Lainons and Sleep Disorders

How many of you suffer from some type of sleep disorder? How you discovered/started suspecting about it and got a diagnosis? And how it affects your sleep/dream experience? I have type 2 narcolepsy (basically narcolepsy without cataplexy), and even suspecting that it may have started showing it's first symptoms when I was 16, it wasn't until 3 years later that I got diagnosed this summer after my second polysomnography and my first sleep latency test. I started suspecting that something was wrong last year when I started having more serious sleeping problems than usual (I had depression, so I was used to being tired and sleepy for no good reason even when taking medication) that couldn't be explained by my current mood. I suddenly started fluctuating between weeks where I would sleep normal person hours (6 to 9), and falling sleep for 12 to 14 non-stop - but no matter how many hours I slept I would feel sleepy all the fuarrrking time. This last thing ringed something to my doc, who after seeing that a blood test didn't bring any strange results, send me to a sleep clinic ASAP, and in a trimester I was finally diagnosed. It's strange because the neurophysiologist (my doctor in the sleep clinic) actually confessed that it was the first time that she failed the pre-diagnosis in a patient, and that I am their youngest narcoleptic patient in the clinic, since narcolepsy tends to go years and even decades underdiagnosed, although usually having it's onsent in adolescence. In regards of dream experience, I have to say that having a fuarrrked up REM cycle has it's advantages and disadvantages, since I usually have vivid and multiple dreams that I can remember, but that means that I suffer from sleep paralysis episodes, have problems with hypnagogic hallucinations that won't let me wake up, and other parasomnias. So, lainons, share your experiences - maybe we can all learn something to cope with them from other suffering similar things

The more I think about my sleep problems, the more I have them. So I don't have any sleep disorders or problems, I am a great sleeper. I sleep whenever I want, its often that I do not have any issues doing this.

>>2605 Not sure what i might have, if anything. I'm 16 and have had hallucinations before falling asleep and during for the past ~8 months. Occasional sleep paralysis. Had feelings that someone is pouring water in my ear or flies are flying into my face before falling asleep, i wake up terrified and confused. This happens around 3 times a week. Any thoughts?

>>2613 >Any thoughts? I think you've made a mistake.

has anyone gotten a kind of sleep paralysis where it sounds like/feels youre throwing up? its been so convincing before that i have to get up and turn on a light to check that there isnt puke anywhere. it feels mostly like regular sleep paralysis other than the loud noise. im pretty sure its related to exploding head syndrome but ive never had anything diagnosed

>>2615 Sounds like it's kind of related to the difficulty breathing reported in a lot of sleep paralysis? Most people have the standard thing where you think some entity is pressing down on your chest, but I have a recurring one where I see humanoid forms made from smoke, and they lean over my bed and pour smoke from their bodies down my throat and it makes me cough and choke. I could see that somehow connecting to the sensation of needing to throw up. That's my guess though, I have no credible idea how this works.

>>2605 I have been sleeping terribly for the last 3 months and i don't know why. Every time I solve a problem that's bothering my sleep a new one arises. Last night i woke up 5 times to pee, despite not drinking anything for two and a half hours before bedtime. Any tips? i will elaborate more about my sleeping habits if you will express interest.

>>2605 Started suffering from chronic insomnia when I was a few months old, lasted with varying intensity until I was around 16. Between 14 and 16 I had taken some meds to help, mostly some valeryan root pills. Also learned to manage my sleep schedule rather tightly. After recovering, I spent about a year feeling like I couldn't sleep enough, as if making up for lost time. Fortunately it didn't take too long to stabilise. If anything, this ordeal taught me to value a good night's sleep.

>>2613 Anything troubling your waking mind? Maybe something's getting you anxious and affecting your sleep >>2652 Damn anon, that is like kicking dead whales down the beach. Do you have a urinary tract infection perhaps?

>>2605 Sleep all day- awake all night i have a tendency to awake in the middle of the night and if i dont force myself back to sleep my sleep schedule takes 1-2 months to get fixed again

>>2652 Looking for medical advice on the internet is generally not a good idea. Most of us here are not doctors or have any medical experience. You should go see a doctor.

recently I've been unable to enter really deep sleep. I can doze off for a time but inevitably I either get uncomfortable in my bed or my roommate starts jerking off or something. I have very sensitive ears. Last night I drank 1.5 shots of whiskey, ate a melatonin pill, and took a dab and I was ready to enter dreamland at 11. Didn't fall asleep until 1.

>>2605 I've never had a good night's sleep in my entire life. This one time I was trying to sleep while my brain kept chaotically looping some basic terms of a subject I was studying, and I eventually got nauseous enough to vomit. I hadn't drunk alcohol or anything. It's usually substantially less bad. Pic unrelated.

>>2879 Same situation for me. It has already 25 years

My special technique, works perfectly every time >Turn off all monitors and screens before sundown >Eat a very small meal at dinner, well cooked, no spices to help digestion >After dinner, heat a mug of milk and put honey, two drops of vanilla extract and some cinnamon >Alternatively, herbal tea with chamomile and valerian >Do some light exercise, take out trash, etc. >Make a hot water bottle for pleasant sleepy warmth as you get ready for bed >Drink 2 tsp apple cider vinegar in a glass of water, stir then gulp it down >Bedroom should be tidy, clean, and lit by dimmable 3500K bedside light at lowest setting >As you lay down, take 0.5mg Xanax >Optionally, put up ambient sounds like waves on the beach >Do the progressive relaxation technique >Unclench the gastrocnemius, unfurl your brow. >Concentrate on the breath while you fall asleep. Bam, asleep for a full 5 hours. Easy!

>>2880 Truly, you are my brother.

I've had dry-throat problems when trying to sleep. It can keep me up and cause sore throat in the morning if I do manage to sleep. What's weird is that the problems completely go away and I can get a good nights sleep when I try to lucid dream. I don't even need to succeed (and haven't yet). As long as I attempt to lucid dream, my throat produces all the moisture needed to sleep comfortably. Probably some sort of psychogenic John Sarno related thing.

>>2613 Sounds like an oppurtunity to experiment with things like WILDs and OBEs. Make the most of it

I rarely go to sleep when I'm actually tired. Most of laying in bed is spent thinking about random soykaf which keeps me up. Gives me a lot of time to come to rational conclusions for stuff, though

I have night terrors. Its like waking up from a dream but you're confused, pretty terrified with high pulse and still 'in the dream' untill a few secs until you gather your senses. I almost never remember the dream but the terror carries with me into the consciouss realm. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_terror When i lived with my family or with roommates i would sometimes have people remark that i was screaming at night, which i wouldnt remember. Once i ran out the house in only my undies, thank god my parents would catch me. They seem to happen at random, if anything it feels like its the nights im the happiest and serene that i have a night terror. Im starting to think its hampering my social abilities. Last night i woke up at midnight with the determination that i absolutely had to punch the wall beside me, i hope i didnt disturb any of my neighbors, i dont think most people would understand. Im a kissless handholdless but i dont want to imagine what would happen if i one day had a qt over and got a night terror that night, so i guess i have an excuse now. I guess i should seek out therapy but i dont really have the time for it with my studies. Could i gain more control over my sleep dreams i tried out lucid dreaming?

I don't have sleep problems but I can't/barely dream if that counts. I'm possibly autistic so that might explain it. I have about one 'dream' per year but there's no visuals, it's more like just the thoughts you'd associate with the dream.