Oversleeping problems

thepikminman

Hi,

For about 5 years now I have been oversleeping. I am 22, in college, but repeated a year and took a year out because of poor attendance which led to poor results.

I have been sleeping for I'd say 12 hours per day average for the past 5 years (such a waste of youth, I know). This has ruined most aspects of my life (no social life, poor social skills, poor health, no routine, poor study).

I may have narcolepsy, but I really don't think I do, I was tested for it and they found nothing.

The thing is, I always tell myself "Today I will not sleep during the day, and will stay awake for 16 hours", but the oversleeping in the past years led to a pretty boring, uneventful life, so when I get tired and I'm here in my room by myself with nothing to do and no urge to do anything, I always convince myself to go to bed (I don't have the strongest willpower).

Can anyone give me some advice on how to fix this horrible problem? I know that I shouldn't sleep, but I'm looking for advice on what I can do to keep my mind too busy to think about sleeping. "Get out of the house, go to the gym" - I know, but what am I supposed to do for 16 hours?
Yes I could leave the house for a few hours, but I have to come back eventually, and when I do, my bed is there staring at me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Gremlinertia

Hmm. Not sure what to say really, i would go back to your gp just for a good chat as it could be many things or not a thing. If you would like this thread moved to somewhere like Personal Issues for a different perspective let me know..

thepikminman

Thanks for the reply, yeah I've been to the GP a good few times and all they say is to stop sleeping....one GP said I was depressed which I didn't think I was, I thought I was in a bad situation and was rightly unhappy, but I took his advice and went on anti-depressants for 8 months which did absolutely nothing so I went off them.
Yes could you move it to personal issues? Hopefully that'll get more replies.

Gremlinertia

Thread moved at OP request

miezekatze

Are you actually tired when you go to bed or do you just go to sleep because you're bored and don't have anything better to do? Do you have some kind of a routine in your life?

irishkopite 2011

Seriously just stop sleeping durning the day, it's not rocket science, doctors have told you this. For things to do durning the day that's up to you: get a job, get into cycling or golf and don't sleep when you get home. Go to bed at 11pm and set an alarm for 8.30am everyday.

GritBiscuit

Obviously first thing is to get a clean bill of health from your GP.

If you get that then I think you are best tacking the following....

thepikminman wrote: »

......I'm here in my room by myself with nothing to do and no urge to do anything.

Get some hobbies, make new friends, hit the gym, draw up a realistic bucket list and get crossing them off.
Get a good alarm and set it up at the opposite side of the room from you. Get into the habit of getting up when it goes off and jumping in the shower, grabbing breakfast and getting going. Body clocks are largely a matter of habit. Maybe you need to make a concerted effort to change yours?
All the best

Ursus Horribilis

It looks like you're a victim of bad habits and boredom. There are people out there - and I include myself in their number - who'd sleep for Ireland if given the chance. I discovered a long time ago that if I lie down on a bed at any time of the day, I will get drowsy and fall asleep. I don't even need to be tired. There's something in my wiring that allows me to do this.

I don't consider it to be a problem because I just don't ever lie down on beds before bed-time. It also helps that I'm not bored out of my tree and have plenty of other things to be going on with during the daytime. Perhaps if my days were long and empty like yours, it'd be another story entirely.

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss that doctor's theory that you're depressed. You're quick to point your finger at something like narcolepsy because it's an easy answer to your problems. Being depressed means that you'd have to deal with much tougher issues such as your poor social skills, lack of a social life and your inability to concentrate and keep order in your life. It's a chicken and egg thing. Which came first? The oversleeping problem or the other issues? Anti-depressants by themselves aren't a magic bullet. Unless you had a motivation to make changes in your life they were unlikely to do much for you.

It's not doing you any good that in your year out, you appear to be very bored and unsure of how to fill the hours in the day. No wonder you've turned to sleep as a way to while away the hours. Also, if you are oversleeping you probably don't feel too great which isn't helping you either. Really, what you need to do is find ways to fill your days and fix your other problems. Get a job or do some volunteering. Or do something to get yourself out of the house every day and keep yourself occupied.

368100

Op, I would suffer from this at time to time and did the whole way through my 20's.

I could sleep for up to 20 hours out of a day which affected work etc with being off sick,

I didn't get checked out but I suspect it had something to do with depression.

Now I'm in my 30's and I'm very active, exercise regularly and watch what I eat. This solved it for me. Once I keep doing the above I sleep a normal 7/8 hours and feel much better about myself.

You don't mention how active you are but I would give it a go if you're not exercising regularly.

Turtle_

Have you had a full range of blood tests done to check for things like your iron & B12 levels and thyroid function?

thepikminman

miezekatze wrote: »

Are you actually tired when you go to bed or do you just go to sleep because you're bored and don't have anything better to do? Do you have some kind of a routine in your life?

I sleep because I have nothing else to do. Sometimes I'm tired, but most of the time it's because of boredom.

irishkopite 2011 wrote: »

Seriously just stop sleeping durning the day, it's not rocket science, doctors have told you this. For things to do durning the day that's up to you: get a job, get into cycling or golf and don't sleep when you get home. Go to bed at 11pm and set an alarm for 8.30am everyday.

I said in my OP, it's not that simple for me.

GritBiscuit wrote: »

Obviously first thing is to get a clean bill of health from your GP.

If you get that then I think you are best tacking the following....



Get some hobbies, make new friends, hit the gym, draw up a realistic bucket list and get crossing them off.
Get a good alarm and set it up at the opposite side of the room from you. Get into the habit of getting up when it goes off and jumping in the shower, grabbing breakfast and getting going. Body clocks are largely a matter of habit. Maybe you need to make a concerted effort to change yours?
All the best

I find it hard to make friends because I have bad social anxiety, and am just so messed up socially, can't make eye contact, always give people the wrong impression. No friends leads to boredom, which leads to sleep. Yeah my body clock is definitely messed up. I go to the gym but that really drains my energy.

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

It looks like you're a victim of bad habits and boredom. There are people out there - and I include myself in their number - who'd sleep for Ireland if given the chance. I discovered a long time ago that if I lie down on a bed at any time of the day, I will get drowsy and fall asleep. I don't even need to be tired. There's something in my wiring that allows me to do this.

I don't consider it to be a problem because I just don't ever lie down on beds before bed-time. It also helps that I'm not bored out of my tree and have plenty of other things to be going on with during the daytime. Perhaps if my days were long and empty like yours, it'd be another story entirely.

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss that doctor's theory that you're depressed. You're quick to point your finger at something like narcolepsy because it's an easy answer to your problems. Being depressed means that you'd have to deal with much tougher issues such as your poor social skills, lack of a social life and your inability to concentrate and keep order in your life. It's a chicken and egg thing. Which came first? The oversleeping problem or the other issues? Anti-depressants by themselves aren't a magic bullet. Unless you had a motivation to make changes in your life they were unlikely to do much for you.

It's not doing you any good that in your year out, you appear to be very bored and unsure of how to fill the hours in the day. No wonder you've turned to sleep as a way to while away the hours. Also, if you are oversleeping you probably don't feel too great which isn't helping you either. Really, what you need to do is find ways to fill your days and fix your other problems. Get a job or do some volunteering. Or do something to get yourself out of the house every day and keep yourself occupied.

I know I'm not depressed, my brother is also a doctor (graduate) and he knows me more than anyone and says I'm not depressed. Is it not possible that people can just be in bad situations and rightly sad, not "depressed". I'm sure all the millions of starving people in the world are pretty sad, but that doesn't mean they're depressed.

Also, I'm in a full-time course - 3rd year mechanical engineering in NUIG. That definitely should get me out of bed, but it doesn't.

CAN SOMEONE JUST GIVE ME SPECIFIC IDEAS ON WHAT TO DO (not shouting lol trying to make it stand out)

I know I shouldn't sleep, but the fact for my life is that if I'm in my room, I will go asleep. Can you guys just assume I have an illness that makes me fall asleep when I'm near my bed and tell me what to do? I also feel pretty tired most of the day, if I leave the house, within a few hours I fall asleep wherever I am (buses, lecture halls etc)

THANKS FOR ALL THE RESPONSES!

thepikminman

368100 wrote: »

Op, I would suffer from this at time to time and did the whole way through my 20's.

I could sleep for up to 20 hours out of a day which affected work etc with being off sick,

I didn't get checked out but I suspect it had something to do with depression.

Now I'm in my 30's and I'm very active, exercise regularly and watch what I eat. This solved it for me. Once I keep doing the above I sleep a normal 7/8 hours and feel much better about myself.

You don't mention how active you are but I would give it a go if you're not exercising regularly.

No I actually go to the gym for an hour 5 times a week, but that's for the weight section not cardio. I also eat pretty healthily.

thepikminman

Turtle_ wrote: »

Have you had a full range of blood tests done to check for things like your iron & B12 levels and thyroid function?

Yeah my blood are fine, I got them checked last week ...

368100

Practical suggestion....try a low carb diet. You need to stick at it for a few weeks but I found once I got past that, I had loads of energy and no sluggishness

thepikminman

368100 wrote: »

Practical suggestion....try a low carb diet. You need to stick at it for a few weeks but I found once I got past that, I had loads of energy and no sluggishness

Thanks I'll try that!

SATSUMA

For what it's worth I think you shold go talk to a counsellor about your anxiety issues. I think you may then look at your over sleeping in a different way. Find one you like and commit to the process.

Best of luck x

thepikminman

SATSUMA wrote: »

For what it's worth I think you shold go talk to a counsellor about your anxiety issues. I think you may then look at your over sleeping in a different way. Find one you like and commit to the process.

Best of luck x

Thank you for your advice, but I've been to 7 different counselors over the past few years and they all just say the same thing- "Stop sleeping".

368100

thepikminman wrote: »

Thanks I'll try that!

Let us know how you get on, good luck!

Turtle_

thepikminman wrote: »

Thank you for your advice, but I've been to 7 different counselors over the past few years and they all just say the same thing- "Stop sleeping".

Sounds like they aren't great

I asked about blood tests because something like low B12 would lead to exactly that kind of oversleeping.

There are two things that jump out from your post though, engineering degree and anxiety. Either one of those are exhausting on their own. Combine them and it's no wonder you're asleep so much. The good news is that college is finite, you'll get there, and that anxiety is really responsive to CBT. Anxiety uses up so much of your physical and mental energy, so improving that would probably make it easier to improve the sleep issue. If you can, true to get access to some CBT as opposed to another form of counselling. My experience of CBT was that they fixed the anxiety and the sleep then sorted itself out, but other counselors wanted me to sort my sleep out as a way of sorting out the anxiety.

Sound Bite

I think you might have answered your own question in an earlier post.

You say you suffer from anxiety. Most people who do find it exhausting. Anyone I know suffering from it is either exhausted & oversleeping like you or cannot sleep at all.

You could try counselling again but focus on the anxiety as well as the oversleeping.

zoeybelle

While on the surface it does sound like depression/anxiety/stress it could also be a variety of disorders not diagnosed by doctors for example Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I'm not saying you have that however what i am saying (from experience) is only you know if something is wrong with your health and if you feel it isn't a mental health issue than write a list of any medical issues (however small) and do your own rescearch. If you find anything that sounds familiar then find someone (medical professional) in that field who can confirm or deny it. This might take a few tries to get someone to take you seriously but if u find something (or more than one some are very similar) you think fits you then keep at it till you get an answer u trust. I got fobbed off by so many "professionals" it was all in my head it's stress go for a walk you hysterical woman etc that I never fully trust any of them now. It's your body your life your health it's up to you to chase answers. All the best i hope you find some☺

thepikminman

Turtle_ wrote: »

Sounds like they aren't great

I asked about blood tests because something like low B12 would lead to exactly that kind of oversleeping.

There are two things that jump out from your post though, engineering degree and anxiety. Either one of those are exhausting on their own. Combine them and it's no wonder you're asleep so much. The good news is that college is finite, you'll get there, and that anxiety is really responsive to CBT. Anxiety uses up so much of your physical and mental energy, so improving that would probably make it easier to improve the sleep issue. If you can, true to get access to some CBT as opposed to another form of counselling. My experience of CBT was that they fixed the anxiety and the sleep then sorted itself out, but other counselors wanted me to sort my sleep out as a way of sorting out the anxiety.

You're so right about anxiety using up so much mental and physical energy.
I never thought of it that way, i just saw it as an unfortunate fact in my life, but that could be the root of all my problems, including the sleeping.

I tried CBT for 2 sessions before, it was okay, much better than any counselor I saw, but it was kind of pricey so I had to stop. I still don't think it would have done much for me though.

thepikminman

zoeybelle wrote: »

While on the surface it does sound like depression/anxiety/stress it could also be a variety of disorders not diagnosed by doctors for example Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I'm not saying you have that however what i am saying (from experience) is only you know if something is wrong with your health and if you feel it isn't a mental health issue than write a list of any medical issues (however small) and do your own rescearch. If you find anything that sounds familiar then find someone (medical professional) in that field who can confirm or deny it. This might take a few tries to get someone to take you seriously but if u find something (or more than one some are very similar) you think fits you then keep at it till you get an answer u trust. I got fobbed off by so many "professionals" it was all in my head it's stress go for a walk you hysterical woman etc that I never fully trust any of them now. It's your body your life your health it's up to you to chase answers. All the best i hope you find some☺

Thanks for the reply. I suppose I'm lucky in a way because my older brother is a doctor. I ask him all the time "do you think I have x, y, z wrong with me?" and he always says no, he thinks I'm a hypochondriac. He knows me quite well and believes that there's nothing physically/mentally wrong with me, and that I'm just in a unfortunate situation, and need to just relax in general.

Esel

thepikminman wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I suppose I'm lucky in a way because my older brother is a doctor. I ask him all the time "do you think I have x, y, z wrong with me?" and he always says no, he thinks I'm a hypochondriac. He knows me quite well and believes that there's nothing physically/mentally wrong with me, and that I'm just in a unfortunate situation, and need to just relax in general.

A bit too close to "Physician, heal thyself", maybe? Your brother is too close to you to be objective. His opinion, and his advice, does not seem to be helping you.

IANAD, but I think your sleeping issue is caused by your anxiety issue. If you were not anxious would you be in your room close to the bed? One can fall into a routine (way of behaving) as easily as one can fall into the bed.

As an engineer you know that you have to get to the root cause. Identify the source of the problem, and fix that. It will take work, and time, but you can do it.

Flippyfloppy

I'm not trying to be smart, but don't hang out in your bedroom! I used to be the exact same as you when I lived at home in my parents. Whether there is an underlying cause I do not know, but if I tried to hang out in my bedroom again I'd be the same all over. I'd sleep for hours, I can shut off so quickly. Trying to 'study' in my bedroom always led to a marathon sleeping session, that just felt sooooo good.

It's recommended not to study in bedrooms (for this reason) and to just use bedrooms for sleeping anyway. Try to keep relatively active during the day too , sitting around can make you sleepy, and try not to focus on it too much either. Attempt to forget about NOT SLEEPING and plan a few days doing chores, cooking, heading off into town during your peek nap times, try to get your schedule right, maybe a earlier bedtime to begin with. I hope this helps somewhat because I know how frustrating it can feel wasting your day with sleeping. (Even though there are now claims that a short nap can boost productivity and health)

linpoo

Hi, did you ever get your melatonin levels checked. The pineal gland is responsible for your body's "night and day" rythyms and a lack of melatonin can affect this.

I'm not a doctor but studied reflexology where we learnt this.

On another note, reflexology is great for helping the body to balance itself which could help your situation. Worth a try.

zoobizoo

Hey Op, I've been there but not as bad as you.

I would need to nap at lunchtime in my car to get through the day.

It's boredom mainly.

On the days that I was doing something fun or exciting, I could get out of bed early, get on things, get through the day without being tired and be buzzing til late evening.

Is the engineering something you really want to do?

Were you like this in school?

Jerome77

Volunteer, be there for someone else regardless of how you feel. That will lift your spirits

Scarinae

OP, what do you enjoy doing, hobbies etc? What would you do for fun?

thepikminman

Esel wrote: »

IANAD, but I think your sleeping issue is caused by your anxiety issue. If you were not anxious would you be in your room close to the bed? One can fall into a routine (way of behaving) as easily as one can fall into the bed.

As an engineer you know that you have to get to the root cause. Identify the source of the problem, and fix that. It will take work, and time, but you can do it.

Wow, that's actually so true, I never thought of that being the reason.
I wouldn't be stuck here if I wasn't so anxious. The world outside seems like a pain-filled struggle.

So I probably should've posted a topic on how to help anxiety.... The strange this is, I honestly don't care what people think, but my body seems to disagree with my mind when it comes into practice in real social situations - I can't help but get nervous and make a fool of myself, and become extremely self conscious and overthink way too much. Any tips on how to stop this, keeping in mind that I don't care what people think about me? Also,
I have a strong fear of rejection, that could be the cause of the whole problem.

thepikminman

Flippyfloppy wrote: »

I'm not trying to be smart, but don't hang out in your bedroom! I used to be the exact same as you when I lived at home in my parents. Whether there is an underlying cause I do not know, but if I tried to hang out in my bedroom again I'd be the same all over. I'd sleep for hours, I can shut off so quickly. Trying to 'study' in my bedroom always led to a marathon sleeping session, that just felt sooooo good.

It's recommended not to study in bedrooms (for this reason) and to just use bedrooms for sleeping anyway. Try to keep relatively active during the day too , sitting around can make you sleepy, and try not to focus on it too much either. Attempt to forget about NOT SLEEPING and plan a few days doing chores, cooking, heading off into town during your peek nap times, try to get your schedule right, maybe a earlier bedtime to begin with. I hope this helps somewhat because I know how frustrating it can feel wasting your day with sleeping. (Even though there are now claims that a short nap can boost productivity and health)

Yeah, being here all the time does make sleeping during the day inevitable. But I find it very difficult to fill all 16 hours, especially with virtually no social life.

For example, if I was really trying to fix my sleeping routine, I'd get up at say 8am, have breakfast and a shower and leave for college, that'll fill the time until around 4 or 5pm. Then maybe I'd go to the gym to fill more time, maybe go to a sports club for an hour, but I'd be back home at 9pm at the latest, and after such an energy-draining day, I can't think of what else I could do for the next 3/4 hours.

The times I did stick to this plan, I always go asleep when I get home because there's nothing more to do and I'm exhausted, but have only been awake for 12/13 hours.