How Do You Feel From Lack Of Sleep?

[Guest CyberPixie]

If I lose a couple of hours I feel worse. But if I have less than 5 1/2hrs the next morning I can't move, literally. My whole body feels so heavy like I've been hit by a truck, I can barely breathe (and feel like I don't have the energy too) can barely even talk or whisper. My breathing is bad, I feel hot and sweaty and just so ill I think I'm going to die.

Is it just me?

[Guest sonotech]

Is NOT just you. I have the same problem. When I stay up too late at night, or just dont get enough sleep my body has the same reaction. All of my symptoms get worse and cant get out of bed. Sometime if I go a couple days in a row with little sleep (or less than what "I" need) I will have a relapse that can last SEVERAL days.

I think with POTS you not only need MORE sleep, but we definately cant deprive ourselves of any sleep if possible.

Laura

[Be Still]

#1 My doctor said the quickest way to go crazy is to lose sleep. (In that case, I should be committed.) If it wasn't for my micro-dose of sublingual melatonin I would be . (Seriously.)

#2 I feel so much better when I've had 7 hours, but it's rare. Understand 'so much better,' means that I don't feel hit by a truck, not 'I feel great.'

#3 If I have a bad night, I've described it like feeling like I've been hit by a truck or a freight train, but I can still get up.

I'm sorry you feel so badly, C-Pixie. I've been reading about EDS and that has terrific musculoskeletal pain with it, I'm sure that makes a difference in how you feel.

[dizzygirl]

i fell horrible.. like crap.. and like a walking zombie most of the time.. if I dont sleep.. 9which is alot of the time these days!!

i feel your pain dear!!

[Guest CyberPixie]

Thanks to all of you. Glad I'm not alone though not glad we have to suffer like this.

At my worst last year when I didnt know what was wrong with me and I'm sure I was having a storm constantly for 6mths I was only getting 2hrs sleep every night for 6weeks, it was pure torture. Looking back I really don't know how I got through it.

I find I have to stick very strictly to a routine, even 5mins out and I get stressed which starts off adrenaline surges and then I can't sleep.

Also, when I'm not asleep by 12am I start to feel really odd, I become paralysed but also hyper aware (hearing and everything becomes very acute) like I'm going to hallucinate. Sometimes I can drift into a light sleep like this and dream yet still feel as if I'm awake. It's bizarre.

[Lulu]

I can SO relate to this, Pixie! (and everyone else ) Thank you for this thread.

I have to have a good five hours, AND then up a couple and then back to couch or bed for a couple-three-four more. I can't seem to prevent waking in the middle of the night, (someone tell me what is UP with that?) so I just get up and do something so I'm not just sighing, driving myself (more) bonkers and thrashing in bed trying to get back to sleep. Within 2-3 hours, like clockwork, I have to go back to bed.

If any of these elements are lost in my daily routine>>I feel completely zombified and will eventually receive the Great Command from the body, independent of geography or activity. ("You are going to lie down, NOW, whether you like it or not," The Great Command says.) Best not to receive the Great Command, it usually means I'm gonna end up on the floor semi-conscious with a bruised noggin or body part(s), maybe with people around freaking out cuz I just fainted or by myself with no help to get up. My body will literally s-h-u-t m-e d-o-w-n. Nothing like getting body-checked from consciousness. I hate the syncopal & near-syncopal episodes and having no choice about heeding the Great Command, which often stretches out into a string of bad days when I can't get enough sleep.

Not only can I not stay asleep as long as I want, I can't fall asleep when I want, even with very good medication, meditation, good "sleep hygiene" (yep, that's what it's called! can you believe it?). (Yes, docs and nurses and friends and books and probably even Sesame Street say don't take too many naps..you won't fall asleep.... but for me, naps are absolutely required....see above reference to Great Command...what can you do?)

But anyway, I can fake myself out sometimes, too, just like you do, Pixie, when it's way late....I leave the light on and "read." I start floating off (feeling paralyzed and like I'm hallucinating).....and I just tell myself, (ahem, that is tell myself a little white lie....) "Oh, no, I'm not trying to sleep now. I'm just gonna think about the storyline while I close my eyes." I can sometimes get 5 hours sleep this way, but it feels like I'm still kind of awake. It is definitely bizarre. Probably no more bizarre than having conversations with yourself about your illness. (As I've said: You don't have to be crazy to have POTS, but it sure helps! )

I find use of my Ativan Rx helps keep me from getting so anxious over breaks in routine that might lead to several horrible days that I end up with the self-fulfiling prophecy of having several horrible days because I got worried about it. It's so easy to get stressed out about this illness---you never know what's going to happen!

I am glad I'm not *entirely* alone in this. Though I hope you all aren't completely bonkers yet and I wish none of us had to go through horrible sleep disturbances. Well, it's back to bed for me. I've been up 2 hours already, slaving away on the Internet--what am I thinking?

Nighty-night, love and light,

Lulu