.

But it has also given me time to listen more closely to the signals my body is sending me.

Learning is not only about gaining knowledge.

It is also about becoming able to notice the small changes within ourselves.

This afternoon's unexpected sleepiness quietly reminded me of that.

#FractureRecovery #Rehabilitation #LearningAboutMedicine #Studying #AcupunctureSchool #HumanBody #HealthyLiving #SeniorLife #DailyReflection #PersonalGrowth #NoteEssay