In the last year and a half, my husband has suddenly started having problems sleeping. Prior to meeting me a year ago, he thought his only problem was falling asleep while driving (he once spun out on the interstate, crossing the median and ending up facing the traffic coming the other way. Thank goodness he was okay.) He never really shared sleep with anyone before me, so he wasn't aware that he snored, talked and laughed in his sleep, or fell asleep while having conversations. There have been many times when he has been talking to me and is totally asleep, without realizing it. Sometimes he'll even get up and walk around, doing things, and he can't remember these things the next day. Last fall, we had a housewarming party, and he had two beers (he wasn't drunk, but the alcohol accentuated the sleeping problem)...he fell asleep with a dozen people talking loudly, while sitting on the couch in the living room. I tried to wake him with no success...one of the other guys put an ice cube on his face and he yelled but wouldn't wake up. Then, he got a leg cramp, and he jumped up, accidentally knocking me on the floor, and he fell on the floor writhing and shouting, completely unaware that anyone else was there. I finally was able to wake him up enough to get him to bed. He remembers none of this. He's also lashed out at a dog we were dogsitting while he was asleep--the dog started licking him and he hit the dog, something he'd never do while awake. After the party incident, he talked to his doctor, who sent him for a sleep study. It was normal, so he prescribed Ambien, telling my DH he must not be sleeping well (the sleep study did show he wakes up a lot at night.) They sent him for a more extensive one that lasted into the next day. It was also normal. So the doctor sends him to a neurologist. This neuro told him he needs to take naps and get more sleep at night. He is already working 60-70 hours a week (he's in the Navy so it's not by choice at all) and there literally is not enough hours in the day for him to take naps. He sleeps about 7 hours a night, which is more than the 5 or so he was getting when he first started having these problems. He does still snore, talk in his sleep, and he tosses and turns/wakes up a lot at night. So when he went back to the neuro, the neuro said that despite the sleep studies being normal, he thinks he has narcolepsy. When DH followed up with his dr, his dr said, "No, there is no way you have narcolepsy. We will send you for a third sleep study."
DH does not think there is anything wrong. The only reason that he has pursued anything this far is because I won't let up. I told him I don't feel safe with him because if there is an emergency, he wouldn't be able to wake up enough to deal with it! Sure enough, we had a scare thinking I was going into labor really early (lovely Braxton Hicks), and he couldn't wake up enough to comfort me or talk to me about it at all. I also am really worried he's going to fall asleep driving to work. He has an hour commute each way during the week, and he falls asleep driving on a regular basis! He says he just needs more sleep--which is impossible, really. We already get home from work, cook, clean up, shower, and go straight to sleep. Besides, I've told him that hundreds of thousands of people around the world get less then 7 hours of sleep every night and they don't all fall asleep driving or there would be way more accidents! I think deep down he realizes something is wrong, but doesn't want to admit it, because he is afraid of being kicked out of the Navy. He is in complete denial--which I'm sure doesn't convince his doctors that there is something wrong, you know?
Also, his B12 levels are at around 200. I have a B12 deficiency, and had to see a neuro because of having seizure-like symptoms due to having been deficient so long. His levels are where mine are, except he eats meat and I was a vegetarian at the time. I am wondering if this could be affecting things, but his dr says his B12 levels are normal (despite a neurologist telling me when I had my problems that if I left my deficiency at that level for a few more years I could go blind or have permanent brain damage.)
Can anyone here give me any words of wisdom regarding sleeping disorders? Does it sound like something is wrong? Do his symptoms sound like narcolepsy? Does narcolepsy always show up on a sleep study? Why are his sleep studies normal if it really seems there is something wrong?
DH does not think there is anything wrong. The only reason that he has pursued anything this far is because I won't let up. I told him I don't feel safe with him because if there is an emergency, he wouldn't be able to wake up enough to deal with it! Sure enough, we had a scare thinking I was going into labor really early (lovely Braxton Hicks), and he couldn't wake up enough to comfort me or talk to me about it at all. I also am really worried he's going to fall asleep driving to work. He has an hour commute each way during the week, and he falls asleep driving on a regular basis! He says he just needs more sleep--which is impossible, really. We already get home from work, cook, clean up, shower, and go straight to sleep. Besides, I've told him that hundreds of thousands of people around the world get less then 7 hours of sleep every night and they don't all fall asleep driving or there would be way more accidents! I think deep down he realizes something is wrong, but doesn't want to admit it, because he is afraid of being kicked out of the Navy. He is in complete denial--which I'm sure doesn't convince his doctors that there is something wrong, you know?
Also, his B12 levels are at around 200. I have a B12 deficiency, and had to see a neuro because of having seizure-like symptoms due to having been deficient so long. His levels are where mine are, except he eats meat and I was a vegetarian at the time. I am wondering if this could be affecting things, but his dr says his B12 levels are normal (despite a neurologist telling me when I had my problems that if I left my deficiency at that level for a few more years I could go blind or have permanent brain damage.)
Can anyone here give me any words of wisdom regarding sleeping disorders? Does it sound like something is wrong? Do his symptoms sound like narcolepsy? Does narcolepsy always show up on a sleep study? Why are his sleep studies normal if it really seems there is something wrong?
