So I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy back in September after suffering from symptoms for over a year, and I recently became aware of my memory lapses and when they occur. After speaking with my sleep specialist he's informed me that it sounds like microsleep episodes. I never knew they were a thing and what actually happens during them but it makes sense now. Do any of you guys experience them? And what do you remember happens during them?
anyone else feel like they’re not capable of mircosleeping? i’m severely sleep deprived all the time but for some reason i never microsleep i feel like my body is against me like the least it could do is let me sleep a couple of seconds but no
Preface: if you guys noticed, probably not, ive been posting a lot here because ive been having a torturous 3 week episode of insomnia. 3 nights ago i managed to finally get about 6 hours, than the nights after were restless, i didnt yawn at all until about 5 or 6 am which suggests hyperarousal/adrenal/cortisol related, i managed to have one 1.5 hour session of sleep the night before.. Just last night i was restless again, so i decided to watch cute cartoons and i yawned at around 2 30, managed to get one cycle, than i think i didnt really deep sleep that much after 4 30 to 8. Right now im feeling.. kinda okayish.
My question is how does it work when ur in quiet restfulness, it cant all be the same, im absolutely certain i got some microsleep or deep sleep i dodnt notice from 4 30 to 8 o clock. I think focusing too much on identifiably getting deep sleep maybe contributing to my stress, and I may be getting at least a little bit of rem while im in that state.
I have a strange quirk that I wonder if anyone else shares. If I doze off for a nap for even 30 seconds, I will wake up with a pounding head and jaw pain (like shooting pain from the tmj joint and occipital area). Similarly, sometimes I will wake up after a good 7-8 hour sleep, feeling decent at least. Yet, if I happen to close my eyes to sleep just a bit longer (even just seconds of sleep), it's like my brain and jaw go into spasm and I wake up in severe pain. My sleep schedule has to be picture perfect or my jaw-no-be-happy.
This so strange, and it seems to me like it part of this mysterious headache/migraine/jaw/light sensitivity connection. It's a vicious cycle.
Anyone with similar experiences, or other odd triggers? Any theories on to what is happening here?
Lately I’ve been having what I suspect are microsleeps back to back. This will happen repeatedly over and over throughout the day. First I’ll hear music, voices or sounds that aren’t there, then my eyes close for a few seconds at a time, maybe a minute or two at most. I’ll feel my eyes darting back and forth and my muscles go limp when I hit REM sometimes when it happens, just like when I sleep normally. Then my eyes open, I yawn, and feel more alert for the same amount of time that the episode occurred, rinse and repeat.
I’m really getting frustrated because when I lay down to take a nap it’s like my brain just won’t let me. It’s stuck in rapid fire mode switching back and forth between sleep and wake but won’t stick with either one long enough for me to not feel like a total zombie incapable of doing much besides staring off into space between when it happens. I have just as much trouble staying asleep as I do staying awake it seems, it’s like this all night long but in 10-20 minute increments.
Does anything like this ever happen to anyone else? It hits me the worst when I sit down or am still for too long, any time I’m not actively engaged in something or moving my body my brain just shuts down for a few seconds. I’m diagnosed N1 and currently taking 60mg IR and 30mg ER dextroamphetamine along with drinking 2-3 cups of strong black tea daily. I was on Xyrem for 10 months but had to take a break from it for a while even though it worked fairly well and kept me from waking up so often. I know my meds aren’t working even though I’m on a pretty high dose. I see my sleep doctor next month so I’m just curious if this is at all unusual or if I’m still being under treated and need to ask about raising the dose again or trying something else.
I don’t know how many hours I have gone without sleeping but I am sure it’s close to 35 or more. I took a shower earlier this morning and felt my eyes drift back and I felt like I lost all sense of consciousness for a split second. I’m currently at work crying just wanting to home so I can try to fucking sleep bc this is making me paranoid as all hell
Hi guys,
I've been lucky managing most of my narcolepsy conditions. However, there's one that's been making me constantly late for work, and it's the consecutive micro-sleeps in the morning. Here's what it looks like:
I go to sleep at 11PM. I set up an alarm for 6:30 AM on Google Home Mini. Alarm rings, I wake up as soon as it rings long enough to say "Google, Stop". I feel like I'm blinking, but after the blink I'm fast forwarded to 7:15AM. I blink again, now it's 8AM, I blink again it's 8:30AM. It feels like I'm transporting time without any sense of control. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to control myself to get out of bed on time and go to work. Does anyone experience this? If so, does anyone have any pro tips? Any input would be much appreciated.
Hello everyone.
Just coming off of my second sleep study/MSLT for Type 1N.
When we went over my results, my neurologist mentioned how I was having a lot of microsleeps. I’ll go out briefly, see something or hear something or feel something, and then wake back up. I never knew the term for them until now.
So, wanted to ask
- If you experience these, have you found anything in particular that makes them happen? I’ve found that they happen most when I’m seriously exhausted and in sleep debt, and would appreciate hearing what others have found.
- What is the difference/where is the line between a microsleep and a hypnagogic/hypnopompic hallucination? Is it just eyes open vs eyes closed?
they say micro sleep can happen for fractions of a second. i could be doing tasks then my eyes go weird and i lose my thought strand and awareness for like 0.1 of a second then i snap out of it and go back to doing whatever i was doing.
recently my sleep schedule is bad. this thing has gotten worse and appears to get worse through the day and happens every 10 seconds towards the end of the day.
It was a very tiring day today. I ride to work everyday for 75km each way. Mostly highways. But today was extra tiring. I started the day at 0400hrs. And rode to work at 0700. Went home at 1700hrs. I am not a very fast rider, usually. But I can handle spirited riding if I wanted to. But in my experience, that takes a lot more energy and can make me more fatigued and gives me less chance of catching an error. I had some human factors training, so I knew (in hindsight) that we tend to increase our tolerance for risky behaviour when we are fatigued. The ride went like autopilot. Yes, that's how it feels like when you have been doing the sane route day in day out. I didn't even notice I was tired or anything until... It happened. All of a sudden I saw a slow moving truck in my lane in front of me. I was doing like 110km/h or around 60mph, and the truck was doing 60km/h i think. It's like the truck fades in to view. Like in the movies. And I feel like my body wants to surrender. I have to scream to remind me to move out of the way. So I swerved, off road for a little. Then it all became clear, and I just rode the bike back onto the road and went like I am not fatigued anymore. Adrenaline it must have been. So here I am thinking about life, death etc and posting this to share my experience.
Sorry if this text is written strangley, but im still in a weird state right now.
So, a week ago i started to have these strange microsleep episodes before i went to sleep. This itself isn't weird and something im used to. But i started to get a really worryied feeling before, and an urge to resist napping away. When i get to microsleep, i don't really....sleep, it's more like whst i would imagine a meditative state to be like. But it's bad, feels bad, like im slipping out of reality. I know that doesn't make sense, but it's the best way to explain it. When i wake up, i fall into shock. A scarred, fearing shock, like almost falling down (normal) and like an electrical shock going through my whole body. It's strong to, feels like touching an electric fence. I can feel it for a few minutes after that, my finger and feet tickling like after an electroshock, and i feel really disconnected. This happens around 3-4 times before i can go to sleep normally.
Friends told me it's probay just Nightmares but that doesn't make sense to me. I just want to know what this is so i can get a grip on this. Im not on drugs, and i don't have a lack of sleep, in fact my sleeping after i calm down from.all.this is quite normal.
( Again, im sorry for the badly written text but it was particulary strong just nowand im scared to get back to my bed)
What are your thoughts on microsleeps? Is it a real thing? I’ve been through several bouts of insomnia in my life and am currently going into an insomnia relapse. In the past I’ve used the thought that I’m still getting microsleeps to help me cope. Just wondering what other people think of this concept and if it’s helpful to you.
For example, I’ll be sitting at my desk not feeling tired at all, and I’ll go to do something like pick up a pen, except when I go to write I realise I never actually moved. This happens literally all the time, and with things such as going to touch something but faltering at the last second and never actually doing it(despite having the fake memory to back it up).
Are these memory lapses microsleeps? Am I dreaming about doing the action?
This may sound bizarre, so please bear with me.
I was getting ready for bed, went to the bathroom, and sat down on the toilet to pee. A few seconds in, I started panicking as I suddenly felt like I wasn't actually on the toilet. It felt like I didn't remember sitting down in the first place, and that I was urinating on the floor or in some arbitrary place. The only experience I can compare it to is having a vivid dream of accidentally peeing myself.
Has anyone else ever experienced this? I suspect I may have had a microsleep while urinating.
Guysssss I seriously need some advice. My microsleeps have gotten out of control 😭
I haven’t found the right medication regimen yet so that’s definitely a factor but until then- what can I do?? I’m zoning out so so much and the other day I realized that I did it while stopped at a red light and my car was rolling forward! I can’t keep living like this.
Any ideas?
Me: Wake up at 5am to drive an hour to work. Microsleep every couple minutes, a few close calls but still alive. Decide to get at least 8 hrs of sleep, but it keeps happening. Google how to prevent microsleep.
Every article on the internet: "Microsleep occurs when someone has not slept for a long time. The way to prevent microsleep is to get at least 7 hours of sleep."
Apparently microsleep after waking up early is unheard of. (It's not I'm sure.)
I don't drink coffee or soft drinks so I'm not sure what to do. This may not be a medical issue, but it just might kill me.
Please help.
Urgh. Just an observation/vent.
I spent all day with nodding head bobs and microsleeps (at least what I think are microsleeps — my brain basically browns out for a second, then comes back). And now that it’s getting close to bed time, my brain is ready to party.
So confusing. Who else does this happen to?
Hi,
Im very new to mediation all together, and have since just one week back started doing "Kind of" TM-meditation, 2x20 min a day (as good as I can from what I have read online as I can't afford a real course). Basically what Im doing is sitting in a quite room with eyes closed, repeating a mantra silently.
Now, I don't think I am yet "really meditating", at least not reaching any real deeper states without thoughts, but sometimes I feel more relaxed, like Im going deeper (usually the excitement of something happening pulls be quickly up again though) - any tips on how to avoid this is welcomed - but there is another question that I have in mind here:
Sometimes, when going "down" its like Im forgetting I am meditation, instead I kind of hear words, phrases or imagine images and scenes, like Im am micro-dreaming, its like the state right before going to sleep. Sometimes I also see vague circling patterns. I hav read that it might be something called "Yoga Nidra", which can be a desired state for some practices, but that its not really the meditative state.
However, as I want to learn to really meditate, going deeper, and reaching the "thought less" alternative states of consciousness or pure awareness, or whatever, "awakening", so I guess I would like to avoid this "micro sleep" or Yoga Nidra states? So, any tips on how to avoid this state? Or is it perhaps on the right track to meditation anyway?
Very thankful for all tips, both on the topic, but also on how to learn deep meditation on my own.
i’m not diagnosed or anything however i think i should see a doctor. i know that i enter REM sleep within 10 minutes of falling asleep and unless i stand up at work i have been having these bizarre “attacks” if i’m sitting down at my desk where i recollect absolutely nothing from the last 15-20 minutes after feeling extremely sleepy for seemingly no reason. but the strange part is that i know i am clicking on emails, pausing videos, or scrolling through twitter on my phone. but i remember absolutely 0% of it. i have fallen asleep spontaneously at stoplights multiple times and have driven several miles at a time in this zombie state where i remember nothing. i feel extremely embarrassed as i don’t know if i’m actually closing my eyes or not. i do not want my co workers or boss to think i am sleeping at work. it is giving me terrible anxiety and i need an immediate short term soliton. thank you
also these attacks are made worse by being cold if that matters
one last thing. ever since i was a child i have experienced amnesia, panick attack night terrors. they are triggered easily if i attempt to sleep after not having slept for more than 17 hours or so.
sorry one more thing. when i get these attacks, i lose muscle control just of my face and my eyes go in opposite directions
I haven’t had much sleep lately or any sort of consistent sleeping schedule, I pulled an all-nighter doing homework three days ago, slept a few hours on the two days ago, and just pulled another all-nighter tonight. I started feeling weird and I looked to my right and my friend appeared on my bed, just as fast as I noticed her, I heard a loud thud and I snapped out of it. She was gone but the woozy feeling took a few seconds to wear off, after I heard the noise I know my head nodded but other than that I have no idea what to call that. I had another one right before it of a task I do at work but I just heard about micro-sleeps and I’m not sure if it’s that or a hallucination. If anyone has experience with this please let me know!! I’ve had a few of them lately
But I just had a really weird one, I was hiking with my friend and blanked out, and when I woke up I was deeper in the woods and I couldn't find him.
I do 2 20 minute sessions over the day, one in the morning after running and taking a cold shower and one in the evening. In both sessions, I fall into short microsleep like 10-20 times. When this happens my mind instantly wanders to vivid images until I snap out of it and can focus back on my breath.
Any tips how I can get rid of this? Coffee doesn't really help.
I'm getting really tired of my instructors telling me to put my phone away. I use my phone to do things to keep my brain active when classes are at a lull. I have conversations with friends and play "brain games". I even use my phone on the toilet to avoid microsleep. Maybe it's not super healthy but I just hate feeling like my brain went somewhere without me. I don't know how to justify this without seeming like just another millennial addicted to my smartphone. I'm on a low dose of Provigil, which I am content with. It stops my sleep attacks but it doesn't keep me 100% wired/present. Anyone in a similar boat? Any lil tips for avoiding microsleep?
Hey, so i'm around day 11 or 12 of adaptation to triphasic. I didn't oversleep even once yet which i'm kinda happy about it, but today it was so hard and i dozed on and off for around 30 minutes. By that i mean i kinda had "microsleep" episodes when i would be half awake half asleep on my computer.
From what i understood in studies, microsleep is very different than real sleep as its more "regional slowing down of some parts of the brain while increasing alertness in other parts", but i keep wondering what would be the real life effects of it because even if it was not considered as sleeping per say, it was shown that some parts of the brain do fall asleep in microsleep. I would hate that to have a significant effect, it has been so hard that going back in my adaptation would really sadden me
I think i saw somewhere that microsleep was to be expected at one point on most "hard" schedule which makes me wonder the impact of it but i cannot find that reference again, so i'm asking you guys, for those who experienced it, how do you feel it impacted you adapation (bad, good, took back a few days, barely any impact...) ?
thank you very much
Hi,
Im very new to mediation all together, and have since just one week back started doing "Kind of" TM-meditation, 2x20 min a day (as good as I can from what I have read online as I can't afford a real course). Basically what Im doing is sitting in a quite room with eyes closed, repeating a mantra silently.
Now, I don't think I am yet "really meditating", at least not reaching any real deeper states without thoughts, but sometimes I feel more relaxed, like Im going deeper (usually the excitement of something happening pulls be quickly up again though) - any tips on how to avoid this is welcomed - but there is another question that I have in mind here:
Sometimes, when going "down" its like Im forgetting I am meditation, instead I kind of hear words, phrases or imagine images and scenes, like Im am micro-dreaming, its like the state right before going to sleep. Sometimes I also see vague circling patterns. I hav read that it might be something called "Yoga Nidra", which can be a desired state for some practices, but that its not really the meditative state.
However, as I want to learn to really meditate, going deeper, and reaching the "thought less" alternative states of consciousness or pure awareness, or whatever, "awakening", so I guess I would like to avoid this "micro sleep" or Yoga Nidra states? So, any tips on how to avoid this state? Or is it perhaps on the right track to meditation anyway?
Very thankful for all tips, both on the topic, but also on how to learn deep meditation on my own.
