Possible Narcolepsy & Hypersomnia with Sleep Drunkenness

[mom2ariana]

Sorry for the long post, but I need help.

My entire life I have struggled with sleep. From the time I was little, I have required assistance waking. My mom will tell stories of dragging me out of bed when I was younger, and taking me to school in my pajamas. I had a strict 9 pm bedtime, and I got plenty of rest (about 10 hours) ... She thought I was just stubborn.

As I've gotten older, the problem seems to have become more noticeable. I missed a lot of school in highschool, and at one point I almost got held back due to absences. In college, I failed multiple classes because of too many absences.

When I began working, it seemed to have really taken it's toll. I can't wake myself. I require the help of my husband. When I am "woken", I rarely remember it. My husband will claim to have woken me 7 or 8 times, but I will only remember the very last 2 or 3 attempts. I feel I suffer from sleep drunkenness. I am confused, angry, exhausted. I sometimes will hear my alarm, but most of the time I only turn it off because he nudges me to silence it. It's not unusual for me to completely sleep through my alarm and later it's on my cell phone screen asking me if I want to silence it. I never heard it. My husband gets angry, and rightfully so. He thinks it's because I don't care and that I don't try hard enough. I just don't know how to explain it to him or even what to explain.

During the weekends, my husband wakes with my daughter. I sleep. I usually go to sleep around 12 am, and I do not wake up until my alarm sounds at 12:30 pm. That's right, I set an alarm on the weekends. For noon. If I don't, I sleep until around 3:00 pm. That's 15 hours of sleep. And when I say sleep, I mean I am KNOCKED out. I rarely dream. I don't remember anything. Often the last thing I remember is putting my head on the pillow. I fall asleep that fast. I'm not sure it even takes me a full 60 seconds to fall asleep most nights.It's very similar to when I am knocked out for surgery. I remember nothing, my life is black for those hours. I do not wake up periodically in the night. Ever.

I sought the advice of a sleep physician. He thinks I have narcolepsy without sleep attacks and hypersomnia. He wanted to do a sleep study (of course), but I have yet to schedule it. I was to undergo jaw surgery around the time I saw him, and so I couldn't afford the study at that time as you can probably imagine.

Can anyone help me? I hate living like this. I hate sleeping my weekends away. I hate my absent mind during the day due to fatigue, my lack of motivation, my need and ache for more sleep. My exhaustion. I just want to feel normal.

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

The excessive sleepiness could be due to narcolepsy. This sleep disorder is characterized by excessive day time sleepiness, sleep paralysis, cataplexy where the person has episodes of loss of muscle function while awake, hypnogogic hallucinations and automatic behavior. Do you have these other symptoms?

Narcolepsy is diagnosed by the sleep onset REM episodes (SOREMs), wherein the person goes into the dream phase or REM cycle soon after sleep onset. This is evident in the Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT). So, consult your doctor for an evaluation. The symptoms can be controlled with medications.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[M1ssy]

I have narcolepsy with cataplexy and am the same way. I can sleep for days at a time if I don't take my meds. But at the same time I also can have a flair as to where I am awake for 2-3 days with no sleep. I'm very forgetful and I do have sleep attacks but not very often.

Good luck
Missy