Page 2 of 3 [ 44 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next

whitetiger
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 3 Feb 2009
Age: 56
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,702
Location: Oregon

22 Jul 2009, 12:30 pm

I strongly suggest getting a sleep study done. It was no big deal to me. I kind of enjoyed it. Because I couldn't tolerate Cpap due to AS sensory issues, I'm now looking into surgery options.

If you have any doubts about having a sleeping problem, get it checked out. It could be deadly if not. Risk of heart attack and stroke is 3x the normal population unless you get it treated.


_________________
I am a very strange female.

http://www.youtube.com/user/whitetigerdream

Don't take life so seriously. It isn't permanent!


Willard
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,647

22 Jul 2009, 12:41 pm

Alphabetania wrote:
DaWalker wrote:
Diet, sex and so on...........................

Diet does make a difference to me. I have given up eating Cadbury's Mint Chocolate slabs (which I love) altogether. They give me a hangover. A pharmacist told me that mint is actually a mild poison!


Must be very mild, as I used to chew on mint leaves growing in our yard as a child.

Headache symptoms are also indicative of an allergy to chocolate, which often develops in adulthood.



Locustman
Toucan
Toucan

User avatar

Joined: 21 Apr 2009
Age: 54
Gender: Male
Posts: 277
Location: London, UK.

22 Jul 2009, 12:46 pm

I think there is definitely a link between Asperger's and insomnia. Our brains tick over at a more manic pace than those those of most NTs, so it stands to reason that we have greater difficulty in switching off our thoughts for long enough to get a proper nights' sleep.

I've had insomnia all my life, but it became seriously chronic in my second year of Uni, and my doctor prescribed me Zopiclone (or Lunesta as I believe it's called in the States) which worked. However, I made the mistake of taking it too often, to the point where I became reliant on it to nod off. Long-term result? I've now been unable to sleep a single night without medication since 2004. Oops.



sartresue
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Age: 70
Gender: Female
Posts: 6,313
Location: The Castle of Shock and Awe-tism

22 Jul 2009, 2:19 pm

To sleep, perchance to stay sleeping topic

I tried the lettuce route last night but the coffee negated it. :roll:

I will try the sleep salad again tonight, minus the coffee.


_________________
Radiant Aspergian
Awe-Tistic Whirlwind

Phuture Phounder of the Philosophy Phactory

NOT a believer of Mystic Woo-Woo


makuranososhi
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 May 2008
Age: 48
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,805
Location: Banned by Alex

22 Jul 2009, 2:24 pm

I've wondered, especially with the studies showing lower cortisol levels in those on the spectrum... I have never been able to get to sleep at night, yet come morning I find it near-impossible to get going. During the day I find myself keying on stressors, which may be a form of self-medication to keep me awake and functional during the sunlight hours; come night, I cannot get myself to unwind, to get the thoughts from racing through my head. Currently under treatment for the latest bout of insomnia... though this is something my parents noticed when I was an infant/young child as well.


M.


_________________
My thanks to all the wonderful members here; I will miss the opportunity to continue to learn and work with you.

For those who seek an alternative, it is coming.

So long, and thanks for all the fish!


darby54
Supporting Member
Supporting Member

User avatar

Joined: 28 Mar 2009
Age: 70
Gender: Female
Posts: 100
Location: The Wild West

22 Jul 2009, 2:53 pm

Chibi_Neko wrote:
gsilver wrote:
Sensitive to heat (why I'm awake right now)
Sensitive to noise
Sensitive to light


Same with me, I find that these help:
A fan for the heat
Ear plugs for the noise
and a blind-fold for the light.

Ditto, ditto and ditto.

I also take the herb valerian at evening/night, which works very well for me as a natural sedative, and also time-release melatonin just prior to bed.



gbollard
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Oct 2007
Age: 58
Gender: Male
Posts: 4,009
Location: Sydney, Australia

22 Jul 2009, 4:46 pm

Here's an article I wrote in August last year...

http://life-with-aspergers.blogspot.com/2008/08/aspergers-and-sleep-disorders.html

Essentially... Sleep Disorders are part of Aspergers. You don't need to go looking for the name of some other problem you may have.



Cicely
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Apr 2009
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 928
Location: USA

22 Jul 2009, 6:13 pm

I have trouble sleeping if everything isn't just right. My room has to be completely dark (I use a sleeping mask, and now I need the feeling of it over my eyes as much as I need the darkness), I have to have enough pressure from the blankets on me, I can't be too hot or too cold (this is tricky because I overheat easily and the blankets are warm), nobody else can be in my room or able to easily get in (this isn't paranoia about murderers or anything; I just don't want my parents to go into my room and watch me sleeping), there has to be some sort of monotonous background noise like the sound of the air conditioner, and there can't be any other noise besides that.

But most of the time I have all that, and then I can sleep just fine. My sleep issues only become problematic when I'm on vacation. I just hope that if I ever get married my husband will be okay with sleeping in another room.



arcticmelody
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 9 Apr 2009
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 50

22 Jul 2009, 6:25 pm

I can't sleep/have problems sleeping at night unless I'm dead tired. I prefer much more to sleep in daytime..



mechanicalgirl39
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 Apr 2009
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,340

22 Jul 2009, 6:49 pm

I am very prone to insomnia too.

I used to have REALLY severe insomnia as a kid. I would literally stay awake all night without falling asleep.

I don't have that any more but am still crap at getting to sleep. I think it's because I think too much. I often get into that half-asleep state, start obsessing about something, and come back to full alertness.

And for some reason, every so often I become hyperactive at night, and fail to sleep normally...I couldn't tell you if it's related to anything else.


_________________
'You're so cold, but you feel alive
Lay your hands on me, one last time' (Breaking Benjamin)


Alphabetania
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 1 May 2009
Age: 60
Gender: Female
Posts: 665
Location: South Africa

22 Jul 2009, 7:57 pm

...and the reason I am reading this right now is because it is 02:55 and I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, so I decided to go online. 8O


_________________
When I must wait in a queue, I dance. Classified as an aspie with ADHD on 31 March 2009 at the age of 43.


DaWalker
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 11 Jul 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 10,837

22 Jul 2009, 8:29 pm

I am really beginning to wonder why peoples awake issues tend to sync!?!

When I am going through it, others seem to be as well.

I am fascinated by magnetic and gravitational effects,

But I wrote a "sleep journal" for one year,

and did they pay dear.

Though I wish I had it now,

At the time, I saw no relation in things I was looking for

Since being around other aspies, this info would be handy to reference.



pensieve
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Nov 2008
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,204
Location: Sydney, Australia

22 Jul 2009, 11:51 pm

activebutodd wrote:
Delayed sleep phase syndrome

I'm going to be doing a sleep study soon.

The first part I relate to - I can only fall asleep after midnight, but I usually wake up at 6 am. Then I roll over and sleep in until 9 or 10.


_________________
My band photography blog - http://lostthroughthelens.wordpress.com/
My personal blog - http://helptheywantmetosocialise.wordpress.com/


exhausted
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Jun 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 667

23 Jul 2009, 1:01 am

makuranososhi wrote:
I've wondered, especially with the studies showing lower cortisol levels in those on the spectrum... I have never been able to get to sleep at night, yet come morning I find it near-impossible to get going. During the day I find myself keying on stressors, which may be a form of self-medication to keep me awake and functional during the sunlight hours; come night, I cannot get myself to unwind, to get the thoughts from racing through my head. Currently under treatment for the latest bout of insomnia... though this is something my parents noticed when I was an infant/young child as well.


M.


sorry. in insomnia, and my hyperfocus is on.

so there are some studies indicating lower cortisol levels in those on the spectrum? so--could some of the low blood pressure and hypoglycemia things that some tend to experience be, well--more or less indirectly related to ASD's?


_________________
punctuation... life is full of punctuation.


ChangelingGirl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Sep 2007
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,640
Location: Netherlands

23 Jul 2009, 6:30 am

I have sleep problems too. No formally diagnosed sleep disorder though. Sleep problems are pretty common in ASDs, and it makes sense that poor sleeping worsens your symptoms.



makuranososhi
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 May 2008
Age: 48
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,805
Location: Banned by Alex

23 Jul 2009, 10:40 am

exhausted wrote:
makuranososhi wrote:
I've wondered, especially with the studies showing lower cortisol levels in those on the spectrum... I have never been able to get to sleep at night, yet come morning I find it near-impossible to get going. During the day I find myself keying on stressors, which may be a form of self-medication to keep me awake and functional during the sunlight hours; come night, I cannot get myself to unwind, to get the thoughts from racing through my head. Currently under treatment for the latest bout of insomnia... though this is something my parents noticed when I was an infant/young child as well.


M.


sorry. in insomnia, and my hyperfocus is on.

so there are some studies indicating lower cortisol levels in those on the spectrum? so--could some of the low blood pressure and hypoglycemia things that some tend to experience be, well--more or less indirectly related to ASD's?


I believe it was SinsBoldly who posted a thread on it some time ago; I will try to find the thread here as well as the attendant article.


M.


_________________
My thanks to all the wonderful members here; I will miss the opportunity to continue to learn and work with you.

For those who seek an alternative, it is coming.

So long, and thanks for all the fish!