Can't Sleep! - Sleep Disorders Message Board

badlilangel · 04-19-2005, 11:00 AM

I'm 19, and for about a year now my friends and boyfriend have had an ongoing joke about how I fall asleep during movies (or just early in general)- I just get exhausted! I'm usually very tired by the time I go to bed, but I always wake up several times during the wee hours of the morning and toss and turn. Sometimes for several hours I don't know if I am awake or asleep! In the morning I feel exhausted, not refreshed. I am in bed for 8 hours sometimes, but not all of those are spent consecutively sleeping. I used to be such a heavy sleeper, sleeping through earthquakes even, but now I wake up at the slightest thing.

Our room in our apartment gets bright at about 6 AM now, so I have tried eye shades but they don't work too well. I have also tried ear plugs because we like to keep the window open and we have an older kitten who can be loud sometimes, but ear plugs make my ears very sore (I can't wear any type of ear piece thing either, I always get ear aches, doctor said I have small, sensitive ear canals). A lot of times my sleep is crappy because the kitten crawls on me and likes to lay on me, or I end up in weird contorted positions to accomodate the kitten (he likes to sprawl out). I wouldn't mind him on the bed if he would sleep through the night and not wake me up! I can shut him out of the room but then he cries and like I said I don't mind him on the bed as long as he sleeps through the night.

I just want to sleep!

It's just hard being a college student, you already get less sleep than you should, and on top of that I can't sleep when I need to. Any suggestions? Should I see a doctor? Is there something over the counter I could try?

Nixona · 04-19-2005, 01:32 PM

I'm a very big advocate of EVERYBODY getting a sleep test. You could very well have restless leg movement, periodic limb movement, sleep apnea, any number of things wrong. Bottom line is if this isn't an isolated one time occurance, see a doctor. Generally a family doctor can write out a referral to a sleep clinic where they can do a sleep test and get you all straightened out.

Even if they find nothing wrong with you and say you have healthy normal sleep, at least you know!

analog2000 · 04-19-2005, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by badlilangel

I am in bed for 8 hours sometimes,

Our room in our apartment gets bright at about 6 AM now

we like to keep the window open and we have an older kitten who can be loud

A lot of times my sleep is crappy because the kitten crawls on me

I too am a big advocate of sleep studies. Getting a sleep disorder treated can change your life! I was diagnosed with sleep apnea when I was 24, but I definitely had it by age 19. My friends also made fun of me, telling me that I was going to sleep my life away. I think my life would be very different now if I had gotten treatment earlier, but I didn't think it was important.

Having said that, it sounds like your sleep hygiene is very poor. Although we are always told to get 8 hours of sleep per night, many people need more, and it sounds like you rarely get even that. It also sounds like your sleep schedule is irregular, and your sleeping environment is poor. It is bright, loud, and has cats crawling on you!

I would try to get all of these problems taken care of first. If after a few weeks things don't seem to be improving, you can start to suspect something more serious.

Once I was diagnosed with a sleep disorder, I started noticing how casually Americans treat sleeping. Many people consider sleep to be a matter of will, they think they can force themselves to need less, and some even see being tired as a weakness. We pay much more attention to diet and exercise, but sleep is just as important.

Good luck.