Hypersomnia - any experiences?

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Just wondering if anyone has dealt with hypersomnia - either themselves or a family member. I know about the meds but am wondering if anyone has found any lifestyle / behavioral changes that have worked for them. Does going to bed at a specific time or getting up at the same time every day help? Does avoiding all alcohol and caffeine make a big difference? Does exercising make it better or worse for you? Did it improve with time?

Just wondering what has worked or not worked for you or for others you know...

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Specializes in Tele.

yes!!!! I honestly cannot sleep like I used to anymore!!

I don't know what to do.... working at night has gotten me fatter & grumpier when I get home.

I am gonna try to change my lifestyle into more active. so I will be in a tennis class, and boot camp class, and see what else I can fit there so I can sleep when I have my days off.

and plus I am looking for new jobs that are held during the day

I am interested in other's people's responses for this thread

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Specializes in Rural Health.

I definitely think eating healthier and getting exercise helps! I recently went on a diet using the sparkpeople.com website and lost 20 lbs! I felt much better while I was eating healthier and cut way back on caffiene. Unfortunately I'm falling back into old habits and now I'm not able to sleep when I should and then have trouble staying awake when I need to. I'm trying to get back on track.

Sparkpeople is a really good website to help you monitor your diet whether it be for weight loss or just maintaining a healthy lifestyle if you happen to check it out my username there is nkochrn. Good Luck

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Specializes in PACU, CARDIAC ICU, TRAUMA, SICU, LTC.

Are you referring to hypersomnia or insomnia?

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
Are you referring to hypersomnia or insomnia?

Good question, scoochy.

I've been on both ends of the spectrum. A good diet, exercise, and prudent living is ALWAYS a good choice. Practice abstemious behavior in all endeavors.

If it's insomnia, the use of a warm bath and Valeruian Root are a couple that helped me. Also a CD called "Delta Sleep" or some such thing. Meet that special Basic Physiological Need regularly, if you know what I mean. Aside from meeting that special need, use your bed only to sleep in. Don't use your bedroom to eat, watch TV, etc. Make sure it's got the right ambiance for cutting Z's: soothing colors, white noise, photographs of positive times, etc.

For hypersomnia, check out your lifestyle and your sleeping schedule. Are you working long shifts followed by time off? I would sleep up to 36 hours at a stretch when I worked numerous long shifts followed by a couple of days off. I now work straight eight hour midnight shifts and vary my sleepng schedule little or not at all.

Get that thyroid checked out. Its malfunctioning can cause hypo- or hypersomnia. A medical checkup can always identify any physiological reason for your malady.

I'm sure there is all sorts of info on the web, but this is a little tidbit for you to consider.

Hey- I followed my own advice and have been sleeping well for several years now.

Good sleeping to you.

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My teen daughter had a very severe case of hypersomnia, in conjunction with gettingonmynervesitis.

When I worked nights I could never sleep during the day. Towards the end I'd get two good hours and the rest was spent dozing and snarling at everyone unlucky enough to be around me. I related to the Fight Club monologue where the character says "you're never really asleep and you're never really awake." So I have no advice for the hypersomniac, except to say it sounds way better than the alternative.

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Thanks all for sharing, I've been dealing with hypersomnia for the last 18 months...some days I feel like I've been sedated, other days I am awake but a zombie, other days I feel like I have a massive hangover. I sleep a lot but never get any restorative sleep or rest so I live in a contstnat drowsy, foggy state of sleep deprivation. For me it was triggered by hypothyroidism.

Before this I had insomnia for years - and I have to say I'd take insomnia any day over hypersomnia. The upside of the hypersomnia is that after years of lying awake I love being able to fall asleep as my head hits the pillow and wake up 8, 10, 12 or 14 hours later....I love that part. However my funcitoning is so much worse than when I had insomnia - my cognitive functioning has gone way downhill. I think I must actually be getting less restful / restorative sleep now in the 10 or so hours I sleep a night than I did when I slept 3-4 hours a night.

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Specializes in NICU.

I think I have this problem at times. I could sleep all day if I didn't have dogs that won't let me. I sleep until about 11 or 12 every day that I'm off work. Then when I wake up I feel like a slug. Getting moving is so hard.

I was sleeping even more than this a few years ago. I began to suffer from reflux and went to the MD. He asked about my sleeping habits and after a few tests it was determined that I had mono. I never even knew I had mono. I didn't have any typical symptoms (sore throat, swollen glands, ect.) The mono ran its course, steroids helped. I actually quit sleeping so much for a while. But now I'm sleeping all the time again.

It annoys my husband so bad. On the weekends he literally has to drag me out of bed at 11 so we can get stuff done. It is very frustrating. I'm 25 years old so you would think I wouldn't need so much sleep.

I never have a problem getting up for work though. I hit the snooze a few times and then I'm up and by the time I'm at work I'm quite cheerful. After a cup of coffee of course.

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Hypersomnia is also one indicator of depression. I agree with the above, exercise will improve the quality of sleep with less quantity.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

At one point in time, I was sleeping 16 hours daily with an underactive thyroid. Once my thyroid replacement hormone meds were adjusted, the hypersomnia gradually went away. I have noticed that exercise greatly helps to regulate my sleep/wake cycles.

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TigerGalE - sorry to hear you are dealing with something similar. It is brutal! I never thought I'd say this but I'd give my left arm to go back to the days of insomnia.

I am in the unfortunate position where exercise actually makes it much much worse. Apparently I have exercise intolerance - who knew that had a label! I still try to go for a slow walk each day just to be moving but anything more than that and I am useless for the next 24-48 hours. I love being active and I miss it so much.

I was actually hoping it was depression as that is treatable but I don't feel depressed at all other mood fine, still have interest/pleasure in activities, no negative thoughts...

Commuter I'm still hoping that it is thyroid related and that it will go away but I've been on thyroid meds for 18 months now - that should be long enough to have stabilized.

My doc is sending me for a sleep study so hopefully that will give me some answers.

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Specializes in M/S, Travel Nursing, Pulmonary.

Its funny, with all the medical advancements and new theories and everything..........sometimes the old wisdom is still best.

I work night shifts and have struggled with sleeping issues. I used to go over 48 hours without sleeping then crash and burn and sleep close to 20. All sorts of issues stemming from my disturbed sleeping pattern. Overeating, being short with people in my personal life, lethargic lifestyle (sitting in front of the computer all day, playing video games for hours on end, watching movies all night).

I had to really take an active role in putting a stop to this stuff. I didn't do anything dramatic at all. I just followed the old sleep disturbance rules:

1. I cut caffeine outta my diet entirely. A big part of my problem was that I'd drink Pepsi all night on the job, then go home and not sleep. Next thing I knew, it was time to go to work again and I had not gotten any rest. Not safe.

2. I realized I sleep better at night because it is cooler at night. So, I put up a nice blind in my bedroom with a large "mil" rating that blocks out the sun. This makes the room darker and cooler.

3. Part of my daily routine now is going to the gym, even if it is just for 30 min. walking on the treadmill. I do this before going into work at night. This activity wakes me up for the night shift, but also helps with me being truly "tired" in the morning when it is time to sleep instead of just being "mentally fatigued". I don't go if I am working a 12 hr shift that night, but I do go all other nights, so thats 5 nights a week I go.

4. I cut out eating during my night shift. I might at the most have a very small snack I packed for myself. I quit drinking any fluids, even water, around 3am, I am home trying to go to bed around 8am.

5. I don't do much of anything in the morning after work other than feed the cats and take a COOL shower. I think having to shower before going to bed causes a lot of the sleep disturbance nurses face. It wakes you up and then you don't sleep. I can't skip the shower after work, so its a very quick cool shower, then I shower again before work. I try to go to bed within a half hour of gettting home.

6. Its a pain, but I set my alarm now even on my off days. Whatever time I am going to bed, the alarm is set for 8hrs. I usually fall back into sleeping at night on my off days. I don't let myself oversleep. That begins the cycle of not sleeping for a long period of time then oversleeping.

7. I used to read in bed. Not anymore. My bed is for sleeping only now. The reading gets done on the couch in the living room now. My brain associates the bed with sleeping now, not reading (which means you are alert, awake).

My oversleeping was a direct result of poor sleeping for days before the crash and burn. Once I got more disciplined with my sleeping, oversleeping was a thing of the past.

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