Sleep Disorders

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I have recently been diagnosed with idiopathic hypersomnia, which most people are not familiar with. I had sleep studies done, and my MSLT showed that I fell asleep in an average of 3 minutes at every opportunity to nap (with the quickest being 1.5 minutes) even though I slept for 8 uninterrupted hours the night before. This explains my constant daytime sleepiness, which makes work very difficult.

As a new grad, I took a position at a hospital that offered me a day shift position. I had offers at top ranked hospitals but they required rotating shifts and I knew that I would be unable to manage my life with that schedule. 12 hour shifts absolutely destroy me, if I work 2 in a row my first day off is a recovery day, with me often sleeping 12-16 hours. This makes having a personal life near impossible... I have been put on armodafinil (ProVigil) which helps me stay awake but doesn't improve my brain fog or mental exhaustion.

I get 7-8 hours of sleep a night before working, maintain a good sleep schedule as much as possible, eat healthy, exercise when I can on my days off and have gone through all sleep hygiene steps with my neurologist. I just feel so isolated with the fact that I can't enjoy my life, freedom of adulthood or my work because I am always too tired.

Does anyone else struggle with sleep disorders? Do you have any tips to manage sleepiness/brain fog? Or ways to manage work/life/sleep balance?

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CPAP use might be useful, but if that was not recommended after the sleep study don’t know how you could get it prescribed or paid by insurance.

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