Aa
I am in desperate need of a solution as this is affecting my work life!
For about 6 or 7 years now, I have only slept 2 and at the most 3 hours before waking up because I have to go to the bathroom. It has now started to affect me in my being able to function during the day. I will literally have complete blackouts. That's the best thing I know to call them. I will be doing something, either at work or at home, I will come back to cognition and not even know why I had been doing. That has probably been going on for about 2 years now. Sometimes someone will tell me what I have done and I deny it because I don't remember doing it. I will do something at home, move something to different place, and can't remember where I've put it. I understand that sometimes you'll move something and not remember but it has gotten to the point now that I have so many things I can never find anymore that it has become concerning to me. I guess, LOL, I'm kind of on autopilot during these times but now it has caused me some serious problems at work. I'm actually afraid to drive very much unless I have had some recent rest. Years ago they tried different medications and nothing ever helped so I just don't like anything. I'm a bit of a drug aphobe anyway! I don't believe in taking medications for something like this. I truly don't believe that there is anything that will help me go back to sleep anyway, so what would be the point other than to introduce more chemicals into the body that the body doesn't need. Yes, I have talk to my doctor many many times over the years but they are even at a loss. Please help!!!
Lets stay on track so the original poster can get some help. We can suggest what we think someone is suffering, however, we of course are just guessing as we don't know someone's complete medical history or examine them/study them to really know. But we can share our own experience that may be really helpful. Thanks!
1 Comments
Thank you Sara!
Brain fog is the best term to describe your "blackouts." I also am waaaaaay to young to forget why I walked downstairs by the time I get downstairs. It is definitely related because I have the same fogginess, same denying I have done something, same losing stuff, same forgetfulness, and same autopilot description all due to my strange ailment that no one can put a name to. I literally pull my automobile into somewhere and wonder how I arrived there. I shouldn't be on the road, but until someone cures me or puts me on disability, it is what it is.
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No one can diagnose from here, so even if a professional has diagnosed AIMandroman with brain fog it doesn't have any implications for Desperate_for_sleep. Only a professional can diagnose, not a chat forum.
Neither seems to be able to, and if Brain Fog is a medically recognized and termed disease then uh...I guess I don't want to live on this planet anymore...
Hello- I have faced this on and off for years and recent times became desperate for non-medical solution. Following is helping me. 1) maintaining routine as much as possible 2) accepting its hard to sleep once I get up, I read book on a light topic 3) avoiding any activity which excites mind few hours before sleep including TV, Phone etc... 4) following a meditation practice (free).
I'm not a medical professional but do you suffer from anxiety or depression? Or are you currently under a lot of stress? Sometimes it can be really difficult to fall asleep under these conditions; especially if you're not doing anything to relieve it. The human mind is weird and incredible and does weird things to cope lol. If you're only getting 2-3 hours of sleep every night, you will lose cognitive ability andI'm sure it effects your memory quite a bit. With this little amount of sleep, especially for how long it's been occurring, it can be detrimental to your overall health. I know it states that you have talked to doctors in the past, but have you gone to any specialists such as a neurologist or even had a sleep test done? It could be a number of things that are causing you to wake up in the middle of the night to go restroom, but there is an apparent reason that shouldn't be ignored. I would continue to search for second opinions, and ask different specialists on their opinion of this ~ don't give up!
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Hi Renewolfx,
I know you have hit many points that are causing my sleep problem. An emphatic yes to your first question. But! With as long as this has gone on I don't believe that is a major factor. In the years that this has been a problem there has not always been a lot of stress. Now that I don't have any health insurance, going to any doctor for anything is a bit of a problem LOL. I would be very interested to know what your thoughts are for the "apparent" reason you're referring to. I truly appreciate your input! And I am truly at my wit's end!!
I know you have hit many points that are causing my sleep problem. An emphatic yes to your first question. But! With as long as this has gone on I don't believe that is a major factor. In the years that this has been a problem there has not always been a lot of stress. Now that I don't have any health insurance, going to any doctor for anything is a bit of a problem LOL. I would be very interested to know what your thoughts are for the "apparent" reason you're referring to. I truly appreciate your input! And I am truly at my wit's end!!
True! There are payment plans that many doctor offices set up or have accommodations for those without insurance or in a financial bind. So it’s still possible to seek some sort of higher medical input (I.E sleep specialist).
In my opinion if they’ve ran general health tests like blood work, physical, CT scans, X-rays, and found nothing wrong you should take a different approach and not give up.
The only real guess is that it’s been a habit for 6-7 years. You’ve deprived yourself of so much sleep for so long your body is running on auto-pilot.
In my opinion if they’ve ran general health tests like blood work, physical, CT scans, X-rays, and found nothing wrong you should take a different approach and not give up.
The only real guess is that it’s been a habit for 6-7 years. You’ve deprived yourself of so much sleep for so long your body is running on auto-pilot.
When your not making ANY money, it isn't possible for help.
Read some books on sleep disorder. Your observations may not be correct, pr one of the books that I read. You may be getting more sleep than you think, in which case if there really is something making you forget it may not be a sleep issue. It will take too long to write all the tips you can get from one of these books here, so to get a benefit you have to put the effort into reading it like I did.
It is just a guess that you are on auto-pilot from 7 years of deprivation, so keep your mind open to other possibilities.
It is just a guess that you are on auto-pilot from 7 years of deprivation, so keep your mind open to other possibilities.
I meant it was just the other poster's guess that you were on auto-pilot. No one can diagnose you from here so you need to take that auto-pilot idea comment with a grain of salt.
I appreciate everyone's input! I know this isn't a replacement for professional help but, if nothing else, it helped to be able to talk about it. The professionals I have seen about this problem have and can only guess also.
I just noticed one problem is night time urination. There are medications that can cut this down to one bathroom trip or maybe none, so see doc about that.
That is a great point but...I talked that over with my doctor and with the side effects of any of those medications, not to mention the probability that they wouldn't work for me...well...you get it. I have this lovely thing where most every medication I have ever taken in my life has either no effect or the opposite effect. ie: When I take morphine I might as well take an aspirin, when I take valium I hit the ceiling, when I take Benadryl it wires me and because of experiences like that, I have become phobic of taking any medications. I'm not sure there's a real word for that one LOL. That was definitely a good point!
No I don't get it.
I have taken desmopressen for a decade and have a good doctor, so I do not know what the possible side effects you are worried about are. You mention being phobic about medication so is this just your idea that something will go terribly wrong or are you sure your doc said that too? I can't imagine any doc afraid to prescribe that med, plus I had a better one earlier that worked perfectly for one year then stopped working.
There is no relationship between that med and the ones you list as examples, so I think you need to talk to doc about this instead of generalizing that all meds don't work for you. You must be aware that there are direct dangerous permanent effects from long term lack of sleep so keep that in mind when thinking about a med to stop night wake-ups.
I have taken desmopressen for a decade and have a good doctor, so I do not know what the possible side effects you are worried about are. You mention being phobic about medication so is this just your idea that something will go terribly wrong or are you sure your doc said that too? I can't imagine any doc afraid to prescribe that med, plus I had a better one earlier that worked perfectly for one year then stopped working.
There is no relationship between that med and the ones you list as examples, so I think you need to talk to doc about this instead of generalizing that all meds don't work for you. You must be aware that there are direct dangerous permanent effects from long term lack of sleep so keep that in mind when thinking about a med to stop night wake-ups.
Honestly your best answer on this will come from a medical doctor who examines you and knows your complete medical history -- not some anonymous internet poster, myself included. If you're not satisfied with the answers you're getting now, consider seeing an MD who specializes in sleep.
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I guess you didn't read my whole question. If you had you would have seen that I've already done that. But thanks
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