6 replies to this topic

[LivinTheNarcLife]

ok so right now i'm living with my parents while trying to get my meds right and VERY often i'll need a nap so i ask them if they'll wake me up at a certain time, in case i don't wake up to my alarm/or it becomes part of my dream-which literally happens to me every time. i always sleep much later than i originally wanted because i never WAKE UP enough to actually know what's going on-meaning"oh yea, i'm taking a nap right now, and that must be my alarm going off so i can get up!1!" ya no...) So they're trying to be nice and wake me up so gently that i end up getting up anywhere from 30 mins to HOURS later than i wanted!- which is in itself a major stressor!  ? If i tell them to MAKE SURE i get up the first time, i end up being so mean and grumpy to them (with a scowl look on my face) that that's the last thing they want to do! i'd say pour a bucket of water on me so then i'd wake up immediately (SO I AM FULLY AWARE OF WHATS GOING ON) but then i'd be the meanest person alive for when they wake me up!  They've also tried to talk to me as a way to get me up but i'm like 1/2 awake so that never ends well... ! Are there any suggestions for what my parents could do to wake me up (without me wanting to kill them initially)?? haha

 

ps. and i'm not on xyrem right now so i absolutely suck at getting up every morning 

[DeathRabbit]

Well, I'd say you just have to work on controlling those mood urges. It sucks to have to deal with these problems and I know it's not fair, but the way I look at it, noone else caused this to happen to me, so I'm gonna limit the suffering as much as possible by just keeping the N as my problem. Easier said than done, and I still fail at this regularly, but it's what I strive to do. I want N to have as little impact on my life as possible and that includes my interpersonal relationships. You can't stop how you feel, that's why are called feelings and you're kind of just a victim of them. But you can learn to control your response to the feelings and mood swings. The first step is to learn to realize when you are slipping into an irrational mood driven state. With time you'll gain that facility. Then my method of coping is to attmept a course of non-action towards others. In other words, when I know I'm in one of my moods, I allow myself to neither say anything to anyone, nor make any important decisions. I allow myself rudimentary covnersation and actions, but that's all. Others recommend rage dumping on something (yelling into a pillow, getting a punching bag, or even just exercising in general) . In time, you'll learn to better control the stupid mood bull*BEEP* that N and N treatments can cause. But for now, if you are just looking for an effective way to wake up, I recommend using an alarm program on a pac/laptop that can play songs. Then find a song you jsut absolutely detest and have it blare at full volume. For me, there's nothing that gets me out of bed quicker than having Rebecca Black, Justin Bieber, or Lady Gaga screech at me.

 

EDIT: Despite my actually liking it, Avant-Garde music usually works well too, cuz it's the last thing I wanna hear in the morning. There's just no way to sleep through this:

[Hank]

The cold tile floor on my bare feet helps me wake up. There is some science behind cooling hands/feet for wakefulness and warming them for sleepiness. When insomnia strikes at night, I warm my feet with a heat pack and drink some ice water- it does help. In the morning, I drink a hot drink while standing on the cold/cool kitchen tiles. It is simple and makes some difference, but it is certainly not a miracle solution.

 

Maybe your parents could bring you a cold pack to cool your feet and a hot drink before you get out of bed. We all seem to find creative ways to make things work. I hope you find something to help.

[LivinTheNarcLife]

RE: Death Rabbit

so when i say i get mad at them (it's because i'm 1/2way awake and i don't know what's going on that i become real feisty-i did this ever since i was little. like when i fell asleep on the couch and my parents would try and get me up and would resort to carrying me to my bed-as i kicked and whined-and then when they would mention it the next morning, i either wouldn't remember at all, or just barely remember and i'd be like why was i so mad???)--THAT SORT OF THING-where i'm literally not even awake fully and i don't know why i acted like that i did, you follow?

BUT STILL that is wonderful advice for just in general thank you! of course as a pwn i'm going to have mood swings so that definitely helps

haha that's hilarious i will definitely try blasting a song i hate. i feel like that would work. for the mornings i could just turn the radio on a station i donit like and try that. but for things like naps, where i don't have my alarm clock, i just have my phone, what should i do? i have an iphone and macbook, do you know what sort of thing i would do to set that up? thanks again

RE: Hank

the cold pack is a great idea! i will definitely try that thanks!

i DEFINITELY agree with that temperature thing because i've experienced it first hand- when it's cold outside, i heat my car up to warm my freezing hands, and i start to get reaaaally tire. And also the minute i turn the shower too hot i always end up dozing (and sometimes even having tidbits of dreams/images as i close my eyes)! as soon as i think, "oh this feels so good, boom like 20 mins has passed by and i realized i was dozing off and on" -___-

[DeathRabbit]

I have an android phone and the alarm option just lets me use any mp3 I want besides the built-in. If iPhone doesn't allow that, I'd almost guarantee there's an app somewhere that does.

[Megssosleepy]

I have a light alarm that gets pretty bright and plays music.  

 

One thing that I have worked very hard on since having my DX is to get up when the alarm goes off... no matter how much sleep tends to pull me in.  If I start playing the alarm game It gets harder and harder, and of course causes bouts of SP/HH for me.  Its all about training yourself... its not easy not at all.  Some days are harder then others for sure as well!

 

I used to have the problem where I would turn the alarm off in my sleep.  When I used to do that I would set one close to me and then have another where I had to get up to turn it off.

 

Oh and the hot and cold trick really works.  When I would get sleepy while driving ac on my feet and heated seats on my butt!

[Intreble]

I'm so with you on this topic. During my early college years I was still living with my mother. To this day, the only times mom and I yelled at each other was when she was trying to wake me up. I was un-diagnosed at the time and even I thought I was just "lazy". I remember her yelling, "Your father is paying for your classes and you won't even wake up to go to them!" I don't so much remember what I yelled back, but I'm sure it wasn't pleasant. And naturally, attending classes for 7 years doesn't really get you a degree if you sleep through most days and the running joke throughout the school of music was that if I wasn't there, I was probably in bed! Not so funny (or then actually).

 

I'm now 32 and was diagnosed over a year ago. My husband is now the one who gets to be yelled at when he's trying to wake me up. This doesn't happen very often anymore though, since we're both out of work and don't need to wake up. We're separated now, but still in contact. I have a tendency to go into a sleep coma at least once a month and will be in bed for a day or two and these are really the only times when he drives over and tries to wake me up. I've tried to explain to him that I don't ever even remember how he is when he first arrives. By the time I am halfway aware of what is going on he is already so angry. At times, he will bring up how it's "totally okay" that I am a *BEEP* when I'm half asleep because I have narcolepsy-but he is "just an asshole" because of his personality disorders. Sarcastically, of course. But I digress...

 

Back to the point-I would LOVE some feedback on this topic as well. I would like to (and will probably lose my house if I do not) go back to work soon. But living alone and using 3 or 4 different alarms, I just do not wake up.

 

-Leslie