That is the problem. For those of us who suffer with CFIDS, we know that unrefreshing sleep is a MAJOR symptom of this disease (70 – 95% of CFIDS patients report this symptom).
For me personally, this is the main symptom that the doctors have not been able to help me to get under control and it has been very, very frustrating. Not only do I have unrefreshing sleep, but I also have disrupted sleep, so I NEVER, and I mean NEVER, get a full night’s sleep. If I am able to fall asleep as soon as I go to bed, then I am awake several times throughout the night. Other times, I will go to bed and lay there, waiting to fall asleep, watching the clock pass hour after hour.
I normally just get up because it becomes too frustrating. People with CFIDS have this sort of “tired but wired” feeling a lot too. I can be totally exhausted, but my mind does not stop, so my body does not rest or sleep. All of these sleep disruptions causes hypersomnia, where I want to sleep a lot during the day. Of course, with a 4-year-old son, I am unable to do that.
Because my sleep is so disrupted, even if I sleep a total of 10 hours, I still feel when I wake up as though I never slept at all. What makes my sleep problems so difficult for the doctors to treat is the fact that I also have Interstitial Cystitis, a bladder disease. So I am up making frequent trips to the bathroom many times at night.
When we don’t sleep properly, our bodies cannot repair, our immune systems weaken, we can even gain weight. Lack of sleep and unrefreshing sleep can cause many health problems. For me, I feel that if my sleep problems could be resolved, I would see my health take a huge turn for the better.
I will be writing more tomorrow on the different stages of sleep to explain why our bodies need to go through each stage to feel refreshed, rested, and allowing our bodies to heal itself.
Wow, sounds like how I sleep all the time. I’ve always had a touch of insomnia, where I have to lay in bed a long time before I can go to sleep. If I remember to empty my mind, it usually helps. But I sleep pretty heavily once I’m out. Until recently, since my boyfriend is bartending, I usually wake up when he gets home at 3 or 4AM, and I’m not sure why.
Anyway, I don’t mean this to sound like I’m making light, but if the bladder weren’t an issue, could they treat the sleep thing? So, theoretically, could you slap on a Depends and be done with it?
Hi Leah! I do still have problems sleeping, even with sleep medication. But I think if it wasn’t for the trips to the bathroom, I would sleep more. As far as Depends, I have tried wearing these different times just to try and get a good night’s sleep, but I still wake up whenever I have to go.
I like to have them on hand if I know I am going to be riding in a car for a lengthy time period.