Hey everyone, i decided to tell you all about a condition i have called idiopathic hypersomnia.
Its a neurological condition, related to narcolepsy which is more well known.
Basically it means when i go to sleep i can sleep excessively, so far my record is falling asleep on the sofa on a sunday evening and not waking up until tuesday morning. If unchecked i sleep a minimum of 13 hours.
Also no matter how much you sleep you never feel rested, so even after a marathon sleep i wake up just as tired as when i went to bed. I go so deep into sleep there isnt much that can wake me up. I have had people banging pans with ladels, a fire alarm, the "loudest alarm clock available", people spraying me with water guns, setting off mouse traps on my feet, slapping me about you name it, all unsuccessful in waking me up
It is (for me) further complicated by suffering from insomnia at the same time.
So i go from the extremes, either no sleep at all or sleeping stupid amount of hours.
It took me over ten years to finally get a sleep study to confirm this diagnosis which was frustrating to say the least.
Luckily i have a great sleep specialist. He has given me both stimulants (modafinil) and sleepers (zolpadem) and i am already on olanzapine for my schizophrenia which also makes me drowsy.
The aim of the meds is to take the modafinil just before i get to sleep so they kick in while im under and will keep me in a lighter phase of sleep. It works to a degree but i needed time release pills so i could wake up at an appropriate time.
I came up with a method which was by wrapping the modafinil in some wax from a baybel and swallow that, the wax takes hours to digest, releasing the meds several hours later making it easier to get up at an acceptable time.
The only problem with the stimulants is that if you take them every night you build a tolerence, which is where the sleepers come in, i can take breaks from the stims and just take sleepers in the early evening meaning i can get my natural amount of sleep but earlier than normal.
It is a ridiculous mix of diagnosis, it sounds contradictory not being able to sleep then sleeping too much.
The main issue i have with my insomnia is i wont know if its going to happen, so when i take my stimulants then try to sleep, i find myself unable to nod off and before you know it the stimulants have kicked in and there is no hope of sleep until the next night.
Despite this illness, i still fight, fight to get to work. Luckily my gaffer knows about my sleep condition and has been amazing with me and allowing a bit of lateness so long as i get the jobs done.
Like i say, this illness is little known about, so if you relate to this, ask for a sleep study, it can be a debilitating condition and there is help out there. While its not curable you can fight it.
Anyway, thanks for reading
Ben
Its a neurological condition, related to narcolepsy which is more well known.
Basically it means when i go to sleep i can sleep excessively, so far my record is falling asleep on the sofa on a sunday evening and not waking up until tuesday morning. If unchecked i sleep a minimum of 13 hours.
Also no matter how much you sleep you never feel rested, so even after a marathon sleep i wake up just as tired as when i went to bed. I go so deep into sleep there isnt much that can wake me up. I have had people banging pans with ladels, a fire alarm, the "loudest alarm clock available", people spraying me with water guns, setting off mouse traps on my feet, slapping me about you name it, all unsuccessful in waking me up
It is (for me) further complicated by suffering from insomnia at the same time.
So i go from the extremes, either no sleep at all or sleeping stupid amount of hours.
It took me over ten years to finally get a sleep study to confirm this diagnosis which was frustrating to say the least.
Luckily i have a great sleep specialist. He has given me both stimulants (modafinil) and sleepers (zolpadem) and i am already on olanzapine for my schizophrenia which also makes me drowsy.
The aim of the meds is to take the modafinil just before i get to sleep so they kick in while im under and will keep me in a lighter phase of sleep. It works to a degree but i needed time release pills so i could wake up at an appropriate time.
I came up with a method which was by wrapping the modafinil in some wax from a baybel and swallow that, the wax takes hours to digest, releasing the meds several hours later making it easier to get up at an acceptable time.
The only problem with the stimulants is that if you take them every night you build a tolerence, which is where the sleepers come in, i can take breaks from the stims and just take sleepers in the early evening meaning i can get my natural amount of sleep but earlier than normal.
It is a ridiculous mix of diagnosis, it sounds contradictory not being able to sleep then sleeping too much.
The main issue i have with my insomnia is i wont know if its going to happen, so when i take my stimulants then try to sleep, i find myself unable to nod off and before you know it the stimulants have kicked in and there is no hope of sleep until the next night.
Despite this illness, i still fight, fight to get to work. Luckily my gaffer knows about my sleep condition and has been amazing with me and allowing a bit of lateness so long as i get the jobs done.
Like i say, this illness is little known about, so if you relate to this, ask for a sleep study, it can be a debilitating condition and there is help out there. While its not curable you can fight it.
Anyway, thanks for reading
Ben
