Overstimulation and Sleeping Too Much

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Callista
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01 Nov 2006, 11:29 pm

It's been about four and a half months since I last used self-injury (cutting, for the most part) to handle my emotions and sensory craziness.

Since then, maybe or maybe not coincidentally, I've been sleeping as erratically as ever--but I've found myself needing twelve to fourteen hours of sleep a night! My lucid dreams have also increased to the point that I have one every night--so I think I'm sleeping more lightly than ever, too.

Last night I went to bed at 2 a.m. and slept until 5 p.m. today--fifteen hours.

I asked my psychiatrist, whom I saw yesterday, about this; and she said that her own college-age Aspie son, when overstimulated, can sleep for what seems like days!

So here's what I'm wondering:
1. Do you think my psych might be right about this, or is it something else?
2. Do any of you sleep too much when overstimulated?
3. I thought Aspies generally slept less than NTs! Why are my psychiatrist's son and I both sleeping much more?
4. Would it make sense that oversleeping might have replaced self-injury as a coping mechanism?
5. Any advice? Sleeping so much really reduces my free time, not to mention making me late for work and behind on school. I don't want to start cutting again, though.


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Claradoon
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01 Nov 2006, 11:50 pm

If you're overstimulated, then you need more repair time. It seems straightforward to me. I think your psychiatrist is right.

I'm always telling everybody to read Too Loud, and get a sensory diet, because that helped me a lot. I have learned how to lower the stimulation.



hartzofspace
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02 Nov 2006, 12:09 am

That certainly explained something! I find that when I have a lot of errands, like doctor appointments, shopping, etc. I sleep A LOT. These last two weeks, I haven't had to do so much, and I'm sleeping a lot less. So, there may be some truth in that.


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SteveK
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02 Nov 2006, 12:49 am

When I was young, I slept VERY little!(certainly less than 5 hours) Since Perhaps 15 years of age, 7:30 has been MAXIMUM! I HAVE at times slept for MUCH longer, for no apparant reason, but usually woke up tired. BTW this DOES exclude lucid dream periods. In cases like that, you COULD add a few hours.

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Bart21
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02 Nov 2006, 5:55 am

I've often times slept for 12-14 hours.
When i do i always wake up like a zombie with red stripes all over me.
It usually takes hours for me to wake up properly when i sleep that long.
My mood is also much worse when i sleep this long.
Than theres the guarantyd nighrmares i have when sleeping too long.

I need about 8-9 hours to function properly.
On weekdays however i'm lucky to get 6 to 6:30 hours.



derman190
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13 Dec 2016, 11:34 pm

There have been days off from where I literally slept for 18-20 hours. That usually happens the day after I have a breakdown because of overstimulation at work (I work at Taco Bell). In fact, it just happened yesterday. I wish I could filter out extraneous details like NTs, but the information overload and major depression ruin my day and outlook for my future employment.


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PerfectlyDarkTails
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14 Dec 2016, 12:12 am

Could sleep anywhere between 2-16 hours a day, dependent on mood, anxiety/depression levels, presence of migraine and other factors.

Medication is a big reason for me I think, but perhaps staying up too late and getting much more sensory input as usual maybe a thing as well.


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MjrMajorMajor
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14 Dec 2016, 12:57 am

After a long workweek, I usually sleep about 12 hours the first night. I average between 6 to 7 hours otherwise.



CockneyRebel
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14 Dec 2016, 1:34 am

I find that if I'm overly tired, I can sleep up to 11 hours. I sleep an average to 5-8 hours.


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wrongcitizen
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14 Dec 2016, 2:38 am

Being the lazy bum that I am, I am capable of sleeping from 2 pm to 10 AM, and I usually do that until my spine starts getting stuck, then I am forced to do some exercises. People tell me to snap out of it, but when you're THIS tired (I fall asleep in the most dangerous situations) you begin to go insane. I have hallucinations often, and my thoughts get weird as well, I start spewing out random things in public sometimes as well. it's horrible and I just really wish there was a way to fix this.



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14 Dec 2016, 11:57 am

I've been struggling recently with sleeping too much. In fact I just had a good therapy session where this was a big topic.

Bit of background is that I have a daily 20-minute mindfulness meditation practice, but I had been holding off because I felt that right after work wasn't the best time to try and meditate.

But talking to mt psychologist he said, "You've spent all day in work struggling to keep it together. You're like those Aspie kids who come home from school so wound up from the stress of it all that they can't do their homework." I was shocked because when I was in school I almost never did my homework. I thought I was just lazy. That's what my dad said anyway (this was decades before Asperger's Syndrome was a thing). When I told him I never did my homework as a child he said, "You're still that same Aspie kid-- just grown up."

He told me to let up on myself if I'm tired, and I might be less tired-- maybe. He also said try meditating as soon as you get home because it might let me down easily rather than letting the stress just drain me until I basically pass out from exhaustion.

So I tried it and, last night anyway, it worked. Now I've had a regular meditation practice for three years and have been formally trained in MBSR so your mileage may vary. It might be worth looking into though.

His insight about the very real stress of most work situations was particularly eye-opening. Perhaps his best advice was to ease up on myself. A common thing in mindfulness practice is if you try to stop thoughts or feelings, you just create more stress, and that you should just let them happen and pass in their own time. Short of a full-on mindfulness practice, just letting yourself be okay with some post-work stress and finding a controlled way of decompressing might do a world of good.

Hope this helps.


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ConceptuallyCurious
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14 Dec 2016, 3:34 pm

I have periods where being overstimulated (especially if it's lead to anxiety) makes it hard for me to sleep, but on the whole I sleep 'excessively'.

I've had to adjust my expectations around sleep because I just don't function on less than 9 hours. To maintain my wellbeing, I try to get 9 hours and 15 minutes every night, tried trimming to 9 but I just can't get myself out of bed. It's a struggle even with the extra 15 minutes (unsurprisingly). I do take a medication that can cause drowsiness.

Left to sleep without an alarm, I typically sleep 12-14 hours. And without that extra sleep at weeks I just don't cope.

All my friends joke that I'm always tired. I just get tired so much more quickly that others, I think because my brain is working over time to keep treading water.


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14 Dec 2016, 4:28 pm

I usually need 12 hours of sleep a day to function normally. Failure to do so usually results in me waking up with chronic anxiety and angry.

I believe that the reason why i need so much sleep is related to several factors (perhaps with some factors causing other factors).

When my brother died, I suffered from chronic grief. I slept for 20 hours a day and was chronically irritable when i was awake. This went on for 2 years. I went to the doctor and asked if he knew the cause.
He simply told me that some people sleep for longer than others. This was of course to some extent true while at the same time being absolute bs.

So. I went to another doctor during the short time that i was awake, and got him to do blood tests.
I was lucky enough to find a doctor who allowed me to do this. I also ordered a number of books on anxiety and sleep problems and drew up a list to see if i could work out the cause of my sleep and anxiety problems.

I then went through the list of possible causes one at a time to see if i had any of the illnesses on the list.
During the process i first came up with testosterone deficiency. I ordered a blood test and the blood tests proved that I was clinically low in testosterone. So I started treatment. I started to feel a little better.

Although still not 100%.
I ordered more blood tests. This time for vitamin and mineral levels.
These tests came back and proved that I had B12 anemia, Vitamin D deficiency, Iron Deficiency and Hypocalcemia.
The doctor gave me some shots for the B12 and prescribed me loads of Vitamins to take.

After topping up on vitamins, i felt much better and had bit more of a spring in my step.
I still, however was sleeping for 12 hours a day with anxiety.

I then got my doctor to send me to a sleep clinic and ENT expert for analysis. Which he did. i met with the ENT guy, who examined my throat and told me that i had a smaller airway than normal which was likely causing me some of the problems with sleep. However, there was no cure.

He also got me to do a sleep test.
Which showed i did have some problems with apnea although not severe.
He allowed me to take one of their CPAP machines home for a tryout.
But the CPAP machine requires you to strap a mask over your face or some tubes up your nose.
I did use it for a week, in which i got really bad eczema on my face where the mask was placed.

So i gave the machine back. The machine when used also takes readings which are recorded periodically and these recordings can then be transferred to a computer and analysed. The ENT guy said that the machine didn't appear to be making any difference anyway.

So 12 hours a day it is then. Which is very frustrating. I also, like the other people who have written here, have problems of feeling spaced out and like a zombie when i wake up, which stays like this for a couple of hours.

I have found that coffee sometimes helps me wake up a little.

To conclude. Sometimes that can be all sorts of causes for lengthy poor quality sleep.
I speculate among people who have ASC, the most frequent or likely cause will the over stimulation or too much stress/anxiety. (I think that over stimulation causes stress).

However, there may be other things that may also cause these problems such as sleep apnea,
vitamin deficiency, narrow airways and even sedation due to medication.

If the problem is over stimulation or stress related.
Then perhaps consider moving house to somewhere where your living accommodation is very quiet and relaxing.
perhaps consider moving to an area such as a small town that is surrounded by country side (if possible).

It may also be worth considering going to meditation or relaxation classes.
However these need to be done every day for ever for them to make any real effect.

I think that what most stressed out over stimulated aspo's need is to live in a utopian chilled out enlightened society, where everything moves at a slower low stress pace and where the people have the self control and compassion of experienced Buddhist monk teachers.

Then we may find at least a little peace within ourselves.
Unfortunately, the worlds governments don't really understand, don't care enough or don't want to spend the money on us. So instead, we have to live in a world that we simply don't fit in within, and one that makes us ill.

So nothing new there really.
You never know, one day things may change.
If i ever make money, i am going to design utopian low stress housing for people with sensory processing problems. Probably underground with skylights and fields on top.



madbutnotmad
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14 Dec 2016, 4:29 pm

p.s. i would probably avoid stimulants. Unless when waking, in order to help you wake up.
If taken too late in the day, will make you stay away for extra hours or even days if you are sensitive to the stimulant.



nick007
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16 Dec 2016, 2:50 am

I think over-stimulation can make you tired but I would try ruling out other causes to be sure it really is over-stimulation. Sleeping 15 hours a night is twice the amount of sleep most people get. I would rule out medication; lots of meds(especially psych 1s) can make people tired & I would also suggest a sleep study.


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