iwishididnthaveanhedonia Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Hi everyone. So I've been taking 3-4 hour naps in the middle of the day (usually around 3pm lately) even when I sleep more than enough at night (8-11hrs a night). At first I thought I was just being lazy (and maybe that is it), but I've began to notice lately that when I fall asleep during the middle of the day, I actually feel down and pessimistic and so I hit the sheets. The mood I'm talking about when I say I'm down is a stark difference from how I feel when I wake up or when the sun sets, when I feel happy and optimistic. My muscles also ache around this time. When I decide to take naps, I'm not hit with debilitating drowsiness, so its probably not narcolepsy, but it does affect my ability to be productive as you can imagine so I'm getting concerned. I want to be able to be productive and enjoy the daylight hours. Maybe there's a way less potent form of narcolepsy? I know this isn't a site to diagnose each other but I was wondering if anyone has experienced this or anything like this. I am going to see my pdoc tomorrow so I'm going to talk to her about it, which brings me to my next question: should I be bringing this up with another doctor instead or in addition to my pdoc? Thanks in advance to everyone for reading and as always, any input will be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dilemma Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 You may want to see if you can get a referral for a sleep study. I sleep 10-11 hours at night and still sometimes need a nap in the afternoon. It turns out I have tons of what are called "alpha wave intrusions" which cause me to temporarily go into wakefulness, so I don't get much of a deep sleep at night. You may also find that you have sleep apnea which is causing you not to get a good nights sleep. Sleep specialists are really good at helping you if you have sleep apnea or narcolepsy, but not much for other diagnoses. My intrusions are likely caused because of the pain of fibromyalgia, so what am I supposed to do? I've got an appointment with my PCP, so we can figure out where to go from here. At least I know why I sleep so long at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 I agree with looking into having a sleep study. My neurologist is my sleep DR, and is the one who ordered mine. I know the feeling of drowsiness and feeling heavy during the day, enough that I feel like I have to lay down because if not I get all antsy and in a bad mood. I don't sleep a lot during the night though, so my sleeping during the day may be a way to add sleep to the various times I sleep during the day. But I do know the tired and heavy feeling and needing to lay down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderful.Cheese Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 This was so me! I still sleep around 10 hours a night but I have sleep apnea and narcolepsy/hypersomnia. The thing is they can't diagnose me with narcolepsy because during day time sleep study I did sleep all 5 naps but did not hit REM sleep phase during naps. Anyhow, the meds I take suppress REM sleep. So I'll never be off meds so will never truly know if I have narcolepsy. According to insurance companies. I now take a stimulant (ritalin) and I no longer sleep 18 hours a day. It's nice. You may find getting. Totally off seroquel to help too. Latuda can be sedating to some as well. But yes talk to your pdoc about it. If pdoc says nothing or does nothing see if you can see a sleep specialist and get a sleep study done. You will start with a night time one and go from there if they deem you appropriate to have a day time study. I've had both so if you have any questions. About what they are like let me know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 The thing is they can't diagnose me with narcolepsy because during day time sleep study I did sleep all 5 naps but did not hit REM sleep phase during naps. Anyhow, the meds I take suppress REM sleep. So I'll never be off meds so will never truly know if I have narcolepsy. According to insurance companies. ^^Same with me. I'm on provigil for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt07 Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 You're right, we can't diagnose you, but do you think you might have some depression creeping in? I think you should bring this up to your pdoc since your mood is involved. When I am feeling depressed sometimes I take a nap and that sort of resets my brain a little and I wake up feeling better than when I went to sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwishididnthaveanhedonia Posted May 5, 2015 Author Share Posted May 5, 2015 Okay, thanks everyone for your input! My pdoc and I are using a calendar to track this behavior. I'm looking to write when the sleepiness hits, what I was doing before that and what I did to alleviate it. Not sure where we're going with this, but yeah I'm going to do that. If it persists and pdoc can't do much to help me, then I'll see a sleep specialist. My pdoc did mention using some med (can't remember the name) to alleviate the body aches. She also said that maybe the combo of AAPs I've been on could be to blame. I will no longer be taking the seroquel so let's see if that changes anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt07 Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Good luck! I hope it works out for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwishididnthaveanhedonia Posted May 5, 2015 Author Share Posted May 5, 2015 Good luck! I hope it works out for you. Thanks jt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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