23 replies to this topic

[munky]

That’s reassuring. I am curious, though, what they count as being asleep. I mean, I will frequently start having dreams before I’m completely asleep. I know it’s a dream (and not my imagination) because I’m not controlling it. It’s definitely bizarre, like all of my dreams. I really don’t know what to call it, though. That kind of thing almost always happens within 10 minutes of trying to go to sleep, but at what point I actually fall asleep, I’m not sure. Also, is it possible to have sleep attacks right after waking up? I’ll wake up from my alarm, switch it off, fall asleep, have a whole dream, and wake up two minutes later.

In the interim, I have to figure out how to get all my course work finished since it’s looking like I won’t be getting much – if any – medicinal help before I have to go back to school. Ugh… I just want to nap.

Again, sounds like HH, or possibly sleep-onset REM. My understanding is that HH is actually an intrusion of REM (dreaming) into "awake" time. You're not really asleep, but you're dreaming. I've had similar episodes all my life--dreaming just as I'm on the edge of sleep. I'm still totally aware of everything around me in the real world, but there's some really weird things happening in my head. I've often found myself saying to someone, "You know those really vivid dreams you have just as you're on the edge of sleep, not quite awake, but not quite asleep either?" and been surprised to hear the answer, "No, I've never had that happen." Or the surprised, confused, 'WTF is she talking about?!' look on someone's face as a response. Never realized that it wasn't something that happens to everyone. Mine, though, don't generally invovle any particular theme, like the fan in your case, just ... crazy weirdness that's slightly more vivid than my regular dreams--like having a conversation with my cat about astrophysics, or an entire conversation about something that never happened with a person I can't see.

I'm not at all sure where they start measuring "sleep". I mean, if I'm going into REM while I'm awake ... doesn't that mean I'm sleeping, sort of? So, I can't answer that question. It's a good one to ask the doctor, though, or the tech running the sleep study. It's just one I never thought to ask.

Good luck with your course work! My next semester starts in a couple of weeks. I scaled back on classes--only taking two this semester--and am taking both of them online, except for the weekly on-campus lab for the science class. Luckily, I was able to schedule it so that the on-campus lab is not on a work day. Hoping I can manage to get through it, despite work putting me on a 12-hour shift. I so want to finish this degree and change jobs, but it's going to take much longer now!

[Duck Master AJ]

So I’ve just completed my sleep study. I’m going back into tomorrow to find out what they’ve determined, but I’m really apprehensive. I think the night time test was okay. I think I woke up about 3 times, and for once I can’t remember my dreams (that does happen occasionally, but not often).

As for the day test, they only kept me for 4 naps during the day, but I was under the impression that they did 5. At least, she wasn’t sure about how long I’d be here, so 5 naps was a definite possibility. I guess she decided to cut it short? Maybe because it would put the last nap too close to closing time (5 pm). The naps were weird. I’m not sure if I fell asleep for any of them, but I had dreams – or at least dream fragments – in all of them. Especially in the last nap, I found myself acting out my dreams. For example, in one fragment, I was giving my mom a kiss on the cheek, and my lips actually puckered in real life. It woke me up a little. Another one was I was going to cut a tomato and I reached out for the tomato, and my hand opened. Yet, I was still mostly aware of my surroundings, I think, unless I was in the middle of a dream fragment. I really don’t know what to think. The technician said before the last nap that we weren’t going to do another one, but that they had enough data to draw some kind of conclusion (though she couldn’t tell me anything else).

 

EDIT: As my mom and I were leaving, we stopped by the receptionist to verify my appointment for tomorrow morning, and I saw my test sheet. I didn't get a very long look at it, but I did note that at the bottom, my SL score was 7:15. I think that's indicative of a problem, right? Isn't 8:00 the cutoff?

 

 

Again, sounds like HH, or possibly sleep-onset REM. My understanding is that HH is actually an intrusion of REM (dreaming) into "awake" time. You're not really asleep, but you're dreaming. I've had similar episodes all my life--dreaming just as I'm on the edge of sleep. I'm still totally aware of everything around me in the real world, but there's some really weird things happening in my head. I've often found myself saying to someone, "You know those really vivid dreams you have just as you're on the edge of sleep, not quite awake, but not quite asleep either?" and been surprised to hear the answer, "No, I've never had that happen." Or the surprised, confused, 'WTF is she talking about?!' look on someone's face as a response. Never realized that it wasn't something that happens to everyone. Mine, though, don't generally invovle any particular theme, like the fan in your case, just ... crazy weirdness that's slightly more vivid than my regular dreams--like having a conversation with my cat about astrophysics, or an entire conversation about something that never happened with a person I can't see.

Yeah, yeah! The way you describe the dreaming on the edge of sleep – that’s what I’m talking about. That stuff happens all the time (the fan is a special, reoccuring thing for me because it's the only one I've ever experienced any paralysis with). I think one of them was about this family of hippo rubber squeaky toys. I had a sleep attack in between naps and had a dream about policemen coming to arrest this guy at my house who turned into a red quinoa and flaxseed tortilla chip (I eat those at home). I’ll refrain from sharing my actual dreams because they are much longer and much stranger.

 

 

I'm not at all sure where they start measuring "sleep". I mean, if I'm going into REM while I'm awake ... doesn't that mean I'm sleeping, sort of? So, I can't answer that question. It's a good one to ask the doctor, though, or the tech running the sleep study. It's just one I never thought to ask.

I tried to ask, but really the answer I got was: “the brainwaves will tell us.”

 

 

 

Good luck with your course work! My next semester starts in a couple of weeks. I scaled back on classes--only taking two this semester--and am taking both of them online, except for the weekly on-campus lab for the science class. Luckily, I was able to schedule it so that the on-campus lab is not on a work day. Hoping I can manage to get through it, despite work putting me on a 12-hour shift. I so want to finish this degree and change jobs, but it's going to take much longer now!

Ugh, thanks! Good luck to you as well‼ I’m changing my schedule so that I’m only taking one lab next semester. This will be the very first semester I’ve only had one lab. It’s a weird thought, but after everything that went on last semester, it’s for the best. I really haven’t made much progress on make up work. No Adderall + still sleepy = ZERO PRODUCTIVITY. With the study over, I can go back to taking my meds. They’ll help somewhat.

 

 

 

Stopping medication that helps you get through days is tough, but important for sleep studies. Try your best to stop anything that involves stimulants or medication that affects sleep cycles.

I stopped Ritalin and Flexiril before the sleep study, but it was very hard. I was falling asleep in class, totally unfocused and disorganized other times, and the Flexiril (for TMJ) was my way to not being in so much pain. I didn't notice an improvement with the hallucinations or sleep paralysis (or super vivid dreaming that wakes me up), but I still had to/wanted to stop the medication just in case.

Thanks! I definitely did.

[dormir]

I have a question for you guys that feel on the edge of sleep.

 

I wonder if that is a better way to describe what happens to me during naps.  I described it in my thread as fighting sleep, but I don't know if I made sense.  

 

All of a sudden I will open my eyes, my heart is pounding, and I will be wondering if something just happened and I was having random thoughts?  

 

Also, I find that my hearing goes in and out, kind of like waves.  One minute I will be hearing nothing and the next minute (or at least what feels like minutes), I hear the noise around me, though I may not open my eyes.  

 

I wish I could describe these things better.

 

Do you experience the sound waves?  Or the wondering if you were just sleeping or having random thoughts instead?  

[munky]

Do you experience the sound waves?  Or the wondering if you were just sleeping or having random thoughts instead?  

 

Yup! To both. As far as the sound goes, though, I'd have to add a third wave: sounds that aren't really there. And wondering if I'm sleeping or having random thoughts describes my scheduled naps perfectly. I think that's part of why I hate them. I don't feel like I'm sleeping, just lying there thinking random things. But in the end, I know I must have slept, because the alarm goes off after 20 minutes, and I feel like it hasn't been more than 5 or so. Plus, I know that if I'd actually laid there for 20 minutes doing nothing but thinking random thoughts, it would've felt like hours. I get bored easily, even with the incredibly strange randomness.