I just discovered that I don't always receive an email when people write comments. I apologize for my extreme delay in responding to your comments. Now that I know, I will have to check with some regularity, which is a challenge, because my iPhone doesn't get along well with comments.
Also, Please forgive me if I missed a comment that you wrote. Hopefully that won't happen anymore. Thanks for your patience!
Saturday, June 1, 2013
The All-Nighter...
All-nighters are different for those of us who have sleep disorders. All through college, I wondered why I was the only person I knew who had never "pulled an all-nighter." I could never stay up for an entire night studying. As a matter of fact, my roommate used to joke about my studying consisting of opening up my books and falling asleep instantly.
Surprisingly, this wasn't far from the truth. Reading is one of the easiest ways for me to fall asleep. I have found that if I have insomnia (which is torture for people with narcolepsy), all I have to do is pick up a book, and by the third page, I can't keep my eyes open.
Unfortunately, this poses some problems for a student. If my automatic response to reading is falling asleep, studying becomes nearly impossible. When I was working on my Master's degree (which I graduated with officially last week), I tried everything to read those long books originally written in another language, translated into English poorly. I would spend all day at the school's library - far away from my bed. I would go somewhere where I knew the AC was way too cold. Or I'd have soda and snacks with me, just to have the stimulation to keep me awake. It didn't usually work. I almost always fell asleep anyway - I'd find the couch in the library, give up, and snuggle into my sweatshirt, or even fall asleep sitting at the desk with my face on the textbook. Back then, I had not been diagnosed, so I didn't know what made me different from everyone else. I just thought I was weak or lazy.
Anyway, it occurred to me the other day that I have pulled all-nighters, but when you have a sleep disorder, sometimes it takes a different shape. I am now a teacher, and I stayed up until 1:00am grading papers when I had to get up at 6:00am the next day. For me, this is an all-nighter. Normally, if I am up until 11:00pm, I am exhausted and non-functional the next day. Staying up until 1:00 made me practically delerious. For me, that was an all-nighter. For most people, they wouldn't think twice about staying up that late once in a while.
Surprisingly, this wasn't far from the truth. Reading is one of the easiest ways for me to fall asleep. I have found that if I have insomnia (which is torture for people with narcolepsy), all I have to do is pick up a book, and by the third page, I can't keep my eyes open.
Unfortunately, this poses some problems for a student. If my automatic response to reading is falling asleep, studying becomes nearly impossible. When I was working on my Master's degree (which I graduated with officially last week), I tried everything to read those long books originally written in another language, translated into English poorly. I would spend all day at the school's library - far away from my bed. I would go somewhere where I knew the AC was way too cold. Or I'd have soda and snacks with me, just to have the stimulation to keep me awake. It didn't usually work. I almost always fell asleep anyway - I'd find the couch in the library, give up, and snuggle into my sweatshirt, or even fall asleep sitting at the desk with my face on the textbook. Back then, I had not been diagnosed, so I didn't know what made me different from everyone else. I just thought I was weak or lazy.
Anyway, it occurred to me the other day that I have pulled all-nighters, but when you have a sleep disorder, sometimes it takes a different shape. I am now a teacher, and I stayed up until 1:00am grading papers when I had to get up at 6:00am the next day. For me, this is an all-nighter. Normally, if I am up until 11:00pm, I am exhausted and non-functional the next day. Staying up until 1:00 made me practically delerious. For me, that was an all-nighter. For most people, they wouldn't think twice about staying up that late once in a while.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Long breaks - no more being sorry.
I've decided that I am going to stop feeling bad about taking long breaks from posting.
The fact is that when you have a narcolepsy-type sleep disorder, you sometimes fall behind on things. If this blog was the only thing I fell behind on, I could live with that.
Luckily, since I was diagnosed, I have been figuring out how to get more done, and still sleep as needed. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Anyway, I have topic or two floating around in my head. I will see if I can squeeze in a much-needed post soon.
For now, prayers for those in Boston.
The fact is that when you have a narcolepsy-type sleep disorder, you sometimes fall behind on things. If this blog was the only thing I fell behind on, I could live with that.
Luckily, since I was diagnosed, I have been figuring out how to get more done, and still sleep as needed. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Anyway, I have topic or two floating around in my head. I will see if I can squeeze in a much-needed post soon.
For now, prayers for those in Boston.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
My description of the effect of Nuvigil
I had a follow-up with my doctor recently, and he asked me how I was doing with my new medicine. Here's what I said:
I feel like Nuvigil doesn't keep me awake or give me more energy. It just makes it possible to fight sleep when I ordinarily would be unable to. Like, if I am driving for 15 minutes, I might feel the same amount of sleepy as I always do, but now I can just decide it is not a good idea to fall asleep while driving, and it happens. Before, I would have to pull out all of the tricks - opening windows, turning up the radio, drinking soda, eating something... It is an extremely subtle difference, so subtle that it is difficult to be certain there is truly a difference at all.
My doctor said this was the most accurate description he had heard of this drug's effect.
It is weird to think that I am taking a medicine with this purpose - to give me the option of whether I fall asleep or not.
I feel like Nuvigil doesn't keep me awake or give me more energy. It just makes it possible to fight sleep when I ordinarily would be unable to. Like, if I am driving for 15 minutes, I might feel the same amount of sleepy as I always do, but now I can just decide it is not a good idea to fall asleep while driving, and it happens. Before, I would have to pull out all of the tricks - opening windows, turning up the radio, drinking soda, eating something... It is an extremely subtle difference, so subtle that it is difficult to be certain there is truly a difference at all.
My doctor said this was the most accurate description he had heard of this drug's effect.
It is weird to think that I am taking a medicine with this purpose - to give me the option of whether I fall asleep or not.
"Well, I guess the Nuvigil works," she yawned.
Just about every day since I was diagnosed with IH, I have taken Nuvigil. My doctor said it would help. It has been the better part of a year, and I have been wondering exactly how much it is helping.
Well, I am a teacher. It is an exhausting job, especially since I am new to teaching, and have no background in it other than my area of expertise. When I first started, all I did was teach and sleep. These days, I teach, do things, then sleep - more like people without narcolepsy or IH. But I do take naps occasionally, and if I do not get enough sleep, I will still fall asleep throughout the day. So, I was starting to really wonder what kind of difference the medicine was making.
One day, I forgot to take my Nuvigil before going to work. Luckily, this was after I started drinking coffee. So, throughout my day, I had 3 cups of black coffee, knowing I would be tired that day. I figured 3 cups would be equivalent to the meds (in a very non-scientific way). So, I got home from work that day, and I fell asleep on the couch napping for a couple of hours. That was fine, I figured it was par for the course having missed my dose. Here is where I realized how much different my life had been before I started on the medicine.
Only a couple of hours after my long nap, while fully dressed still in my work clothes, I fell asleep for the night - it was 8:30 pm. I couldn't even wake myself up long enough to change for bed. Then when it was time to get up for work the next day, I had a very hard time (which is still typical).
I felt as though I had completely missed a day. It was a little bit of a shock to remember what my life had been like before my diagnosis. But one thing I realized is that I am very thankful drugs like this exist! Even though I am still tired and I still nap a whole lot, the meds are actually helping. Subtle, but life-changing!
Well, I am a teacher. It is an exhausting job, especially since I am new to teaching, and have no background in it other than my area of expertise. When I first started, all I did was teach and sleep. These days, I teach, do things, then sleep - more like people without narcolepsy or IH. But I do take naps occasionally, and if I do not get enough sleep, I will still fall asleep throughout the day. So, I was starting to really wonder what kind of difference the medicine was making.
One day, I forgot to take my Nuvigil before going to work. Luckily, this was after I started drinking coffee. So, throughout my day, I had 3 cups of black coffee, knowing I would be tired that day. I figured 3 cups would be equivalent to the meds (in a very non-scientific way). So, I got home from work that day, and I fell asleep on the couch napping for a couple of hours. That was fine, I figured it was par for the course having missed my dose. Here is where I realized how much different my life had been before I started on the medicine.
Only a couple of hours after my long nap, while fully dressed still in my work clothes, I fell asleep for the night - it was 8:30 pm. I couldn't even wake myself up long enough to change for bed. Then when it was time to get up for work the next day, I had a very hard time (which is still typical).
I felt as though I had completely missed a day. It was a little bit of a shock to remember what my life had been like before my diagnosis. But one thing I realized is that I am very thankful drugs like this exist! Even though I am still tired and I still nap a whole lot, the meds are actually helping. Subtle, but life-changing!
Attribution Error
I think I understand why my doctor doesn't want me on stimulants. Now, I'm no doctor, but I did study psychology in my undergrad. What am I qualified to do? Nothing, but it was fun. Anyway, I always remembered reading in my studies about the attribution error (I'm pretty sure that's what it was called - correct me if I'm wrong).
Basically, here's the idea: if you give someone a stimulant, and tell them that you're giving them a stimulant, when they feel their heart racing, they will say, "the stimulant you gave me is making my heart race." But if you give them a stimulant without telling them that's what you're doing, they may mistakenly attribute their racing heart for anxiety, anger, or some other emotion, when really all that is happening is that they've been given a drug that alters heart rate. They will then look for the reason that they are experiencing the emotion, and blame it on whatever they decide is the cause.
I have been wondering (in my super-unqualified mind) whether I sometimes experience this with caffeine. Sometimes I will consume caffeine in some way and later I will be very nervous about something - more than usual.
This morning I experienced this in a fun way. I was exhausted, so I chugged a soda. A while later I found myself thinking, "Man! I'm really excited for the nap I will be taking this afternoon!" This was likely a strange combination of the caffeine and the exhaustion. But I really felt excited! I figured the excitement must be about what was on my mind, which - of course - was the nap I planned to take later.
The nap was excellent, by the way!
Basically, here's the idea: if you give someone a stimulant, and tell them that you're giving them a stimulant, when they feel their heart racing, they will say, "the stimulant you gave me is making my heart race." But if you give them a stimulant without telling them that's what you're doing, they may mistakenly attribute their racing heart for anxiety, anger, or some other emotion, when really all that is happening is that they've been given a drug that alters heart rate. They will then look for the reason that they are experiencing the emotion, and blame it on whatever they decide is the cause.
I have been wondering (in my super-unqualified mind) whether I sometimes experience this with caffeine. Sometimes I will consume caffeine in some way and later I will be very nervous about something - more than usual.
This morning I experienced this in a fun way. I was exhausted, so I chugged a soda. A while later I found myself thinking, "Man! I'm really excited for the nap I will be taking this afternoon!" This was likely a strange combination of the caffeine and the exhaustion. But I really felt excited! I figured the excitement must be about what was on my mind, which - of course - was the nap I planned to take later.
The nap was excellent, by the way!
Monday, December 24, 2012
Coffee and me
When I was little, someone told me, "coffee stunts your growth." Since my entire goal in life was to become taller than my oldest sister, I decided that I was not going to drink coffee until I was certain I was done growing.
I finally decided I was done growing (wound up the second-tallest in my family) I was in college. By then, my lack of coffee intake had become a novelty. Whenever I said, "I've never had a cup of coffee," people were stunned. I liked the attention, so I kept up my coffee-free streak.
This became more and more difficult as my narcolepsy (officially idiopathic hypersomnia) became more obvious.
With increasing my Nuvigil, my sleep doctor's persistent reluctance to put me on stimulants, and my sudden weight-gain due to a dramatic increase in soda intake, together my doctor and I decided it was time for me to start drinking coffee.
I started a couple of weeks ago. It is quite fun! When I have that much more caffeine coursing through my brain, I get more animated. The drawback seems to be that I also get more frustrated. So far, so good, though. Maybe I'll keep you posted on my coffee antics.
I finally decided I was done growing (wound up the second-tallest in my family) I was in college. By then, my lack of coffee intake had become a novelty. Whenever I said, "I've never had a cup of coffee," people were stunned. I liked the attention, so I kept up my coffee-free streak.
This became more and more difficult as my narcolepsy (officially idiopathic hypersomnia) became more obvious.
With increasing my Nuvigil, my sleep doctor's persistent reluctance to put me on stimulants, and my sudden weight-gain due to a dramatic increase in soda intake, together my doctor and I decided it was time for me to start drinking coffee.
I started a couple of weeks ago. It is quite fun! When I have that much more caffeine coursing through my brain, I get more animated. The drawback seems to be that I also get more frustrated. So far, so good, though. Maybe I'll keep you posted on my coffee antics.
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