Narcolepsy Forum Posting

Posted by Dugsy on January 26, 2004 at 05:08:09:

In Reply to: the test said i have narcolepsy posted by jetta on January 21, 2004 at 10:43:36:

You have quite unrealistic expectations of normal sleep. You don't sleep all the time. You are sleep deprived and are not getting enough sleep. You are not allowing yourself 7-8 hours of sleep a night and your body is demanding more to cope with the huge sleep debt accumulated. You are only truely sleeping between 9pm and 3:15 when your first alarm wakes you. The rest of your "alarm time" doesn't count as quality sleep, as you are waking yourself during the period when you should be getting the most REM sleep. No wonder you are tired.
The work hours you follow are strenous. You may need more than 8 hours of sleep a night to cope. And this is AFTER you work off your current sleep debt.
First rule of proper sleep: Vary your BEDTIME, not your wake time. If you truely need a baseline nightly sleep of 8 hours, you must get to bed at 7:30 or 8pm if you wish to awaken at 4am. As I said, this is after you work off your present sleep debt! Your body remembers an hour of lost sleep, even if it was two weeks ago.
I assume your work schedule is neccesary so I won't emphasize cutting back the evening hours, but if possible, do it.
Second, awaken at the same time every day.
I highly recomend "The Promise of Sleep," by Dr. William Dement for further knowledge on sleep. Until his retirement recently, he was one of the leading researcherers at Stanford. He was one of the leading pioneers in narcolepsy as well as other sleep issues. Very down to earth, easy and interesting reading. Good Luck!

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