|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Active: 2/27/2007
Posts: 2 |
|
I can't believe this has happened to other people. The entire reason I searched online for this symptom was because I just got reemed out by my boss yesterday morning about being 15 minutes tardy every day for nearly 4 years. I'm a 27 year-old female. How in the world do you say "I just can't wake up in the morning" and sound like an adult? Needless to say, it's to the point where I just don't say anything to save myself from such a lame excuse, but then she gets angry that I don't speak in my defense. It's more than frustrating - it's seriously affecting my life.
I never really considered that I had a hard time getting to sleep. I've always just assumed I was a night person, so I would stay up and do things. When I do get in bed, however, I immediately fall into such a deep sleep that I've slept through fire alarms, tornado sirens, frat parties (trust me, they were *loud*), etc. I'd sleep through the second coming of Christ, I'm sure.
I also wake up in crazy positions. My covers are always scattered, even if the bed was tightly made the night before. I have three alarms that I frequently turn off without remembering. When I was a child and my mother would wake me up, or a college dorm roommate would try to talk to me, I would also have violent conversations that I simply didn't remember. When I do wake up, it's literally *painful*. I ache, have pins and needles, feel dizzy/light-headed, and feel like I've only slept for a few hours. My head is dead-weight, my limbs are paralyzed. I've tried forcing myself to go to bed early (as I said, as soon as my head hits the pillow, I'm out), but even with 9-10 hours of sleep I feel weak and jittery in the morning. When I get out of bed I feel like I'm going to faint.
So Let's run down the list of the diagnoses we've been handed:
Depression
Sleep Apnea
Narcolepsy
Anemia
Have any of you had success with these? Meaning, after treatment, the sleep problem abated?
My roommate happens to be a sleep technician. After reading all of your experiences and realizing that we have a legitimate problem, I think I should take her up on her offer to participate in a sleep study.
It's good to find out I'm not alone. Perhaps we should keep each other posted on any progress?
~ Mary |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Active: 2/27/2007
Posts: 2 |
|
Hey kayky618, I wanted to say hi to you specifically because I did the same thing when I found this forum post. I cried. Other people finally understood me. It's impossible to get respect for feeling this way. No one takes us seriously. It's good to find people who understand.
And krn4him, I give you props for the new nickname. "Sleep Heads". I loves it. Plan to use that from now on. ~_^
Charlene, I'm going to look into that light-timer thing and see if it works for me. I've always noticed that during the day I'm more alert and awake in blinding sunshine. If it's cloudy or dark inside a building I get groggy and tired. Even so, I'm awake at night and frequently go out after work with friends. It's such a dichotomy...I don't understand it! o_O
And to everyone else, it's good to hear from you!
~ Mary |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Active: 2/12/2007
Posts: 1 |
|
| Hi all, I've suffered from the same sleep problems that everyone else here has been talking about. But I've come up with a solution that has helped me. I had a problem with getting to sleep, as well as waking up in the morning, so here is what I do. Before I go to sleep I take one Unisom tablet with a light meal. I found that I have to take it with food or else it doesn't work at getting me to sleep. I usually have something like crackers and cheese or an english muffin. That will get me to sleep. Then, when it comes time to wake up in the morning I have a caffeine pill beside my alarm clock as well as a cup of water. Just taking the caffeine pill alone helps a little but taking a cup of water at the same time makes it work better. Sometimes I even find myself unconsciously turning my alarm clock off so that's why I keep the caffeine pill either beside the alarm clock or lay it under my pillow, so even if I'm extremely tired when waking up I just have to remember to reach under the pillow and it's there. As for the pill to get me to sleep at first, most of the time I can use only half the dosage (25mg of diphenhydramine hydrochloride) and still get to sleep. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Active: 2/24/2007
Posts: 3 |
|
I CANT WAKE UP... ONE DAY I WILL AND 5 YEARS WILL OF PASSED!! hi there, from the bits i have scan read then i started to get emotional.. im 23 and for the last 5/6 years i have had depression... before that i never was a brilliant sleeper... no.. i should rephrase that.. im brilliant at sleeping i could win awards for it.. and like a few of you have mentioned i have also done the 'full conversations with family members!!' i just dont get it. when i was little i could do the whole waking up thing to a reasonable level... and one day something changed. i just remember one week i could get up the next i couldnt... i didnt realise that it would continue till i was past my teens! its such a relief to see i am not alone. i was diagnosed with depression in june 2006 but they think i have had it for much longer based on previous experiences and breakdowns i have had.. i thought that me sleeping so darn much was part of that but maybe i was wrong!! when i am sleeping it feels like a coma. almost like i died and when i wake and see the time (reciently being late afternoon) my whole body and mind makes a complete crashing eghhhhh feeling of dread. where as i am lucky i am doing my 2nd year on my degree... last summer shortly before being diagnosed i was doing full time hours for what is now my part time job. i have been threatened with 'problems happening due to ur timing' and other such marvelous. i remember the worse example which then made me go towards what i like to call the 'bad side' i was ment to be opening the shop (i work for johnsons dry cleaners.. the worse company in the world) and every other time i had just made it.. this time i was nearly 40 mins late.. and that includes the 5 minutes running down the road to work in some of my pj's at the other end someone had stepped in and opened up.. however a passing mean comment broke me. now i never do openings and getting on a early saturday shift... the one shift they let me do now i have been cut down from 20hours to 8!!!! and thats like a mission.. i set up to 5 alarms a day i sleep through alll of them my x boyfriend although i have left him i remember all the times i would get kicked to try and wake me... and my new boyfriend has only just come on the scene (we live in the same flats) and he although patient i dont think really gets the seriousness of it all.... i feel disgusted at times.. and here i am at 3am staying up all tonight as i am ment to be in uni for 10am tommorrow.. yes 10 am i cant even trust myself to wake for it... im so darn tired but if i sleep i will wake and it will be 4pm again!!! anyhow im sorry for all the crazy deep emotional stuff.. i feel so stuck in my head and alone on this. reading that at least someone else is out there makes me feel less like i need to be institutionalised. thanks 4 reading vicky xx |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Active: 2/14/2007
Posts: 1 |
|
This is incredible. Reading this has been nothing short of heart-warming. I have suffered from insomnia and hypersomnia and DSP and ... everything listed here short of sleep apnea seems to have some factor related to what I have been/am going through. I also see I'm not the only one who is surrounded by people who simply do not understand the gravity of the problem and chalk it up to laziness or some other negative reference to one's drive to achieve. I can't fall asleep at night, I fall asleep later and later each day, can't wake up to my alarm (which I placed across the room so I don't reach over and shut it off and never get up), cross the room and shut off my alarm and go back to bed and never remember doing it, have vivid dreams of waking up and getting ready for work and going to work and ... um, holy ****, I'm still in bed!!, falling asleep in the middle of the day (at work!!!!), and to date the only thing doctors have done is tell me that my sleep cycle is longer than 24 hours due to my high metabolism and given me numerous prescriptions that either don't work or leave me in such a state the next day I am dysfunctional at my job. At 34 I had begun to believe that even though I can work 60 hours a week at a job I am somehow lazy because I cannot get to work on time. I am presently worried about losing my present job due to 'schedule adherence' and this does nothing to alleviate the drill-on-bone whirling of my mind each night as I try for 1-4 hours to attempt to get to sleep. I've been told this is due to depression or anxiety or diet or caffeine or the computer. I suffered from this since I can remember, my mother yelling at me for being awake reading a book at 2am at 8 years of age because I couldn't sleep, yelling at me in the morning because I couldn't wake up, I don't really think I was suffering from a myriad of behavioral disorders at such a young age, caffeine is only a minor part of my diet (love being told by a pot-a-day coffee drinker to cut down on my Mt. Dew which has 1/5 the caffeine coffee does), and I only sit at the computer when I am so frustrated I have totally given up on falling asleep. I have moved in the last year and am in a place where I have no primary care physician. I am also having difficulty finding one. It sounds like it needs to be a priority, I need to do something before I lose my job (again) due to what seems so simple as sleep. I'm really glad I found this link while searching for doctors. It reaffirms I am not alone and not really just lazy or any of the other horrible, destructive comments I have heard throughout my life. I wish all of you the best of luck in finding some solution to this. I sure hope I do. My ex was yet another person with zero understanding of the fact this is a disorder and not a case of laziness. We have split up and she has trashed me financially, yet another stress factor that only adds to my inability to calm down and fall asleep. I wouldn't have multiple kudos for going above and beyond the call of duty at work if I was lazy, now would I? But when you hear it for so long, you begin to believe it  Stephen, chronic insomniac, in total agreement with being sick and tired of being sick and tired. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Active: 5/4/2007
Posts: 1 |
|
i've had the same problem all my life (32 y.o.). it's cost me most jobs i've ever had, cause trouble in relationships, and just generally held me back considerably for my whole life. i was so relieved when i first came across comments like this online and realized i'm not the only person who has this problem.
i didn't read all the posts in-depth, but i didn't see any mention of "Sleep Inertia." from what i've read, that seems to be the right term for what we have (at least some of us). sleep inertia, or "sleep drunkenness," is defined as "a condition of prolonged transition from sleep to waking, with partial alertness, disorientation, drowsiness, and poor coordination; sometimes also characterized by excited or violent behavior." most people experience it to some degree, but some of us have it bad. it's also most common after naps, or when you get woken up in the middle of the night.
however, there's another form of it that i've seen referred to as "severe morning sleep inertia," where you just can't wake up in the morning, regardless of how much sleep you've gotten. it looks like this is *related* to narcolepsy, but different. a whole lot of factors, like alcohol, can affect it. i think it's also more common in depressed and bi-polar people.
there's very little info on this disorder online that i've found, and i haven't found a dr. yet that knows much about it. then again, i haven't been to a sleep specialist yet, either.
one treatment that i've found referred to online is taking adderall or provigil *before* going to bed. i think wellbutrin has been tested as well. i'd tried provigil during the day before, but found that it made me rather manic and couldn't sleep at night. i talked to my dr about the research i'd seen aluded to online, that provigil could help this, and she said it was worth a shot. i've been doing it for the last month or so now, taking a 200mg Provigil RIGHT before bed - don't take it then stay up awhile, cause it could backfire and keep you awake. i haven't had this problem, but i try to always take it immediately before turning out the light. i've really noticed a difference in my mornings since then, as have my girlfriend and mom, who have both seen me at my "sleep drunkest"! i no longer feel like i'm literally going to *die* if i get out of bed and wake up. i'm not so incoherent and confused when i wake up. i don't *like* getting up, but it's more of a choice for me now. unfortunately, provigil is *very* expensive, and there's no way i'd get it without insurance.
i've read that taking melatonin half and hour or so before bedtime can be useful for sleep inertia. i've also read that it can be caused by being woken up in the wrong part of your sleep cycle (REM, etc.). one possibility i've considered (but can't afford!) for dealing with that is one of the "alarm clocks" that monitor some of your vitals (temp, pulse, something like that) using a wristband or watch, then attempt to wake you up at the most natural time for you, based on that data. one is the SleepTracker watch, i've heard it's alright, you can find them on eBay now and then. they retail for something like $175, i think. the other is the Axbo Sleep Phase alarm clock, which is made somewhere in Europe and looks like it's pretty fantastic. of course, it costs something like $250 or $300. so i haven't tried it yet. here's a review: http://www.digitalreviews.net/reviews/miscellaneous/axbo-sleep-phase-alarm-clock.html
so, that's most of the research i've been able to dredge up since i first heard the phrase "sleep inertia" and started looking into it. maybe it'll give you someplace to start. but just be aware that there is a name for it and there are people trying to fix it. there's hope for us. good luck and let me know if you find any new info!
Chris
this is some info on studies using bedtime stimulant therapy:
http://www.websciences.org/cftemplate/NAPS/archives/indiv.cfm?ID=19960085
this is an article about bipolar kids with sleep inertia, has a good discussion of what it is:
http://psychcentral.com/lib/2006/09/why-bipolar-kids-cant-get-up-and-get-going?pp=4
http://www.sleepeducation.com/Disorder.aspx?id=3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Active: 2/24/2007
Posts: 3 |
|
hello stephen who sent the above message!! what annoys me the most is if this is such a problem and so many of us are mentioning it (I guessing people writing on here are from all over the world I am from the UK) why is it that people --in particular doctors seem to ignoring this. what's the point in handing people a load of prozac telling them they are depressed when it could be something else. over here i would need to walk round with a banner saying '' maybe i should be tested a some kind of sleep clinic'' for about 3 years and even then i might get an eyebrow raised at me. the best part is they (doctors. nurses. even some random patients u end up talking to whilst u said in the waiting room listening to rubbish lift music) think ur being all twitchy and high matinance because u are suggesting that problems u have looked up and identified with may be the problem!! wait till i go back to the doctors next.. (i oversleep most appointments so now they know me by sight and name!!! i get the judgmental.. ''ahhhh'' ) i'm a snoozer on the edge!! vicky- so pleased to of seen this place ps. woke up this morning just... fell asleep right after my valentines day meal and was late for evening working for uni! o happy day... have a good valentines day all <@ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Active: 2/19/2007
Posts: 4 |
|
I CANNOT BELIEVE I FOUND THIS POSTING!!!!! I'm a 24 yr old female and I've had problems waking up since I was 14. I also have Bipolar. What I have self-learned is: HOW MUCH SLEEP DO I NEED TO FUNCTION THE NEXT DAY? for me it's 10-12 hours. So I make sure I go to bed 12-14 hours before I need to wake up. (I need the help of sleep meds to calm my brain down.) I also use AROMATHERAPY. LAVENDER for sleep. For more info on ways that I have trained my body to go to sleep on time contact me. |
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted 2/21/2007 11:40 AM |
  |
|
Group: Forum Members
Active: 10/18/2007
Posts: 3 |
|
Well all, I THINK I may have the diagnosis to all of your excessive sleep problems. First let me say I am in NO way a medical professional. I am a sufferer of the exact same problems! In a nutshell here is my history... Since before I can remember I have had diffiuclty waking up, when I go to bed I am unable to fall asleep without laying there atleast an hour! I have alsways had to depend on somone waking me, because I hear NOTHING once I fall asleep (this included my newborn, for me mothers instinct never kicked in) 5 years I went to a sleep center and was tested, I was told I had sleep apnea and spent a 2nd night at the center with a machine to treat the apnea; in the morning I was woken by a technician laughing at me and telling me it took 3 people to wake me up. I was sooo embarrassed. I left the clinc and went to another doctor who diagnosed me with idiopathic hypersomnia! I wish I could say I have been under treatment and all is well, but less than a year ago the medication I was taking Pemoline aka Cylert was taken off the market and is now no longer available! This medication allowed me to wake myself at 5am , with only an alarm clock! I have since tried Provagil, and am now on Adreall... nothing works! My reason for posting on this site is to see if anyone else with my problem is under treatment that works! |
|
|
|
|
|
| Posted 2/24/2007 12:24 AM |
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Active: 11/24/2007
Posts: 8 |
|
WOW! I feel so relieved to see there are other out there who can relate! I too am "in hot water" at work because I'm frequently late. I'm 33 and have have been fighting the sleep battle for years and years...but in the past two-years it as snowballed into something that both frightens and infuriates me. It's very frustrating....I either can't sleep through the night (finally falling asleep only an hour before time to get up) and then feel like total death the next day OR I sleep for 20+hours and NOTHING wakes me! I've had a sleep study that shows that I don't get into ANY deep sleep, but I don't have apnea. I am on the cusp of having a diagnosis of narcolepsy, but the sleep doc thinks that my daytime naps are the result of not sleeping at night. As someone here posted, I too have meds (provigil) to keep me from falling asleep during the day, but you have to GET UP to take them. Is there any help out there available to us? I feel it's totally unfair that our employers can dump on just because our "clock" doesn't conform to the rest of the world's even IF we do our job (and do it better than most)! Thanks for making me feel like I'm not a freak of nature! |
|
|
|
|
Home
Login
Register
Member List