Insomnia Support Group
Insomnia is a symptom, rather than a disease, and is characterized by inadequate quantity or quality of sleep. People with insomnia complain of difficulty falling or staying asleep, which results in significant impairment of daytime functioning. Insomnia is categorized as transient (shorter than one week), short-term (one to three weeks) or chronic (longer than three...
One thing the internet tells me about my insomnia is that sleep deprivation should cause a number of things: irritable mood, nodding off at work, "microsleeps", forgetfullness. But for me no matter how it gets (and unfortunately it's been getting worse the last week) I don't get too many of the symptoms and somehow, mercifully, stay mostly functional.
When my insomnia became chronic I got a near constant headache but it was more pressure and perhaps a 1/10 on the pain scale. It's since gone and with it the mental fog. I feel tired, and drained, the scariest thing is watching bruises, scratches, and sore muscles take FOREVER to heal. Which I attribute to lack of restful deep sleep.
But driving isn't dangerous because I haven't found myself nodding off. My reaction time doesn't seem slowed. I've only "missed" 3 hours of work total one morning - after getting permission from my boss the night before to try to "sleep" in on my new medication. Other than that I've kept up with my work and we start early at 7:30AM.
Anyone suffer from insomnia but despite feeling tired/drained experience few of the other common signs of sleep deprivation?
The lack of adverse affects on daytime functioning suggests you may not have insomnia. It may mean that you actually need less sleep than you think you need.
By definition the adverse affects must be there to be true insomnia. The fact you are functioning reasonably well suggests you are in fact getting enough sleep. You should consider the possibilitty that your worry and concern may in fact be over something that's not real, but instead "all in your head".
This is not meant to minimize the negative experience you are having. We understand the struggle. All of us in this group have been there, done that.
But it does suggest an alternative explanation, along with a significant amount of sleep state misperception, as you already recognize.
I would agree I am getting at least a "starvation's diet" worth not experiencing the hallucinations, droopy eyes, or microsleeps.
Do you keep a consistent bed time? Consistent wake time? What about naps?
I'm on a doctor mandated sleep AKA ("be in bed") schedule of 10PM-5:30AM on weekdays. 5:30AM is when I get up for work. Weekends I try to be in bed by 11PM and out of bed around 8AM. I was never a napper as long as I have memory. I remember in pre-school being forced to "nap" but never falling asleep. I could never fall asleep on a plane or in a car as a kid.
I find the consistent schedule helps in that I feel tired(er) for bed right around 10PM. I also read for about 15 minutes in bed so lights out about 10:15.
So Monday thru Friday you have 7.5 hours in bed, but weekends you allow more like 9. If you see a disruption or some impact on those nights following the ones you allow more time in bed, those increased hours may have something to do with it.
If in fact your mind-body system only normally needs like 7 to 7.5 hours of sleep but you allow 9 in bed, then sure a couple of hours of tossing and turning will be understandable.
And isn't that what we insomniacs typically remember from the night before? Only those 2 miserable hours tossing and turning. And completely discount whatever decent shuteye we actually get even if it's the majority of the night. That right there could be a big contributor to the stress associated with the idea of sleep.
1.) Do I remember any dreams (I usually have in the past, when sleeping well)?
2.) Do I feel rested?
3.) Are things like bruises and cuts healing normally?
4.) Do I feel like I've been lying there most of the night?
If the answers go no, no, no, yes then for my doctor I record 0-2 hours of sleep on my sleep diary.