Living with Sleep Issues

This condition is rare, but is very life controlling. I had no clue what it was and that I had it. It’s simliar to narcolepsy, but is different.

I’m just a teenager, and many doctors couldn’t come up with a diagnosis. Hypersomnia isn’t something that occurs in most children/teenagers, so they never assumed. But it’s controlling my life.

My life isn’t like many’s. I feel constantly tired, to the point where I would love to go out with my friends but going to sleep seems more appealing. I’m just constantly tired. My grades are now slipping because within the first semester, I’ve missed 40 days for my first few periods. No matter what I do I cannot wake up! I also will be sitting down after school and then wake up hours later, not having a clue of what happened. I’ll find myself often drowsing off in class as well.

Oh, not only that. I can hardly concentrate on anything. You will often find me staring off into the distance, and many people will give me weird looks thinking I’m looking at them. But I’m not. I’m just… staring. But the weird thing is that whlile I’m totally spaced out, I’m hearing everything around me perfectly. I just cannot concentrate on people, moving objects, and things like that. It’s easier for me to stare at a picture and focus on words.

During school, it’s really hard for me to read anything or write something or anything of the sort. It’s horrible! When it’s work time, I’m often just sitting. I don’t even have to think about anything, I just shut down but have my eyes open. Because of this my work habits lack, which results in more homework. And then once I get home, I’m too exhausted and pass out. See how this all ties in?

Hypersomnia long sleep also means that no matter how much sleep I get, I’ll be tired. During the weekends, I will sleep for 10 hours or more, and feel completely exhausted and enable to get up and do things. Every single day I feel mentally tired, physically tired, and feel bad about everything because it really does control your life. Sometimes I cannot even sit up straight because sitting is too much work for my tired mind and body. It’s just easier to lay down and is more comfortbale for me.

I have a neurologist and he’s great. Many other doctors think I’m insane and that it’s all mental. Right now, I’m being monitered and we’re trying out different medications. I’ve tried two, and neither one has worked. My first medication and first dose amount was interesting. The pharmacist warned my mother and I that the dose (10mg) would make him, an adult male, be awake for a good 48 hours. He said I could become like a kid who has untreated ADD Well, it didn’t. It had hardly any effect. I felt just a tiny amount better but still tired all the time. Next up was 20mg. Nothing! If the typical teenage female took that amount, they would be awake for a good 5 days. I still felt all the time tired. Now we’re on a new medication and we’re trying hard to figure out what works to fix this.

Still it dictates my life. School suffers, my social life suffers, and my mood suffers. It’s a horrible, horrible thing. If any of you even assume you have this, go get a sleep study done! I got one and I could fall asleep within 5 minutes during the day. The average person falls asleep in 8 minutes or more. Research it more and read up, because it can be serious!