Someone... Please Help Me. I'm Losing It...

Hi. I'm new here. I am turning to extra resources, as I'm starting to lose my mind. I cannot get the quality sleep I need. Hopefully ya'll can shed some light for me, and point me in the correct direction. To help identify my problem, and provide you with the most accurate information I can, I will provide you all the information that I can. I apologize, this is going to be pretty long.

My name is Zach. I am 21 years old. I suffer from a disorder known as Klinefelter's Syndrome. As a child, without Klinefelter's Syndrome as an identifying underlying cause, doctors diagnosed me with ADD. I was then prescribed Ritalin, which changed to Concerta, then different forms of Adderall, having tried the non-stimulant versions of medication in between it all. By high school through some of my college years, I was on Adderall.

I stopped taking Adderall about a year ago. I had abused the amphetamine salts, not for a "high" or anything, but because my body seemed to have adapted to the dosages. It wasn't working, so I took more, and more. It was dangerous. I landed in the hospital, in one instance. That told me to stop, just common sense.

I had always had sleep issues. Growing up, staying asleep was an issue, but nothing that some over the counter melatonin couldn't fix. By high school, it was rough... but manageable. Now, however, it is intolerable.

About six months ago, my sleep disorder, which my doctor and I believe is insomnia, was taken head on. We tried it all. He first stuck me on anti-depression medication to hopefully nullify the insomnia. It didn't work. Then he tried Trazodone. Baby, that worked like a charm! There was one drawback. No matter how small I cut my dosages, I would feel drowsy for hours on hours after waking up. I discontinued it, as it made driving and going to school nearly impossible. Sometimes, even, I would miss my alarms. My doctor didn't want to prescribe anything after Trazodone that was going to make me drowsy during the day. I can understand that.

My problem is that I can fall asleep, all I want. That's the easy part. I just wake up anywhere from a few hours after falling asleep to even just 30 minutes after. And I will not fall back asleep. Tried hot milk; tried marijuana (on a friend's recommendation) - hated it; tried drinking to the point where I'm heavily drunk; tried counting sheep; tried exhausting myself via exercise; tried attacking myself with boredom; etc. None of it works.

This continues to happen today. Hence why you are receiving a post at 6:21 AM, my time. I've been awake since 2 AM. I'm losing it. Today, I would not have had work. The night previous, I slept for about 45 minutes, after an exhausting shift and then woke up and remained up all night. I then went to work the next day (yesterday), came back exhausted. I was sick of waking up and not staying asleep and it would affect my daily activities. I took a full dose of NyQuil at around 10:30 PM. Put me out like a lamp. Then I woke up at 2:31 AM. And well, here I am.

Nothing is working. I'm losing my mind. Someone please advise me. I will accept the help of anyone that can offer it.

Thank you,

Zachary.

Hi Zach,
I wish I could say something magical here. I can say that I know exactly what you are talking about.
The only thing I can suggest is to go to a really good sleep disorders clinic if you are not right now. A regular doc or even a general psych aren't always the best when there is a severe sleep disorder. Often it is good to combine a sleep disorders doc with a psychiatrist and therapist.
I hope something I have said will help.
Cat

Going to a sleep disorder clinic... Did it help you any?

Zach,

Yes, the sleep disorders clinic helped me a lot. It may work for you as well.

Cat

I gotcha taken care of... Here is the mandatory sure-fire sleep method....1st @ 7 you take kava kava, valerian root (make sure it stinks,,the stinkier the better..can be found on ebay cheap, but I pay high for this extra potent varerian called himalaya), melatonin and the amazing Seroquel XR 400 mg. Since you took them at 7, by 10-11 you will become very tired.I not only fall asleep quick, but I stay awake...feeling great!!

i don't think you're crazy at all, zach. and i don't think you need a chemical cure at all, either. i think your circadian cycles are off, due to a minuscule gene mutation in brain development. do me a favor and check out the thread i posted on polyphasic sleep and do more extensive research than the wikipedia link i posted. you may be able to function on the uberman schedule quite nicely: 4-6 30min-1hr naps every 4-6 hours. after the adjustment period, you're brain hops strait into REM sleep the minute your head hits the pillow. and these naps are short and effective: you will not be tired after the initial adjustment phase.

mind you, said adjustment phase is very rough and timing needs to be strictly exact.

try it! even if it bombs horribly, at least you tried, right?

~C