Effects of sleep deprivation - Sleep Disorders Message Board

Concerned Male · 12-28-2004, 01:36 PM

I've been dealing with some type of illness since November of 2003. I'm exhausted all the time, and I have problems with concentration and
short-term memory. I was tested at a sleep lab center last in February of 2004, and they couldn't find any sleeping disorder. At that time, I didn't have hardly any trouble getting to sleep, and staying asleep.

Though, in the last three months or so, I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping. Sometimes, it takes me hours until I get to sleep. When I do get to sleep, I seem to go into the dream stage of sleep right away. I had touched on that some in another thread. After going into the dream stage of sleep, sometimes I wake up not long after and I remember just dreaming. I have trouble getting back to sleep. If I do get back to sleep, sometimes I go right back into the dream stage of sleep, and wake up shortly after again. It's very frustrating.

In the last couple of months, my short-term memory has gotten even worse, and I'm more disoriented. I can forget things that people said like 10 seconds ago. I'll go into the kitchen for something to drink, and I'll forget what I went into the kitchen for. I was wondering if sleep problems could be causing my short-term memory to get even worse? I've tried taking over the counter sleeping pills. Sometimes they help a little and sometimes they don't. I also tried Restoril which didn't help much, and 5mg of Ambien didn't help.

sunney44 · 12-30-2004, 07:40 PM

It sure sounds like a sleep disorder to me. I was having problems with concentration, memory, total exhaustion, brain fog and was sent to a neurologist. He, in turn, sent me to the sleep clinic and was found to have sleep apnea. In that same time period, I was seeing a rheumatologist for arthritis and was found to have Fibromyalgia too. I would make sure your doctor knows that you are having all these problems and that they are a big concern. He should be able to steer you in the right direction.

By the way, I still sleep like you described. I fall asleep and start dreaming. I am up and down all night long and when I do go back asleep, its back to the same dream I was having.

Vintage Wine · 01-14-2005, 12:17 PM

Oh wow. So I'm not the only one who dreams in mini-series fashion. It's actually, kinda cool - you get to go back to sleep and see what happens.

Seriously though, the sleep deprivation part isn't cool and is not only annoying, it's dangerous. When I've only slept a couple of hours, my cognitive skills are zero. I'm just this blob who can do nothing but sit there. I don't try to drive, much less work, or do anything that requires actual thinking.

Canyondweller · 01-19-2005, 12:33 AM

sunney, it doesn't sound like you got much help. Weren't you prescribed a mask to take care of the sleep apnea. If you can get used to it people swear by it and say they sleep the whole night thru and wake up rested.My problem is getting to sleep. Yes, sleep deprevation can cause all the things that have been talked about especially memory loss, short term mostly but it could also be other things. I would talk to Dr. by the way Vintage how old are you? Could it just be signs of aging. I live in a Senior mobilhome park and we all seem to be having the things you are talking about whether we sleep or not. I am 68 as are most my friends.