Dear friends and family, you might want to change your WhatsApp settings so they don’t show the last time you were active. That’s because I’ve taken to using it as a way to find company when I’m awake in the middle of the night.

About half an hour ago I woke up, having only gone to bed an hour or so before. I’d got to sleep pretty quickly but woke up feeling really sick.

For many years – with my tics making it hard to be still enough to settle – getting to sleep’s been my main sleep issue. Now though, the bigger issue is waking up feeling nauseous and having to sit up for an hour or so until this passes and I stand a fighting chance of getting back to sleep.

To make matters worse, I’m sharing a room with Fran and, as she’s the person providing all my care around the clock while we’re on holiday, I didn’t want to disturb her sleep.

When I woke just now I felt really fed up! Feeling sick like this is happening night after night, and my resilience is low. However, thanks to WhatsApp I was able to work out that both Lily and Zoë were awake and after brief chats with both of them I felt much more together.

I’m going to wrap this post up now and give sleeping another go. I really hope that I get a longer-term solution soon – before all my mates adjust their privacy settings.

To everyone who’s responded in the middle of the night, thank you. Your love and solidarity is getting me through some incredibly frustrating times.