Is this a sleep disorder?

I've had this problem in the past and it's recently resurfaced: I can't fall asleep. Whenever I drift into the first stage of sleep my body wakes me up. Sometimes it's a pop of light. Monday: I was eating and stabbed myself with a fork, Tuesday I kept falling, Wednesday I had a bug crawling on my arm, it's always something, and it happens throughout the night. I'm getting ready for a trip and I’m thinking it could be underlying stress. It's horrible though when it goes on all night, it's also very scary, having your body automatically wake you up whenever you begin to fall asleep. How about taking any medicine. Will it work n give me the sleep that I want.

How long has this been going on for? Three days? You said you've had it before. How many times and how long did it last? It sounds like it could be stress related. Stress is a killer when it comes to getting to sleep.

OSA has several symptoms: Do you snore loudly and or gasp for air while sleeping - usually noticed by a partner. Are you chronically tired in the day? OSA can also cause hypertension, cardiac arrythmias, and a reduced ability to concentrate. Does that sound like you? If not it may be stress related, have you spoken to a doc or had a check up recently?

THe following is a link to the Epworth Sleepiness scale to help you guage how tired you are.

http://www.sleepdisorderchannel.com/epworth.shtml

Good luck

Peter

We're mainly sleep apnea centric here. You might receive better advice over at the Talk About Sleep message boards. If you have no clue where to start, I'd go with the parasomnias board. Of course, I'm not saying that you don't have sleep apnea, just saying that the symptoms you're describing don't generally sound like apnea. Then again, you may find this post interesting: http://www.talkaboutsleep.com/message-b ... php?t=8658

If this has been happening for a while and it's bothering you (sounds like it) it really wouldn't be a bad idea to go see a sleep doctor. You may be experiencing any number of things. Sleep isn't as easy as many want you to believe.

Colin, I just typed a long message then LOST IT. Maybe that's just as well. Dreams have been discussed on here in the past and you could search posts under the word dreams.

Dreams can be a manifestations of something physical we are experiencing during sleep, and are commonly reported with OSA as well as with movement disorders such as RLS and PLMD. I doubt that the episodes you remember are the extent of their occurrences, as we forget most of what we dream and are usually unaware of all our arousals during sleep.

If it concerns you enough to be on a message board seeking answers, you may want to go forward by starting a sleep diary to track episodes and any possibly related events or symptoms. Depending on frequency, a sleep study could show if whatever is happening is disturbing your sleep architecture. My OSA, RLS, and PLMD all gave me clues for years, but I didn't make the connection between dreams and a diagnosis. By then I was getting no Stage 3 or 4 sleep and very little REM.

Hopefully it will turn out to be only during times of stress and not life disrupting. Prior suggestions about screening for daytime sleepiness and also visiting a more wide-spectrum sleep board get my vote too. Most of us found this board researching OSA, but we are a cross section of society so some have other sleep disorders going on also. Please come back and let us know if anything develops with you on this.

Kathy

That is definitely stress. That's common when the body - all your underlying subconscious concerns - is not fully at ease. It will pass! But if u still facing the problem then instead of taking medicine go for Derma sleep patch its drug free and contains components that induces sound sleep and diminish stress and tension, allowing you to sleep peacefully with ease. One of my friends is using that product. You may also concern your doctor before using it. I hope it will solve your problem
Sleep Tight.