Been Unable To Wake Up Early For Over 5 Years!

[Vanchatron]

I'm a 22 year old male, and have Insulin Dependent Diabetes, which is currently controlled very well (whilst awake).  Since leaving education (High School, College etc) I've been unable to wake up properly, and it is MAJORLY affecting my life.  I'm currently unemployed as I'm unable to wake up in the morning, and my daytime life is pretty much non existant.  I go to bed at around 3-4am most nights, and don't wake up until around 5-6pm the next day.

It is affecting my Diabetes, as I wake up with very high blood sugar levels due to the fact that I've missed my injection because of sleeping through.  I also wake up with a migraine, an extremely bad temper & my eyes stinging due to my blood sugar levels being high.

I'm currently seeing a Psychiatrist for reasons I won't explain here, but he has said to me that he is unable to prescribe me any medication for sleeping, for which I don't know why.  I've also spoken to my Doctor and he has prescribed me sleeping pills in the past.  Whilst these helped a "little" in actually getting me to fall asleep, it didn't solve the problem of me waking up.  For example, last night I managed to go to sleep at 10pm, but today I awoke at 5.30pm which is absolutely ridiculous.  I sleep through all my alarms, I sleep through my parents trying to wake me up etc, and a lot of times I've had to have the paramedics called to my house due to the fact that nobody can wake me up, and I become hypoglycemic, as I've not eaten anything for over 16 hours or so.

To be honest, I don't know what to do or where to turn to, in order to sort this out.  I'm unable to work, I hardly EVER see daylight, my social life is non existant due to the fact I don't meet other people as I awake so late at night, etc etc.

I hope that maybe you guys can give me some advice and help me out, as I've run out of ideas completely now.  It's not even a case of "go to bed early, and you'll wake up early" as I often go to bed at 7-8pm or so, only to wake up at 5-6pm the next day.

I often don't go to bed at all aswell.  For example, let's say I awoke at 6pm one night, I wouldn't go to bed until around 10pm the NEXT day, due to the fact I'm just not tired, as I've woken up so late.

I'd GREATLY appreciate some help with this, many thanks in advance.

[Vanchatron]

Thank you very much, I'll speak to my Doctor today and let him know what you've suggested.

[Dr Rajput]

Hi, you may be probably having Circadian rhythm disorders. Due to long term sleep deprivation in night time or delay in sleep will lead to excessive day time sleep or sleepiness, which happens due to change in normal sleep-wake cycle. This is termed as hypersomnia of central origin. If stress is present, you need to go for relaxation exercises.

You need to undergo tests like Polysomnography, Multiple Sleep Latency Test and CSF levels of Orexin/Hypocretin which help to substantiate the diagnosis.

Drugs like Modafinil, Methylphenidate and Amphetamines against prescription can help to increase the alertness during the day and they are esp. useful in excessive daytime sleepiness.

I suggest you to consult physician/sleep specialist for further evaluation. Take care and regards.

[Vanchatron]

Also to add, I just read about a condition called "Idiopathic Hypersomnia", which has the following symptons: Difficulty waking from a long sleep & Increased sleep time, up to 14-18 hours a day.  Could I have this condition?