Pls assure me that I don't have fatal familial insomnia

[impydimpy]

Two and a half months ago, I randomly contracted insomnia. I'd never experienced it in my life before. It just spontaneously happened. I recently graduated from college, but I wasn't feeling any conscious stress or anything. Suddenly I got insomnia, and couldn't go to sleep for 3 nights in a row. So I'm assuming something biological happened?

The only thing...is that I've had really bad sinuses for the past 4 years (i've been suffering from eustachian tube dysfunction like symptoms, where my ears are blocked, and it feels like ur on an airplane). my ears haven't "popped" in 4 years, so idk if that contributed to my current insomnia.

So I went to the doctor, and he gave me Zolpdiem/Ambien. Now that helped me go to sleep, and now I can go to sleep on my own. The problem is, I'm having a weird condition: whenever I'm sleeping, I'm going directly into REM sleep, and am having very vivid dreams. I experience sleep paralysis, and am conscious while my body freezes, etc. But I'm not getting much deep sleep, because whenever I wake up, my body is feeling extremely tired. Then I started using Ambien again almost every day, which makes my body feel okay the next ok, but idk if that's because Ambien also acts a muscle relaxant, or if it's actually helping me get deep sleep.

So basically, when I wake up: mind + eyes feel fresh, but my body feels tired (unless i also take ambien)
I tried chammomile tea, melatonin, etc, and while that helped me go to sleep, it still hasn't solved m problem of a lack of deep sleep.

Fast forward to this week, and my vision has gotten a bit weird: sometimes when I blink, I'm seeing flashing lights, my vision has got a bit worse, I'm sometimes seeing dots on the corners of my eyes. I'm freaked the **** out. ARE THESE HALLUCINATIONS? If so, that means they could be a side effect of my ambien OR it could mean that the ambien's potency is wearing off, and these are examples of sleep deprived behavior?

I'm freaking the **** out, and I have no idea what to do. I can't get a job b/c I'm so ******* tired. They are brushing off my dots I'm seeing in the corner of my eyes, saying that I've gone crazy. I hate the ******* lack of support.

Should I look into cognitive sleep therapy or something?

Anyway, please please assure me that I do not have this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_familial_insomnia

I'm exhibiting some of the symptoms: I spontaneously contracted this (but can also develop spontaneously in patients with a non-inherited mutation variant called sporadic fatal insomnia). Moreover, sometimes my body twitches while I'm awake. And i'm having the flashing lights + shapes on the corner of my eyes, and lowered vision, which COULD be hallucinations?? (but at least they aren't severe or anything)
and my eyes are moving more slowly

Moreover, the mechanism seems similar: i'm not getting past light sleep into deep sleep (although I am getting REM sleep, which is different from the symptoms on this page...it appears that people who suffer this DON'T GET REM SLEEP). but im not getting the deeper stages of sleep, which is troubling, b/c that means my body will become weaker with every day :( i hope it gets better

However reasons why I might not have it: i'm not delusional, and i've had this condition for 3 months already, like i'm not having phobia or panic attacks randomly (except for now, but that's b/c this article freaked me out).
Also it looks like in the vast majority of cases, this is inherited: "Fatal familial insomnia (FFI) is a very rare autosomal dominant inherited prion disease of the brain. It is almost always caused by a mutation to the protein PrPC." It's also extremely rare. I don't have any family history of this

I don't have a complete inability to sleep: I'm getting REM sleep. Moreover, with the exception of the small shapes i'm seeing my eyes (possibly hallucinations), I'm feeling okay, content, happy, relaxed, in control, etc.
Also the sleeping pills are helping me somewhat, which this article says they can't do (this article says for ppl with fatal familial insomnia, it makes them feel worse)

So who the hell do i go to see to get my conditioned check up? Is there someone who can do a full body scan of me, maybe look at my brain and my brainwaves or electric patterns, or something, to make sure that I'm overall ok and I don't have this fatal disease? What type of doctor/therapist should I go see?

I can think ok, but my body is really tired and exhuasted (and it's nearly completely exhausted w/o the sleeping piills). my parents are telling me to grow the **** up and stop bothering them, but idk what to do :( Given my situation, do you think it's serious enough that i need to go the emergency room, or be hospitalized, or something? idk who the hell to see to get my condition checked: the general physician or whatever definitely wouldn't be qualified (my last general doctor just gave me ambien and told me it would go away in a week or so, but it didn't).

But...it's extremely extremely extremely unlikely that based on what I described to you, I have this disease right? That i'm just having other problems with insomnia? That it will be eventually cured? That I will be able to eventually somehow in the forseeable future get to experience deep sleep and the flashing lights + the shapes at the corner of my eyes will go away?

I can't take this anymore

[Mha135]

I'm experiencing the same thing right now. I have no clue too. Since u posted this two years ago, are u fine now?