Raise your hand if you’ve seen the ads on television for Viagra.

Yeah, I thought so—you all have your hands up in the air.

I’ll never forget the following story as long as I live.

My husband and I were on a boat trip with a bunch of our friends, and someone brought along this game called “Sex for Dummies.”

This was one of those conversational-type games where everyone turns asking questions from a card, and then people are supposed to answer them truthfully. As you can probably tell by the title, this game just happened to be all about sex.

For reasons that I really don’t understand, there is a real stigma associated with talking honestly with your partner about sex, and what works for you and what doesn’t.

But why is this? As I’ve said before, sex in a healthy relationship is a wonderful thing, and most men would really feel great if they knew they were truly pleasing their wives. And frankly, if they are not interested in pleasing you, then you have a problem. Because we all know there are some guys out there who are all about “me me me.”

I wanted to let you know about a really great contest that is going on right now on fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg’s website. She is sponsoring a web-based contest called “Women You Love,” and is asking for people to submit entries that describe a woman who has been inspirational to them. The grand prize winner will receive a $5,000 shopping spree, a trip for two to New York and two tickets to a fashion show—not bad!

Have you ever heard the expression “men sweat, but women glow?”

Obviously, whoever coined that phrase wasn’t a woman dealing with menopause and night sweats.

Looking back, my night sweats were clearly part of my going through perimenopause in my early 40s. But at the time, neither my physician nor I were making that connection. He believed that it was a side effect of the medications I was taking for irritable bowel syndrome, also known as IBS.

Now that I’ve told you about my on-going battle with sleeplessness and insomnia, and the issues I had with taking Ambien, I’d like to talk about some of the things that I have tried, or am currently trying, to help me get a better night’s rest.

I don’t want it to ever seem like I’m only talking about what didn’t work—I also want to follow up as much as possible with solutions to the problems that I’ve experienced.

In my previous post, I told you about my ongoing issues with sleeplessness and how a doctor prescribed the sleep aid Ambien in an effort to help me get some rest.

When we last left off, I was telling you about how I tried dyeing my eyelashes in my sleep, as a result of taking the drug.

I would love to tell you that that episode marked the end my relationship with Ambien, but sadly, I continued to take it.

For years, I have battled insomnia. I strongly believe—and I’ve read studies that confirm this—that this is a genetic trait, much in the way kids inherit blue eyes or blond hair from their parents. In my case, I believe I take after my Mom, who I watched suffer with sleeplessness for years.

According to the American Heart Association, heart disease is the number one killer of people in our country. The group estimates that for the 2.3 million people who will die this year, an astonishing 41 percent will be from heart conditions.

Isn’t that one of the most sobering things you’ve ever read? I mean, I realize that heart disease claims many lives every year—but almost half of those who die?

In addition, the association’s website: www.americanheart.org states that 59 million Americans are currently living with some form of heart disease.