Sleep disorders and ADD

[Anonymous]

It’s 1:27 a.m. and I’m here on the forum, once again not being able to settle my mind into sleep mode. (sigh)

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[Anonymous]

I had trouble sleeping, took the sleep study test and came back as no problems .. then they tried to sell me a breath/sleep mask and air

just in case …sheesh.

It seems for me to be the Anxiety and Depression that ruin my sleep, though ADH adds to the restless mind but then I wear out and sleep mid day .. i think i am running onadhrenalin .. hyperness and that burns up and i am exhausted

I am on WellButrin and Straterra, the latter wakes me up .. dumb, but also on Lorazapam and that helps to calm my mind enough that i sleep … then i wake up early … 4 a.m. take another Lorazapam and sleep until 7 a.m. seems to help.

It has done wonders for stopping the anxious, dreams that i had, the kind where you think you are awake but paralised and it turns out

to be a dream … damn i hated those.

The drugs arent doing much yst for the ADH … but i am beginning to see how wrong much of my behavior has been .. i tend to panic and drop control .. been doing it for decades … chronic anxiety leads to a kind of control issue reaction that makes me impossible .. sadly took along time to become aware of it …

Family doctor said that getting solid sleep and exercise are major helpful in controlling the ADH symptoms and like the drugs will give

space for me to start changing my behavior .. what i really need is someone pointing out when i am going off the rails .. guess i have to watch out more carefully … hyperness seems the clue … best of luck all

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[Anonymous]

have you always had insomnia problems?

sleep paralysis…HATE those!

what do you mean about control?

I have problems with anxiety as well (still runs very strongly in the family). People at work accuse me of OCD. I’ve been diagnosed with GAD generalized anxiety disorder in the past. Now I don’t really understand what it is. things just need to be a certain way and I’ll go far out of my way to make them so lol…and I worry about stuff a lot. however, I am easily distracted…huge reprieve!! i do have control problems. I like to always be prepared. my insomnia is usually actually unrelated to anxiety. I’m not really thinking anything when i lay around not sleeping.

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[Anonymous]

I’m like that about some things, too, sugargremlin—having to have things “just so.” One thing is that I HAVE to have the top of the sheet folded back over the blanket when I sleep. I can’t stand the sheet being pulled up and not folded down. Natually, DH likes the sheet pulled up, so I fold mine part down as best I can.

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[Anonymous]

I see my family doc tomorrow. Send calming thoughts my way as I’m stressing over this (way too much, I’m sure). I’m worried he will refuse to refer me and that insurance won’t pay without a referral. I know I’m making a mountain out of a molehill and wish I wouldn’t!! Didn’t get to sleep until five a.m. even though I went to bed before midnight, so I am a USELESS PERSON today and am so tired I can’t function. I’ll be glad when tomorrow’s dr visit is over. I may call Virginia Mason Med Center today and see if they have a doctor that treats ADHD in adults, and if I need a referral to see one. Then maybe I could sleep tonight, although I probably will anyway, as I’m wiped out.

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[Anonymous]

Doc was very cooperative; referred me to a local psychologist and says once they diagnose me, he can prescribed meds. I’m relieved, to say the least.

I am also going to give up caffeine, since my sleep problems have become so bad. It’s not that hard for me–I’ll just switch to decaffeinated green tea. I’m hoping that will help some of my problems, and I will refrain from doing art late at night, a sure way to keep myself awake until the wee hours.

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[Anonymous]

sleepytime has to be relaxing vs. invigorating! but i guess it depends on what type of art. cross stitching vs nude body painting paper smearing not so relaxing lol. anyone ever watch the british simon pegg comedy Spaced? lol. got an amusing mental image.

monkeybarb- hope you get some good sleep!

my thyroid tests came back hyperthyroid…hrmmmmmm.. so so not helping my chronic insomnia problems… or really anything else.

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[Anonymous]

SugarG, if I do ORIGINAL art, I”m wired and can’t sleep. If I do non original art, like making sock monkeys, it doesn’t wire me at all. I guess it’s those creative neurons that get all excited when I am doing original stuff. I slept fine the last two nights, and will tonight, too, I think, as my mind is pretty laid back this eventing. Been a rather laid back day–pouring rain for the 2nd day in a row. I went out on the front porch but no farther. Winter is coming. BAH!!

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[Anonymous]

Forgot to tell about a crazy, sweat-inducing, post-teaching anxiety dream I had early this a.m. after I fell back asleep: I was teaching older kids (not the first graders I actually taught), and I was trying to help them solve a problem that involved multiplying negative numbers. I was wracking my brain, trying to REMEMBER all those crazy rules about negative numbers: you know, if you’re adding two negatives you get a negative number, but if you’re dividing a positive number by a negative number, you get a….. You get the picture!! It was scarey!!! Well, for ME, it was scarey!! LOL

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[Anonymous]

I have delt with sleep problems all my life and night mares and I think the two some times go together.. I get up and paint and

listen to auido books with my head phones so I don’t wake any body up..But if you get into excessive worrying you can be up for

days.. So I realize being more informed about this.. I prepare but I make myself stay awake the next day.. The longest I have gone is

three days.. Because of excessive thinking.. Clamdigger

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[Anonymous]

In the case of a person with narcolepsy, you can’t make yourself stay awake. Nor can you make yourself fall asleep. Nighttime sleep is usually poor quality. Hallucinations, cataplexy, sleep paralysis are all part of the picture, although not all of them are present in all narcoleptics, and they are not limited to night-time, which makes it a challenge for those who have severe cases of the disorder.

I tried using books to fall asleep since I usually can’t read more than a few paragraphs (although sometimes it wires me up and I can read for an hour or more). Since the problem is a brain issue, it doesn’t help – I used to wake up frequently and would never get much deep restorative or REM sleep, meaning I would be very tired during the day. Daytime naps were impossible. Every few nights I would get a “better” night’s sleep but only because my body was so exhausted that it had no other option, and then the cycle of severely fragmented nighttime sleep would start again. It was frustrating, and there was also an element of anxiety because each night I wondered whether or not I would fall asleep.

None of this really hit home for me in terms of a pattern since I’d been told I didn’t have narcolepsy 20 years ago. But after seeing the sleep study I have a much better understanding of what’s happening. Why I have this particular pattern, I don’t know. Why a stimulant med taken during the daytime helps me sleep at night, I don’t know.

I’ve been on meds for a week now and seem to have found the optimum dose that allows me to be safely alert during the daytime, feel somewhat tired during the evening, and fall asleep fairly quickly (normal) and stay asleep during the night. Last night I slept for about 7 hours without waking up. For someone who never got more than 2 hours of sleep at a time (and apparently awoke even during that period without becoming aware of it), that’s a very major improvement. It’s going to have an immense impact on the quality of my life.

Now that the condition is getting under control with meds, I can start to tweak it with good sleep hygiene – no computer or exercise within a few hours of going to bed, no heavy meals late at night, no caffeine after noon, no over-stimulation mentally or emotionally in the evening, try to get to bed at a regular hour, and try to wake up at a regular hour, even on weekends. Those behavioural changes support the meds but don’t replace them.

I think any sleep problem that persists for more than 3 months should be thoroughly investigated by a sleep specialist, it’s worth being persistent with your GP to get a referral.

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[Anonymous]

cheers to a higher quality of life, no dopamine!

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[Robbo]

whelp, here I am again not sleeping. I did try to at least go go bed and let my body rest at least, It‘s a lil aggravating trying to write on my side in bed, but it I get up it‘s harder and I need to stay off my butt. It starts to burn from sitting all the time. It’s such a mixed bag of problems we get as human beings in this fast paced world today. Coming here makes me grateful I’m not alone with my lil bag of problems n that’s great. Thanks you guys.

15 years ago I was hit from behind while stopped at a red light on my motorcycle. On my way home from work as a cook in a fancy restaurant. So I can encourage people who have problems staying awake or alert driving to take it seriously. More positive changes than negative have happened as a result of becoming disabled since then. I’m paralyzed from my sternum down, Chronic pain, pressure sores/surgeries etc… It was easy to forgive the 16 yr old kid that hit me back then. And now it‘s even easier to never have bad feelings about it. after reading about all the reasons it could have happened other than being an idiot. (I used to call him that). Not for a very long time. Never actually met the dude. No lawsuit. Why sue a 16 year old kid? or the parents? He had insurance, but it didn’t amount to anything at all like what happens when a person gets hit by UPS, or some other big company. I respect and admire people who do whatever it takes to avoid accidents due to all the sleep problems people can have. I don’t work. I was a carpenter after for a bunch of years and then went back to cooking after I almost had to beat the crap outa one stupid boss. I walked off the job instead. It was great money but I love cooking a little bit more. Now I do both, just as hobbies from a wheelchair. Thanks for not driving when your gut instinct tells you not to you guys. I have the luxury of being able to sleep during the day if I can’t get enough sleep at night. That can make the problem worse. I’m remembering my dad giving me a hard time. (jokingly) about getting my days and nights mixed up. But It’s been that way all my life. A big part of why I went back to cooking at night. I’m a night owl. It’s hard to break the habit of getting up at the crack of noon!.

Anyways, I’m glad you guys are here. I’m gonna check around and see if there’s a chat room to go to where I can talk about adhd related problems. If anyone knows about one, I’m hoping to find out about it. I promise to try not to dominate the conversation or talk about a gazzilllian different things mixed with typo after typo hehe. Remember, I did say “try” I won’t get a chance to start the Ritalin until late in Nov. That Dec. appointment got moved up fortunately.

I’m here instead of a physical disability web site because the ADHD has literally caused me more grief and unhappiness than the spinal cord injury. If I had a choice between the two, that would be easy. The only mildly difficult part is not having much money. I know how much of whatever money can buy is enough though. So I’m happy where I am. Fortunately I can really cook, so I eat really well when I can get an appetite. I wish I could have an appetite more often. I’m hoping and praying the Ritalin won’t affect my appetite. “medical” marijuana doesn’t, only plenty of exercise, and there’s only so much I can do with arms and shoulders only. I’m hoping to get some answers from more folks about Wellbutrin in the medication thread. (I marked it as a favorite so I can find it again)

I can relate to the dream problems. Dreams can really suck, why don’t I ever have funny dreams? It’s only happened a few times. One time I was laughing so hard it woke me up! That hasn’t happened in years. It’s always some stupid struggle, or I get lost, left behind, or make some incredibly stupid mistake with people telling me not to beat myself up… sux huh?

Later pataters.

PS I just checked the “best anti-depressant for depression/anxiety that co-exists with adhd?” thread in Forums/ask an expert. section, No expert answers yet from my post four days ago. I checked and just realized I forgot to ask a specific question about Wellbutrin, doh!. That would probably help, huh?

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[Anonymous]

Does anyone else get their days mixed up? I woke up today, sure it was Monday, but it’s Sunday. I also have trouble regularly thinking Friday is Thursday.

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[kc5jck]

Is that all you get mixed up?

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[Author]

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