Off my usual topic, I want to talk about idiopathic hypersomnia for a minute.
I have been tired for YEARS. I sleep and sleep and sleep and I can still fall asleep at the drop of a hat. I have followed alllll the sleep hygeine advice, regular physical activity, giving up caffeine. I went to the doctor and got my iron levels up, started using a CPAP.
I was sleeping 10 hours a night, napping two hours in the afternoon, and I was still exhausted and crabby all. the. time.
I was convinced that this was something I was doing wrong. I wasn’t cut out for motherhood, I wasn’t following the advice correctly, I needed to…I don’t know, something.
I finally asked my doctor for a referral to a sleep specialist. She talked to me at length, but it at one point she looked at my CPAP data and I saw her eyes get huge. “Is this ACCURATE?!” she asked me “You sleep a LOT!”
So. With a hypersomnia diagnosis she got me started on a stimulant medication to help me stay awake during the day. This was two weeks ago and I am MIND BLOWN. I was worried that I might feel…amped up, but I just feel like myself for the first time in years.
I don’t need a nap. I can play with my kid, I can push the swing. I can walk the dog. I CAN GO OUT TO DINNER. My well of patience is so much deeper because I’m not fighting to stay awake after 2pm.
We’re still pursuing more diagnostics, including a 24 hour sleep study to see if I have a form of narcolepsy and some more blood work. But. I feel like I’ve gotten a fresh start.
So please. If you’ve got something weird going on physically or mentally and you KNOW it’s not right, keep pushing for more diagnostics, ask for referrals, get to the bottom of it!