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Information not intended as medical advice.

Always tired & tried everything


Posted by Mike on March 24, 1998 at 14:03:22:

Before anyone suggests seeing a doctor, I've done so (in spades). I'm just posting my experiences to see if anyone has any thoughts.

I'm 36 and have felt tired nearly all the time since about age 10. Through the years I've had every kind of blood test done and redone; "everything's absolutely normal."

Finally, in November of '96 I had a polysomniograph done. For the nearly 8 hour period of sleep, there were no apneas, no snoring (even though my snoring is so bad at home my wife sleeps in another room!!), no twitching, high oxygen level, an abundance of REM, etc. The only thing that was unusual was the presence of Alpha activity for most of the night.

When the technologist woke me in the morning, I felt (as usual) like I just wanted to sleep for another 3 or 4 hours.

I have NO trouble going to sleep. I've never had any problems with staying awake once I'm up and around, but if left alone, I will easily sleep 12 - 16 hours, and then only feel refreshed for perhaps 2 or 3 hours. If I sleep 8 hours, I don't feel refreshed at all.

My primary doctor and the sleep specialist felt that the presence of Alpha activity might indicate fybromyalgia syndrome, and they felt that a small dosage of an antidepressant (amitryptiline - 10mg once before bed) might make a world of difference in how I feel. I haven't been on it long, but so far it has either had no effect or made it worse. My primary doctor is also of the opinion that I'm depressed; I disagree. I have a great family, I have hobbies I love, life is great, etc., except that I'm so DAMNED TIRED!

A final observation I made, while I was away at college: I discovered that the morning after any event involving alcohol, when my roommates would sleep half the day because of it's effects, those would be the days I would wake up on my own, reasonably early in the morning, and actually feel alive for most of the day! I remember the feeling being almost euphoric - that this must be how "normal" people feel every day. Perhaps I don't drink enough now...

Seriously, though, does anyone have experiences or thoughts on these issues:

1. Why do I snore so terribly at home, when I didn't make one sound during the study?

2. How can a sleep study's results be SO out of synch with my symptoms? Insurance obviously won't pay for another study, yet I don't feel I gained much from having it done.

3. Experiences with amitryptiline? Dosage differences?

4. What's the connection with alcohol?

I appreciate your thoughts.

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