4 ms·

I need more sleep than anyone I have ever heard of other than sick people - that is I sleep a lot when otherwise healthy - however I sleep very irregularly, com

I need more sleep than anyone I have ever heard of other than sick people - that is I sleep a lot when otherwise healthy - however I sleep very irregularly, commonly staying awake for days at a time then sleeping for several days. I have always been this way it was a problem in grade school, and is why I am self employed. In 2010 I determined that I can stay awake for four days before I start to experience subtle visual hallucinations; stay awake any longer and they became quite severe. I think this may have damaged my brain somehow. At one time when I stayed awake so long I could work productively, no I cannot, however I still have that same sleep cycle.

manigandham 11y ago
Four(!) days? Seems like a neurological problem, have you had a medical exam or sleep study about this?
- MichaelCrawford 11y ago
  A whole bunch of them. I am seeing a psychiatrist tomorrow; I am hoping he will refer me to a neurologist who will order an MRI. I suspect I have a brain tumour however I have had several CT scans that turn up negative. They don't want to give me any more CT scans because of the X-ray dosage but MRIs don't have that problem. I had surgery for obstructive sleep apnea in 2008; it worked really well. I was lucky, it has a high failure rate. Since then I can comfortably breathe through my nose, before that - for my entire life - I could not. Turbinate cautery feels just like having a hot soldering iron shoved way up your nose. I am also mentally ill. Some people think my mental illness is the result of sleep deprivation however there are numerous other contributing factors. When I was diagnosed with Bipolar-Type Schizoaffective Disorder in 1985 the doctors were concerned my symptoms were the result of a brain tumour so they gave me an EEG, CAT scan and neurological tests. I wanted to be a chemist at first, I was heavily into it. My parents encouraged it as Dad was once a chemist and my mother's father was a surgeon. Unfortunately Mom gave me a bottle of mercury. It is powerfully toxic but only when metabolized in certain ways; the actual liquid is mostly harmless. But I spilled it on the carpet. I recovered most of it with an eyedropper however I spilled it several times - it's quite cool to hold it in the palm of your hand - so quite a lot of it got in the carpet. Childhood mercury vapor inhalation poisoning might not kill you but it will screw you up in spectacular ways. Among other things my hairline is visibly receding in photographs starting from when I was fourteen years old. I was completely bald at 21.

manigandham 11y ago

Four(!) days? Seems like a neurological problem, have you had a medical exam or sleep study about this?

MichaelCrawford 11y ago
A whole bunch of them. I am seeing a psychiatrist tomorrow; I am hoping he will refer me to a neurologist who will order an MRI. I suspect I have a brain tumour however I have had several CT scans that turn up negative. They don't want to give me any more CT scans because of the X-ray dosage but MRIs don't have that problem. I had surgery for obstructive sleep apnea in 2008; it worked really well. I was lucky, it has a high failure rate. Since then I can comfortably breathe through my nose, before that - for my entire life - I could not. Turbinate cautery feels just like having a hot soldering iron shoved way up your nose. I am also mentally ill. Some people think my mental illness is the result of sleep deprivation however there are numerous other contributing factors. When I was diagnosed with Bipolar-Type Schizoaffective Disorder in 1985 the doctors were concerned my symptoms were the result of a brain tumour so they gave me an EEG, CAT scan and neurological tests. I wanted to be a chemist at first, I was heavily into it. My parents encouraged it as Dad was once a chemist and my mother's father was a surgeon. Unfortunately Mom gave me a bottle of mercury. It is powerfully toxic but only when metabolized in certain ways; the actual liquid is mostly harmless. But I spilled it on the carpet. I recovered most of it with an eyedropper however I spilled it several times - it's quite cool to hold it in the palm of your hand - so quite a lot of it got in the carpet. Childhood mercury vapor inhalation poisoning might not kill you but it will screw you up in spectacular ways. Among other things my hairline is visibly receding in photographs starting from when I was fourteen years old. I was completely bald at 21.