Anxiety and IH

[<Sleepy_Liberty_Girl&g]

I am a lurker for 6 years, too tired to register! Need help, started dating this nice man,he is very intelligent and educated. He questions wether my IH is related to underlying anxiety. That my mind is constantly being stimulated by anxiety and depression issues thus not allowing REM to occur. I have read and searched as all of you have. I don't find basis for this line of thought. All though I do admit to anxiety I would think that 10mg. of Oxycontin and 0.5mg of Lorazepam would shut down anxiety causing IH. (I have painful RLS, and PLMS, and Sleep apnea, and Bruxism also) He also thinks the ADDERALL 40mg. Three times a day contributes to the anxiety. It gets so confusing which comes first the cart or the horse. I have been down the provigil road. I have hit a wall and would like some advice from you all, even encouragment would be welcome. Has anyone else thought about the endocrine piece? I also have Poly Cystic Ovaries where the hormone problem occurs in the adrenal glands. (LUCKY is not a word that describes me!) Would appreciate any input. Thanks to all for all the good info over the years. SL

[<Annie>]

Sleepy-Girl.
I would think that anyone experiencing what we do would get anxiety and depression. Who came first, the chicken or the egg? I think depression follows from
1. People dont understand fully what we go through
2. People making stupid suggestions on what we should do about it
3. Not being able to live up to others expectations
4. When living with pain everyday.

I think that defining my needs and limitations to others have been that toughest to do. I feel that some people should not know anything about my problem, while others need to know it all. The difficult part is to keep the ones that know from telling those that dont know. Haha.

Wish you all the best.
Annie

[<Annie>]

PS. I have tried provigil too. Not gonna take that again. In my opinion it is lethal.
Annie

[SleepsHarderThanTheDead]

Congradulations on finding a nice guy! (you give me hope for finding one myself!) Sounds like he's just trying to understand your disorder(s), and I think that's good that he is.
I don't know your complete medical history and i'm not a doctor so i really can't say much, but i doubt anxiety is causing your sleep problems. I think it's more likely that your sleep problems are causing the others, or that the two are linked in a way that we just don't understand. (and i'm pretty sure they are linked being that so many people here, myself included, have both sleep disorders and mental illnesses like depression or anxiety.)

[<drowsyinnc>]

In response to Sleepy_Liberty_Girl's questions re IH being caused by anxiety, just want to let you know my experience. I had fatigue, excessive sleepiness, constant dreaming since me teens. When I finally sought treament and was diagnosed with IH, I was started on Provigil and antidepressant. Shortly after taking Provigil, symptoms became just as bad as before. My Provigil dose was increased to 4-200mg tabs per day. My symptoms became worse over a period of 2 years. I went to 3 neurologists trying to find one to help. On a visit with my 3rd neuro., she told me she wanted me to see a psychiatrist because I had been tried on the conventional treatments for this disorder, yet I still had terrible anxiety and drowsiness to the point that I thought I might have to seek disability benefits. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of seeing the psych., but I was desperate for help. His diagnosis is as follows: He thinks that I have always been anxious, from the time I was a child. To cope with the anxiety, I started having drowsiness and wanting to sleep. He explained when we wake up in the morning, we have a certain amount of anxiety-by just being alert. When you think about a person sleeping, you think they are rested, have no anxiety. Somehow, my mind was causing the sleepiness. It seemed to make sense, because the brain can do some unusual things. He also told me that the Provigil was causing me more anxiety because the more alert I became, the more anxiety I experienced. I weaned off Provigil, and immediately my anxiety symptoms went away. He started me on Effexor XR 75mg, and I take nothing to keep me awake. For months now, I have felt better and had more energy than in the longest time. Recently, I've started having more drowsiness, but I question that I'm feeling more anxious--causing this reaction.
I know this may seem strange because it does to me as well. But, when you think about how many people started meds to stay alert, saw their symptoms start to increase within a short amount of time.
Just something for you to consider. There has to be a connection between anxiety and IH.
Hope this helps you and others.

[grantzzz]

I have OCD and ADHD and probably hypersomnia, but had the OCD since age 13 and inattentive since way back, but the hypersomnia started age 17 when I had surgery on my legs and was in bed or wheelchair and on big doses of oxycontin for six months, have not waken up yet!
I wonder if being immobile made my sleep cycle off. Anyway, just another case of anxiety(OCD) and hypersomnia