Can sleep deprivation cause actual health problems?

[Picante]

Am wondering whether to wean early / give formula / swap babies...

for mum or baby or both?

Me. Today I'm actually shaking from tiredness.

I'm interested in this. Sometimes I'm really tired out with no chance of a rest.

Bump?

Definately in the short term, I think sleep is very important for your mental health

I think that my PND was 98% caused by severe and prolonged sleep deprivation.

I remember feeling nauseous and wanting to vomit becuae of the utter utter physical and mental feelings that came from exhaustion.

I was many times dizzy, remember gripping the kitchen work top to keep from just falling over.

I forgot things, like while driving, couldnt remember where i was going and why i was in the car. Once got to Morrisons and when i got out of the car still had my slippers on.

I remember sobbing until my guts ached while making the bed in the morning, knowing i would not be getting back into it for another 2 or 3 nights.

I was physically ill with it, with no support, no respite and not knowing what to do about my child who did not sleep a full night till he was nearly 4 years old.

Yes. It is used as a form of torture. No-one who hasn't experienced it understands though.

so true littlefrogs. I gave up even mentioning the night terrors that i went through and when people asked, i jsut smiled and said "soem times he sleeps".
No one is interested any way, they are just making converstation.

yes, am getting ill from it now,not so much because of ds who's 16 weeks but due to the insomnia I've developed which means I just lie awake waiting for him to wake up..this is sending me slowly mad, affecting my mood making even the simplest of tasks impossible.

In the past 2 weeks I've lost 2 cash cards, my wallet, left the front door of the house wide open twice and the car once. It's also making me irrational, suspicious and irritable.

Dh thinks I'm being paranoid too although to me it does actually seem like no one, not him, not my Mum or sister actually gives a s**t.

also during the brief snatches of sleep i do get am having nightmares so bad I'm actually getting scared of falling asleep

know what you mean minx, i still feel agrieved about what i perseved to be a complete lack of support and/or caring from my family ordh's family.

No one even offered to take him in his pram around the block for a walk for half an hour to give me a break, no one and i am bitter about it.

When my DS is poorly and therefore doesn't sleep well (therefore neither do I) I usually end up with a throat infection - from tiredness and being run down

it is possible to make you poorly and will do in the long run as you body gets run down and cant fight infection. It can have nasty consequences IME and exhuastion is phyisical, mental and emotional (pst and spelling and grammar go up shit creek). It takes agaes to recover and not a good place. Paranoia, shaking and balckouts can be the worst of the symptoms. Forced rest is the cure. I got severe migraines from alck of sleep and the only treatment was a preventative medicine - it happened to be a very low dose of an antidepressant but knock my nightmares on the head and knackered me out, plus cured the migraines. Too tired to mince my words and about to find the superglue for ds who is currently without sleep meds.

Make sure that you get as much rest/sleep as possible. cat nap if necessary. make a real effort to get your minimum 5/day.

Hope it improves.

sunburntats my Mum came today to look afer dd(3) whilst i took ds (16 weeks) for his immunisations. she turned up late, pulled a face when i said I had o rush off then when I got back made a joke about being "glued to the sofa" watched me sort and put away 2 loads of washing, make cups of tea and cook dds tea after explaining I'd had 4 hours of sleep in 48 hours .

Was supposed to be taking dd out to give me a break but reappeared after half an hour, poor dh thrashing about all over the place at bedtime as hadn't been for a run around all day despite me asking mother politely if she could take her to the park (5 minute walk) for a bit. FFS would it really have been that much trouble?

dd thrashing about not dh

Thanks all - I'm definitely showing signs of my brain not functioning properly.

Do you think it's worth a mention to the gp?

Trouble is not much they can do as dd is still bf often in the night.

i have a permanent headache at the moment from lack of sleep

am also incredibly grumpy

have a non sleeping, breastfed DD of 15 weeks

Tired out as well with no hope of a rest. dd is 7 weeks & up since 4am and my others are battling it out this afternoon.

Lak of sleep will certainly aggravate other underlying conditions eg heart condition etc.

She's 22 weeks tomorrow. Up every 3 hours - more so in the early morning, short naps during the day. Have 3 year old too so no chance of catching up during the day.

Last two nights I've been awake even when baby's sleeping thinking how tired I am.

Thanks all.

Have you tried co-sleeping? My DS would feed every 2 hours through the night for months but as soon as we started sleeping together it was like a light-bulb moment (or rather a lights-off moment!) It does get better,trust me.

I can really sympathise, I had 4 years with very little sleep and it is awful. I do really think you should do whatever you can to get some sleep. Is your 3 year old at nursery at all during the day? I even used to drop my older DS at nursery and while my baby DS slept in the car I used to park the car and get some sleep too! I remember walking along the street with the buggy, looking longingly at park benches and wishing I could just sleep there. I do think it affects your health - I have various issues now that I really think are due to all those years with no sleep.