Sacked because I can’t stop sleeping

[desperateexhausted]

Posting here for traffic and NC because I’m ashamed and furious with myself.

So I haven’t been sacked but if I don’t get a handle on the problem I’m heading that way. I have a job with regular daytime hours (no horrible shift patterns, no very early starts or late finishes) and I can’t manage it.

A week of regular 9-6 work absolutely exhausts me to the point that I have in the past fallen asleep in my clothes the moment I got home, not eaten any dinner and slept through til the next morning several times a week. Some weekends I sleep for almost the entire 48 hours, emerging only to use the toilet or microwave a ready meal. I’ve had countless sick days (probably over 20) in the last year because I’m sometimes so tired that I can’t see straight, I feel nauseous and dizzy when I sit up and the fatigue is so overwhelming I feel like I’m being crushed.

I also sometimes (often) sleep through the morning and simply don’t turn up at work. I have two alarm clocks going off right next to my head and they don’t wake me, particularly if I’ve had a night of insomnia (which I also, somewhat ironically) suffer from. This has been going on since my teenage years (I’m now in my 30s) and affected every single job I’ve had - I’ve had probations extended, been sacked from freelance contracts, and now I’m on very thin ice at work. I’m outwardly a professional and successful person but I can barely hold down a job because I cannot stop sleeping and I’m at my wits end. Chronic fatigue has been mentioned by a previous doctor but wasn’t followed up for reasons beyond my control.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to live like this. I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s ruining my life and will ruin it even more if I lose my job (which, frankly, I deserve to). I don’t want special treatment from work, I know how ridiculous it sounds as a grown adult to say ‘sorry I slept through my alarm) 20 odd times a year. I would chop off a limb for an official diagnosis but every blood test I’ve had for the obvious possible reasons comes back completely clear (and I’ve had a lot of blood tests for this over the years).

Has anyone experienced similar and found a solution? It’s getting to the point that I’m terrified every time I go to bed on a weeknight that I won’t wake up when I need to, which in turn keeps me awake worrying, which then disrupts my sleep even further. Any advice would be very, very gratefully received.

[2Rebecca]

ZOMBIE

[Borderterrierpuppy]

Have you got a smart watch? I don’t have one but I think they track light sleep/ REM sleep and heart rate. It may give you lots of proof to show your gp?

[Honeymint]

Hey OP, it wasn’t quite as bad but I had an issue like this when I was younger. For years I tried to get referred anywhere through my GP but the bloods always came back fine so it never went anywhere.
I really don’t know how I managed.

Eventually I went to a private GP who said my B12 / folate levels were low. I started getting B12 jabs every three months and that went on for 2 years. It completely changed my life. I stopped falling asleep in random places with impossible exhaustion, my head felt clearer, it was amazing.

A couple of years back I was tested and told my levels were back to usual but to keep an eye on them.

These days I take vitamin D every day and floradix (an iron tonic with b12 and vitamin C). I feel okay but if it ever comes back I’m going back for more b12 jabs.

[FormerlySpeckledyHen]

I would contact here if I was you .

www.surrey.ac.uk/surrey-sleep-research-centre

[iloveeverykindofcat]

I have a relative who was experiencing similar and it turned out she had sleep apnoea badly. She's not overweight at all, she's thin. It can be caused by the position of your tonsils and structure of your throat.

[Warblerinwinter]

You must insist on a sleep test. Rule out sleep apnea first. Nothing will show on bloods etc
Sleep apnea causes mood swings, depression, brain fog etc
My ex had it. He would fall asleep in middle of eating, in middle of conversations. It was appalling. When tested he wasn’t even at the bad end of scale
It took me 3 years of pushing with GP etc as they kept putting it down to his meds for his mental health condition
I kept a diary, recorded my observations and didn’t take no for an answer. So push hard for testing and rule it out
He got a CPAP within a few weeks of confirmation- he was like a different person. He must have had it for years

[yoyo1234]

Depressed?

[yoyo1234]

Sleep clinic? Sounds like the quality of your sleep maybe poor. I assume thyroid, iron, zinc levels are okay/been looked into.

[user478843898]

Do you think you might be depressed and possibly hate your job?

[CheshireKitten123]

@OverTheRubicon

You need to call your GP first thing Monday, get an appointment and tell them you are about to lose your job. There has to be some underlying disability here - whether physical or mental health - and that should give you some protection, if you can get a diagnosis sorted asap and be clear on how you are taking steps to.address and can outline any reasonable adjustments. This must be so hard, good luck

Sound advice - you could have narcolepsy - please do this ^

[FictionalCharacter]

You probably have a sleep disorder. GPs are not good at this. Blood tests won’t help although they’ve probably ruled out anaemia and thyroid problems.

Press for a referral to a sleep clinic. I had similar problems to you and in the end had to go private.

[BobbieT1999]

Oh. Zombie!
Interested in how things might have turned out though @desperateexhausted

[BobbieT1999]

I haven't read all your replies op, just your own posts. Very glad you're finally seeing someone privately send going to a sleep clinic. Hope they rule out sleep apnoea too!

Have you tried vibrating alarms? They're designed for people who are deaf and go underneath the pillow, you might find it helpful? Also a sunrise alarm clock, with light set to its brightest and pointed at your face.

Good luck

[antisocialsocialclub]

Ask for your thyroid to be checked OP.

I nearly failed my degree because of experiencing very similar to you are describing here.

It took over a year for them to consider thyroid, they tried just saying I had anxiety or was stressed or just doing too much.

Have a look at underactive thyroid (hypothyroid) symptoms and see if you fit. Either way, I’d mention it.

[Draggondragon]

Pointless trying a GP, even if you could get a phone appointment it would probably be a waste of time nurse one. I would go private and have some basic bloods then sleep clinic if everything, thyroid etc, normal. This is so far from normal and you shouldn't have to live with it.

[Nowayoutonlydown]

Speak with your GP, insist on a referral to a sleep clinic for a sleep study, they can check ic you have sleep apnoea, it may be a case of you having really rubbish sleep quality so you need more sleep. A CPAP machine has absolutely changed my lifec

[guardiansofthegalaxychocs]

@romdowa

Sounds like you need a sleep study. Look up the sleepiness scale and fill it in and take it to your gp. If you score high then insist on being referred for a sleep study. I had one in january , they'll start with you taking an oximeter home and sleeping with it on your finger and then they will go from there.

This! You need to write down what you want to say beforehand including this is utterly debilitating. Something is clearly not at all right. Your GP is seriously fobbing you off.

[listsandbudgets]

sorry just realised this is from April

[listsandbudgets]

back in bed by 9pm ( not am)

[listsandbudgets]

I had almost exactly acy those symptoms for years. Eventually I had to part time and even then I struggled. It was entirely unpredictable. Some days I woke up aching and utterly exhausted. Id take the children to school and go back to bed until I needed to go and pick them up again then be back in bed by 9am.

DP worked away a lot at that point. Then one night when he was there he woke to find me having a grand mal seizure in my sleep.. undiagnosed nocturnal epilepsy. Certainly explained the exhaustion seizures take huge volumes of energy. Once I got diagnosed and meds kicked in properly it changed my life.

[justasking111]

@desperateexhausted hasn't posted since April, I hope she's had the help she needed by now

[Blacksheepcat]

Oh, sorry, why is an old thread popping up? Is there an update OP?

[Blacksheepcat]

All the symptoms you mentioned are what my daughter experiences with HEDs and PoTS and she’s not, as you say, “long and stretchy with papery skin”.

[Zotter]

Sorry I missed it is an old thread!

[Zotter]

I am sorry to hear.

Re ME, ME is not characterised by sleeping lots. The ME ICC criteria describe the symptoms of ME best meassociation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ICC-short-version.pdf

I agree the difficulties sitting up means POTS may be worth investigating (can be co morbid with ME) but not always.