Trouble staying awake... =[

[John_jb1]

Hello,

Those of you who use the Anxiety forum will know that I've been diagnosed with depression and possibly have Anxiety disorder as well.
Now I'm an College and lately I've been having allot of trouble with staying awake, its the kinda of tiredness you get where you struggle to keep your eyes open (literally).

My question would be, is there anything I can do to sort this out? People are starting to take the **** quite frankly...
Are there any tablets, sweets, or even a change of diet?

The problem with the change of diet is I did it, had loads of sugar then I started having symptoms of Diabetes (constant thirst etc) turns out I don't have diabetes, but I have the type of blood that is most likely to get it. (O)

Thanks,

- John -

[KatEyes]

Go see a sleep doctor for an overnight sleep study. Depression and anxiety are two symptoms of a sleep disorder. If your sleep is not giving you the rest you need, find out why. If you were to have something like sleep apnea, all the psych meds in the world won't do a bit of good.

[Suri123]

Hi john_jb, how are you? Can you give some details as to how many hours you used to sleep early and what was your routine sleep cycle? Are you nearing your exams and under tension ending up spending extra hours late nights or attending to part time work (is it on a shift basis). Obstructive sleep apnea could be a reason for you to wake up frequently in order to regain your breath resulting in number of awakenings per night, many times you may not even be aware of it ending up having excessive daytime sleep because of fatigue, feeling unrefreshed after sleeping, and daytime sleep attacks at your workplace. Added to all these, stress you are going through can be a trigger. Modafinil can be tried for narcolepsy. It would be better to consult a sleep doctor and get a sleep study done before you chose to take any drug for an evaluation. Share your thoughts. Take care.

[John_jb1]

Hello thanks for posting.

Well I have strange sleep patterns, on weekdays i go sleep around 12 ish, wake up around 7:30 and get out of bed anywhere between 8 and 8:20. This is because i got college.

On weekends is totally different, go bed in the hours between 2 and 5am, i dont know why, i just can't sleep on weekends, i can wake up as late as 2pm but my aupair tends to wake me up at around 12 because she wants to clean the bed sheets.

Another good thing to note is that I could be an alcoholic, I can drink from a beer to 4 glasses of wine with 2-3 beers. It's just normal for me to drink.

Also I have a sleep paralysis eppisode the other week, only lasted a couple of seconds, but scared the hell out of me I'll tell you that.

With exams, they really don't bother me, I just revise abit the night before and then take the exam, I really have trouble concentrating when it comes to revising and taking exams.

I don't work so work doesn't effect me. But something you might want to note is I have very frequent parties. Especially in the summer, this is because my mom says you need to cheer up, have some friends round. So we light a fire and sitt around it, get drunk and smoke ciggarettes (never any class drugs).

I really am abit causious over the sleep evaluation as I really don't sleep well (if at all) in unfamilar places.

Thanks

- John -

[Suri123]

Hi john_jb, how are you doing? Thanks for your reply and the updates in detail. Well, I feel you are very much concerned about your sleep disorder and have a good determination to overcome it but unable to change/modify your social life. I do agree with you about the varied sleep pattern on weekdays and weekends, it is usual with most of us but need to follow a healthy sleep habit, which will be helpful. Avoid weekend parties and excessive smoking, alcohol. Keep physically active with regular stretches and exercises. Hope you might find this link useful in getting some tips to healthy sleep habits:  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sleep/HQ01387. You need to get a sleep test and consult a sleep doctor. Take care and share your views.