Sleep disorders and ADD

[Anonymous]

sugargremlin: I read somewhere that cataplexy can be more subtle, like dropping things (which I do), or facial stiffness. Not sure how official that is. I tend to drop things a lot in the morning. I’ve had knee buckling for no apparent reason once without laughter or emotion. So I am not sure I fit the cataplexic category, but the specialist was adamant about everything else. The details will be in the sleep study.

I also can’t nap, but I fall asleep uncontrollably at inappropriate times and it is a very deep sleep. I can be sleeping in the noisiest part of a movie and be completely out of it – I usually wake up at the ending credits – Groundhog Day is one of the most confusing movies to fall asleep in. 😯

My driving pattern sounds like yours as well, it could be 20 minutes and I’d feel like I need to pull over and sleep. Larynxa said I should give up driving and her advice sounds appropriate for you too, especially since you’ve had accidents. I am fortunate that I don’t work too far from home (10 minutes) and my husband can drive me. But it will definitely require a rearranging of everything to take on that new responsibility for him.

The key to sleep issues (and ADD too) is whether or not it’s impairing or affects others. And for me, that’s definitely the case.

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[Anonymous]

sucks to barely sleep like you do. i sleep more than you during my so called insmonia streaks but i am really impaired by them. by the end of the last week. my entire body was aching, my eyes burned and felt to keep open, and i had some head bobbing moments. maybe just get good quality sleep?

as far as i know. as long as i make my driving patterns less than 40min and avoid too much or too little stimulation i think i am safe to drive. if i keep the vyanse on my bedstand i sam safe to drive in the am. if i have.the med in my system, i can make the whole 120 mile drive. less about what i can do for late at night besides bumming as many rides as i can.

no dpoamine. bow long so you stay asleep during those inappropriate times? i drop stuff randomly but mostly because i just forget that i am carrying it lol. i head bob but definitly do not fall solidly asleep anywhere at anytime without ambien. thank you for sharing all al of this good information!

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[Anonymous]

sugargremlin, it’s impossible for us to assess ourselves as being safe if we have these kinds of uncontrollable behaviours. I am disappointed and frustrated by having been told to stop driving, but now I totally get it – it’s the same as driving drunk, we’re impaired. Unfortunately there are no tests that highway police officers can perform to test for alertness other than to ticket people who text (or are otherwise distracted) and drive. We’re in the same category, I’m afraid, if we’re drowsy or not alert when we drive.

It’s not a question of getting to bed earlier or getting a better night’s sleep since I have no control over it. For the times when I fall asleep inappropriately, if I am aware of it, it’s 10 minutes or so (we can usually tell by how long we have to rewind a movie when I fall asleep at home). But the scary part is that it could be microseconds, and it can happen (and has happened to me) when doing any activity, like driving. I was once in stop-and-go traffic, the morning after a night of little sleep, and I must have fallen asleep, my foot slipped off the brake and I banged into the person in front of me. We weren’t driving, just stopped. No damage, but it frightened me.

You should really read this wikipedia article about narcolepsy (head-bobbing is common) especially the section on “signs and symptoms” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcolepsy

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[Anonymous]

sugargremlin, it’s impossible for us to assess ourselves as being safe if we have these kinds of uncontrollable behaviours. I am disappointed and frustrated by having been told to stop driving, but now I totally get it – it’s the same as driving drunk, we’re impaired. Unfortunately there are no tests that highway police officers can perform to test for alertness other than to ticket people who text (or are otherwise distracted) and drive. We’re in the same category, I’m afraid, if we’re drowsy or not alert when we drive.

It’s not a question of getting to bed earlier or getting a better night’s sleep since I have no control over it. For the times when I fall asleep inappropriately, if I am aware of it, it’s 10 minutes or so (we can usually tell by how long we have to rewind a movie when I fall asleep at home). But the scary part is that it could be microseconds, and it can happen (and has happened to me) when doing any activity, like driving. I was once in stop-and-go traffic, the morning after a night of little sleep, and I must have fallen asleep, my foot slipped off the brake and I banged into the person in front of me. We weren’t driving, just stopped. No damage, but it frightened me.

You should really read this wikipedia article about narcolepsy (head-bobbing is common) especially the section on “signs and symptoms” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcolepsy

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[Cat Alberts]

Interesting thread! I don’t have narcolepsy, I think, but I have had years of fatigue. Maybe I should get tested…

I read the wiki entrance and clicked through to the Delta Wave sleep info.

Interesting as well, because fybromyalgia and ADD are mentioned, as result of disrupted delta wave sleep.

And the fact that a low carb diet can help increase the Delta Waves.

I recently switched to a Paleo/primal diet, so who knows… maybe some improvements!

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[Anonymous]

For those of you who think it’s ok to drive when drowsy, even if it’s just a short distance, or who think that surviving on just a few hours of sleep at night is not an issue for them – this article was posted on a narcolepsy support group that I just joined. Since I’ve recently been told I have to stop driving, it really hit home. This person was on meds.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/narcolepsy-sufferer-crashed-car-into-tree-killing-his-fiancee-after-nodding-off-at-wheel/story-e6freoof-1226135654100

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[Anonymous]

>_<. I do have the “micro sleep”. I get them during the day only if I am on an insomnia streak. I get them always if I have been driving more than 40 miles. Never more than a microsecond. and I am physically unable to nap without pills . One perk of the Vyvanse is that I no longer have any of these microsleep episodes. but yeah. definitely frightening. I am trying to get my friends to drive me late at night and always avoid the long drives if I can. The accidents I had were related to zoning vs. head bobbing. i suppose sort of non-point as doesn’t take back all the destruction.

I get sleep paralysis occasionally and it really sucks! terrifying!

I do have daytime drowsiness if there is not external stimulus, but I’m always wide awake in the evening (too much so really). I’m usually pretty high energy. just really lethargic in the morning..lethargic until the afternoon really.

I’m wondering if I have a delayed circadian rhythm combined with periodic limb movements during sleep. Before my sleep med, my ex used to tell me that I was doing near flips in bed. whatever it is, probably worthy of insurance covering a sleep study. If I am having a mood disorder, it exacerbates all my baseline sleep issues!

life isn’t worth living without my dear carbs! lol.

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[Anonymous]

It sounds like you have enough sleep issues that you need to seek a proper diagnosis. Some of this can’t be detected without a sleep study, and often just the conversation with a specialist who knows what questions to ask will bring up possible sleep disorders.

I’ve spoken to some other naroleptics and they are quite mixed on the diet issue, some say it’s not well documented or backed up with studies, and I’ve heard that the Atkins diet is not safe in the long term. We need to pick our battles!

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[Anonymous]

I’m tired of all the questions too!!!

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[Anonymous]

Well, I’ve packed my jammies and I’m off to my sleep study tonight and tomorrow, hopefully they will get some good data. Will report back when I have my followup in about 3 weeks.

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[billd]

Good luck – hope you have better luck than I did……….what a fiasco. Did I get anything from it? NO, they won’t tell me anything until my next visit, over 3 months after the study. So my other person working on the ADHD angle is pulling a good one – she’s requesting all my medical records from them including the sleep study results since she needs this in an effort to put together a comprehensive plan. HEH-HEH. I guess I’ll get those results anyway.

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[Anonymous]

My followup is already booked for 3 weeks from now, sooner if they get the reports back earlier. I am not sure what the study will show, but as my husband and I discussed, at least I am pretty much covered from either angle, whether it’s sleep disorder or ADD. My ADD psychiatrist/consultant will be getting a copy of the study, I will probably call and let them know that I’ve had the study and that they should get a copy in the next three weeks. I’m booked for a followup with them in November.

I am having a hard time booking a followup with my family doc since they have to have a report in-hand first. And I want to see the sleep specialist for the followup before I see my family doc. My family doc is the one who is resistant to treating with stimulant drugs, but none of the specialists I’ve seen agree with her.

I’m glad to hear that your ADHD person is on the ball, mine is too, he’s the one who really twigged to the fact that I needed to have a sleep study.

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[billd]

Same for my family doctor – however, for good reason. They aren’t trained in this area – they are more body and internal medicine. My doc says I’m too old to treat with the typical drugs. Doc, I’d cut a couple years off the end of my life if it means the REST of it could be good and productive. Quality over quantity for me.

He even asked “Bill, you are 54 – you’ve lived your whole life with this, why bother with it now?”

I wanted to slug him, seriously – I mean – doc, if you had chronic head aches that stopped you from doing a lot of things in life, caused you trouble at work, kept you from thinking clearly, kept you from finishing projects, getting ahead, and suddenly, someone said “oh, I know what that is, there’s treatment for that” – would you walk away????

I mean to me that was totally stupid to ask WHY I was concerned “so late in life” and why I cared now?

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[Anonymous]

If my doc says that to me, Bill (I’m going to be 56 next week), I will tell her I’m filing a complaint with the College of Physicians & Surgeons. My mom was diagnosed with narcolepsy when she was about 60 years old. The sleep specialist I saw who finally diagnosed it actually apologised to me, as if he was apologising for all those &^$&#%&# doctors out there who should know better. I mean, there’s a very simple set of questions your doc can ask to determine if you need further study for sleep issues. Yet my husband, who went in because he was tired all the time, ended up with a suggestion that he see a psychiatrist for therapy.

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[Anonymous]

I have a problem regarding sleep that I haven’t seen mentioned on the site: I often wake up from a dream absolutely soaking in sweat, and I DO mean soaking. My pajamas are wet, sweat runs down my legs when I get up immediately. These are not horror dreams that I have, either. They are just mild anxiety dreams, for instance it’s my first day on a new job and I’m not exactly sure what I’m doing, no one oriented me, etc. It’s usually a “teachers’ anxiety dream” –all teachers have them –you know: it’s the first day of school and at the last minute they change the grade you’re teaching, or you’re there but you haven’t prepared at all, etc.

Anyway, waking up drenched in sweat seems to be an overreaction to say the least. I can’t remember when this first started happening to me, but it’s been going on for a pretty long time. Needless to say, I don’t like it at all.

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[Author]

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