[shay95]

I was just talking to my sister at around midnight about how "abnormal" i am compared to her & most of my peers. We were talking about my mad menstrual cycle & how I always blacked out many mornings or early afternoons. I decided to Wiki sleeping disorders I found DSPS(ability to awaken and fall asleep at socially acceptable times)... I glanced at it & automatically clicked it because it just seemed so oddly familiar. I ended up reading the whole page & kept reading it out loud to my sister saying, oh you remember when I did that? Like tossing & turning in the nights when she would shout at me, I would get up multiple times to go to the bathroom & not even use the loo because I couldn't get to sleep. I wouldn't realise when I went to sleep I would just wake up late being blank about the time or colour in the sky. I would wake up & hear everyone downstairs living while I only just woke up. While I was reading the Wiki page I ended up in tears, I realised it's severe & the word "abnormal" was used a lot so I was just shocked & was trying to avoid it but in the end it just got to me & I realised I think I have this? I'm 14 now & have huge difficulties in adapting to the normal socially acceptable sleeping hours. I seem to stay up in my bed unaware of things & suddenly waking in the morning. On school days when I hear the alarm go off under my head. I try so hard to get myself to awaken but it just seems to fail. I seem to fall into a trance & awaken at a later time realising I have missed school. My mother hasn't realised this & if I told her she'd think I was BSing or lieing for excuses of not going to school. I always ask my sister to wake me up in the morning but even the screams & shouts don't work. I've missed alot of school due to my inability to wake up in the morning, I am confirmed that it's not my laziness it's something other that I'm not strongly aware of. I'm falling behind in school & have trouble concentrating the days I manage to go to school early in the morning. I seem to function best at later hours as my sister has noticed I work out in the evenings at about 7-10pm.
I realised just now I had some kind sleeping disability that started at a young age, when I was a toddler, my mother used to put out some fruit on the floor to distract me in case I woke up when she would go out to pick up my elder sister from nursery. I would wake up & eat it straight away. My senses would be really sharp & awake. But recently my eyes have been really sensitive since around 3 year. My eye sight has been deteriorating. I went to the opticians & she was shocked at the regression of my eye sight. I get sensitive to light in the late evenings when I'd say "Turn off that light it's killin' me." To my sister to receive a nasty comment like "Vamp..." Or sometimes I would close the drapes.
I've had multiple blood tests to diagnose the root to my blackouts, the first one showed I didn't enough iron but I adapted my diet to be more balanced & the next blood test showed nothing, everything was apparently perfect...? Yet I was getting those occasional blackouts. I keep getting them still. The times that I have blacked out I had a weird kind of feeling before i got them. Sometimes I get those feelings but don't always blackout. Sometimes it's more severe like once I fell in the bathroom & cut my leg somehow. I was standing on the other side of the bathroom from what i remembered but I ended up in the opposite corner on the floor. I blacked out once in my bed & my sister thought I passed away. I find it kind of amusing now, as you would think too... but at the time it was HORROR. I have these weird images & flashbacks of these accidents I have & they somehow repeat every time.
I have menstrual problems, they are absurdly painful & disturbing compared to how it affects other girls my age. I think my Doctor would 'laugh it off' if I told him I probably have DSPS, but I'm so sure, & everything weird that has been happening seems to fit into place, which worries me further as it has only been getting worse all this time, maybe It'll carry on?

[IAbuseSleep]

It's like you've laid out my life in front of me. I actually went to a doctor, of course at the time it was because my mom believed I had massive head aches. It was always my excuse to sleep in and don't go to school. The funny thing is I really had head aches, but sleep is more important in this case.
The doctor accused me of being lazy and doing nothing, but sitting in front of the computer. She didn't mention anything about school refusal, but I could feel that was her whole point. It was a doctor I trusted and loved. So it hurt a lot. Now I just don't mention anything to my parents and go to school even if it means I have to follow this. Don't sleep one night and then after school the next day I sleep the afternoon and the whole night and wake up in time for school. Repeat.

[shay95]

That's a shame. It's said we spend like half our lives sleeping, but I don't understand how you manage to have a social life like that? For me my friends mean everything as they're usually my supporters through all my problems. Have you tried going to some sleeping organisation or anything? Well I have an appointment with my doctor this Monday. If he somehow manages to understand I'm sure I'll be reposting here. Good luck

[IAbuseSleep]

Well my social life- there almost isn't one. Except for the people I see at school. Yes we are friends, but we don't see each other after school.
A sleep organisation? I wouldn't know where to look for one. I live in Latvia and I don't know if we have one.
We'll thanks anyway. Good luck on your doctor's appointment. Hope it goes well.

[shay95]

Wow I just spoke to my doctor & you wouldn't have wanted to hear his reaction on the phone.
He kept mentioning it might be that it's psychologically stuck in your mind. I just blanked out. But he said we'll see at the actual appointment as I have a army insight camp that I maybe attending soon but of course that will be another issue to awaken in the morning & stay bright the whole time.

[IAbuseSleep]

Wow. I hope it goes well.
Today I mentioned to my mom that I want to try changing my sleeping pattern over the winter holidays. She knows I have problems with sleeping so she agreed.
I didn't tell her about DSPS or that the treatment I'll try is chronoteraphy. I'm sure you have heard of it. If not just look it up.

[shay95]

Oh yeah it's when you change the times you go to sleep & wake up right?
But I thought it's temporary if it works at all.
Hope it works out for you. I reckon you should tell your mum about chronotherapy so she can help you & also understand why the timing's so important. It might just help.
Wish you luck.

[IAbuseSleep]

I told her the timing is important and that I will be going to sleep at strange times.
I remember telling my dad about DSPS a few years ago when i first stumbled upon the article in wiki. He didn't believe me. Made me lose my trust in my parents.
I'll probably tell her if the chronotherapy works. I'll get back to you when I try it out.

[shay95]

Ooh awesome. How's it going so far?
I just got addicted to coffee as my Doctor said it'll help when I go to my insight course... that's if I do.
It's getting worse & worse but shame. My doctor & GP didn't even know about it's existence.
Well at least he didn't accuse me of lying. He mentioned he had those "days" when he would find it hard to awake, but I'm not going blame him... it's hard to believe & accept that it could have such large effects as it has on me. I guess it'll attempt what you do, ha-ha your becoming my role model already. I definitely need to step it up in school as well.
Thanks for helping me out. I hope your chromotherapy is going well.

[IAbuseSleep]

Haha. I guess we all are sort of role models for each other. If it wasn't for this forum I don't know what I would do.
The chronoteraphy is going great. I'm strictly following it. Let's just hope it works.