Topic : Struggling with Sleep Issues?

When I was younger I started to get re-occuring nightmares, since I`ve been about 8 years old. When I reached the age of 13 I became a drug addict. I`m 32 years old now & have been clean for the last 3 months, but the nightmares are back. (while I was drugging the nightmares was still there, but I could cope.......probably because I was in a semi- coma half of the time, lol!) I`m only getting between 1 and a half to 4 hours sleep a night. Can anyone offer any advice?

I am 28 yrs old and I have ADD.  I have had small problems getting to sleep and staying asleep for years.  I lost 50 pounds 2 years ago and was active in gymnastics at the time that I began having constant fatigue and excessive tiredness.  At the time, the Dr. thought it was just my allergies as it started in the second week of August.  I was also on concerta after having numerous speeding tickets and car accidents, so I refused to go off of it.  It got worse and I had absolutely no energy and was tired and yawning all day.   I quit gymnastics for fear that I would hurt myself and continued to see my Dr.  They did a bunch of blood tests and everything came back normal.  My Dr. refused to believe that there was really something wrong and referred me to a phychiatrist for depression.  I was not depressed, in fact I was excited about moving to PA with my parents.  I lost my job because I was not "perky enough for the customers."  I got another job and was let go after two months  because I did not have enough energy and yawned all day.  I saw a Dr. for the so called depression for a year.  I have tried at least 11 different anti depressants and even a drug for narcolepsy.  Before this happened, caffeine and stimulants would give me energy and keep me awake, now, they dont affect me at all.  I had blood tests done after the first year, and again all the tests came back normal.  I am very frustrated because it has been two years and nothing is getting better.  I am sluggish all day and my eyes hurt from the tiredness.  I take trazadone to sleep on a regular schedule.  I had been on ambien for awhile until it messed up my short term memory.  The only other option I can think of is to see a sleep specialist.  I am getting depressed and more frustrated that none of the Drs have been open minded and willing to find out what the problem is.  If anyone has any ideas I'm open to hearing them. Thanks.

I understand being tired, I have Narcolepsy and take Provigil.

 

You didn't mention whether you have ever seen a sleep specialist.  There are over 200 sleep disorders out there that make people tired.  Almost half of ADD cases are caused by underlying sleep disorders...throwing meds at the symptoms doesn't do any good if you don't know what is causing them. 

 

I've already told my history and my family's...look back on prior pages if you're interested.  Narcolepsy, sleep apnea, and restless leg syndrome are the most well-known, but there are many more sleep disorders that can interfere with how you sleep, or just make you tired for "no reason at all". 

 

If you haven't already, please consider having a sleep study done.  Sleep disorders cannot be diagosed without a sleep study, and lab tests don't detect sleep disorders either.  I was told for years that nothing was wrong, and that I was lazy, or a hypochondriac, and one doc said that I had chronic fatigue syndrome.  Be persistent.  There IS something going on, and you deserve to know what it is and get treatment for it.  Good Luck

Nightmares can be caused by sleep disorders.  Run, don't walk to your doctor.  Ask for a referral to a good sleep specialist.  The sleep doc will do a sleep study and hopefully find the cause and treat you for whatever disorder you might have.  AND see a psychiatrist or therapist, if the nightmares are because of a childhood emotional trauma.  Please stay clean...your life depends on it.

If you have RLS, go to www.rls.org -- there's a great discussion group that you can post in.  They have lots of topics -- like medications you can take or natural routes to try. I think one of the most important is how RLS affects you emotionally, and also how it affects the people you're around. Another site is www.wemove.org which addresses RLS but also the myriad of other movement disorders.

Just know as you go through these, that there is no cure. Docs have very little research and you've got to be a detective. Be sure and vet the meds they prescribe -- some of them will make you worse than when you started. RLS is almost always worse during pregnancy and during menopause, but that doesn't mean it will stay like that, although apparently it does get worse as we age.

Try the sites -- I learned so much from the people on them.

I complained to my doctor about never getting enough sleep. She told me to stop drinking  coffee. I switched to decaf and it did not help. I still can not sleep. My doctor acted as if it was not a problem. She did nothing for me.

 

I take an over the counter sleep med. for many years. I have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. I get up at 530 am and never go back to bed until about 11 pm.  Most nights I get less than 5 hours.

 

Signed sleepless in Florida

Thank you for replying!

 

Maxi

I`m not so sure wether I should go seek medical help again. When I gave up drugs I also gave up all the other medication I was on, eg: leponex & rhyponol (please excuse the spelling,lol!) I was also on some other med`s, but I don`t think that`s relevant. I just don`t want anything to "dull" me again....hope that makes sense.

Every person reacts differently to different meds.  The only way to know what the meds will do for you is to try them.  I've been on some that dull me, but I am now on a good combo for Bipolar and for Narcolepsy.  There are lots of good sleep meds that quell nighttime anxiety, so you can sleep nightmare-free.

 

Get a referral to a sleep specialist, and have a sleep study done.  They look at brain waves, heart rate & rhythm, breathing, body movement, facial movement, etc, while you are sleeping.  Once the doctor knows what's going on, he/she can prescribe the appropriate meds.

I've been stewing about something for a while and feel strongly enough to post my first message anywhere.  I felt horrible for the girl on the IQ Answer episode who couldn't wake up in the morning.  I completely understand what she's going through.  I'm constantly late for work, missed many morning classes in college, hold phone conversations in my sleep without realizing it, and sleep through two very loud alarms in the morning.  I recently had work done in my basement that required jackhammering early in the morning.  My roommate was shocked to find out that I didn't hear it.  Someone ran their car into my fence right outside my bedroom and I had no clue until the next morning when I walked outside to see it.  My family laughs whenever there's talk of me getting up "early."  (Early could be 8 am.)  It takes me hours to fall asleep and sometimes I just don't wake up.  I feel like on the show Miranda was treated like she was intentionally sleeping all the time, but I know where she's coming from and can honestly say that I don't feel like she's doing it on purpose.  I'm sure not.  I'd love to wake up in the morning (on time) feeling refreshed and ready to go but that sure doesn't happen.  So Miranda, my heart goes out to you.  Good luck to everyone out there struggling with their own problems.