Posted by electracat on May 05, 2008 at 14:28:33:I've been diagnosed with idiopathic hypersomnia, and my sleep shows no stage 3 or 4...I'm not going to go into all the docs/therapy/meds i've tried--i just want people to tell me if my sleepiness is 'normal', or if others have it:
When i wake up, i can feel ok (though i never feel as if i slept deeply), and then several hours later--it is random depending on day--i'll start to feel sleepy...It's not fatigue, it's definitely a sleepy feeling. If i don't act on it (lie down, take nap), it gets worse and worse, to the point where i could scream it's so--almost--painful. Feels like there's incredible tension behind my eyes, though it's not a headache, and the ONLY thing that makes it better is closing my eyes and, hopefully, taking a short nap. Then i'm fine. If i don't do that, it gets worse until it's this deep-seated sleepiness that is hard to access...I can't take a decent nap after a while, and i'll sleep worse on a night where i've gone to bed feeling like this. It's like my body can't access the tiredness anymore, though it's intensely uncomfortable. I can't watch tv, or read, i HAVE to close my eyes when i feel this bad.
The reason i question my sleepiness 'normalcy', is that other people who are sleepy don't seem to have this urgency to close their eyes/sleep that i do...They tell me that if they're sleepy they'll watch a movie, etc., but i HAVE to close my eyes and try to sleep--there's no other way to alleviate the discomfort.
Oh--and the other annoying thing is that i'm not always able to sleep when i feel this way...probably due to anxiety..which makes it prolonged and worse. So, i don't feel narcoleptic.
Maybe it's due to being so overtired all the time? Any advice/comments would be appreciated! Thanks so much.