napping getting out of control...help!

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napping getting out of control...help!

Posted by LadyNightOwl on September 25, 2002 at 13:40:26:
I live with my fiance, and he has a medical condition that has resulted in a temporary suspension of his driver's liscence, so I drive him to his classes every morning. The problem is that his classes start at 7:30AM and run till noon, while mine don't begin until 4PM and often run until after ten. Add to that the fact that he studies in bed for several hours every night and that we watch our favorite sit-com together at 11:30, and the end result is that I don't get to bed until close to midnight, even though I have to wake up at 6:45 every morning.
I almost always wake up with a headache, and to relieve it I go back to bed right after I drop him off. On the rare occasions when I don't do that, I get so headachy and groggy by noon that have to nap anyway--and I'm not talking 20-minute power naps. My shortest nap is two hours long, and more often they stretch to three or four. This morning was an all-time high--I went back to bed at 8AM and slept for a solid seven hours without waking. Not only do these excessive daytime "naps" keep me from doing the things I need to be doing--homework, bills, exercise, planning the wedding, etc--they also result in my having too much energy at night, so that even when I go to bed early, I wind up lying awake until 3 or sometimes even 4 in the morning. I exercise right before bed, too, which I know isn't helping, but because I sleep my days away I don't have the time or the energy to do it earlier.
I've tried forcing myself to skip my naps so that I'll be tired at night, but I never seem to make it through the day. Even on the weekends, when I occasionally DO manage to hold out and fall asleep at a reasonable hour--ten or eleven--I wind up sleeping in until one in the afternoon the next day. Can it be that I actually NEED thirteen hours of sleep a night, or am I just at a carcadian low?
Help!!
-LadyNightOwl

Follow Ups:

Re: napping getting out of control...help! Terry 12:06 10/06/02 (0)

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Sleep Deprivation due to Sleep Apnea and insufficient sleep are common and can present as insomnia, narcolepsy, or idiopathic hypersomnia. In infants and children sleep problems commonly present themselves as ADD or ADHD.