(09-23-2013, 09:18 PM)TiredInTheUK Wrote: My problem is that since I was a teenager I have always wanted to sleep for at least 8-10 hours a night and given the chance I can easily sleep up to 12-14. It goes without saying that this has caused me lots of problems in my personal life/relationships and work. When I'm awake I sometimes find I'm having to drink 4-5 cups of coffee a day to feel alert and to concentrate properly.Firstly let me say, most everything said here is golden good advice. See your GP & ask for a referral to a sleep clinic for a "Sleep Study". That's the first step. The UK is the leader in the study of sleep disorders, so you should be well diagnosed and treated. Depression is the doctors' "go to" diagnosis when they don't know what wrong with you. Pills are an easy solution and gets you out of his surgery in the prescribed 10mins. Doesn't help you much. If you're not already depressed you soon will be, once you begin taking medication.
My sleep is all over the place and because some days I sleep longer than others (because I don't have to get up for work), I'm finding that I then often go to bed late at maybe 2-3am in the morning. This of course makes the situation worse when I then have to get up in the morning and I often don't wake up until 11am-midday time. I can't remember the last time I went to bed before midnight!
When I wake up I always feel very tired and lethargic and struggle to get up and get on with things. My concentration level is terrible and it is normal for me to "drift" all day and get nothing constructive done when I have tons of urgent things that need doing.
It goes without saying that I'm *always* tired when a partner wants to have sex and I have almost always made the excuse that I'm dog tired and need sleep. A true reason, but not one that has got much sympathy. I have now had 3-4 relationships where sleep/tiredness problems have ended them, the latest being a month ago.
My sleep pattern? Well according to several partners, my head hits the pillow and within seconds I'm fast asleep. I'm like this every night with no exceptions. I usually sleep on my side (no preference which side) and apparently I breathe in through my nose but always breathe out and "puff" through my mouth. My last ex said she thought that was unusual as she'd never known anyone breathe like that when they were asleep! I also *never* remember dreaming which to me seems odd.
As I said before, my last relationship with a partner ended a month ago because I was shattered and we had a massive row and this week I had a big argument with my boss at work which has seriously jeopardized my position. He was being a d**k but I was tired and I could and should have handled the situation more calmly than I did.
Grumpiness is a classic symptom of sleep disorder & the most common sleep disorder is sleep apnoea. The sad thing about grumpiness is that the sufferer rarely knows he/she is grumpy. Grumpy people are picky and hard to please. They don't realise they are continually finding fault & picking on those around them. Thus many relationships end in a scrap of some kind, often the person never realising what or who the problem is.
Although treatment will help, you need to take a hand in improving your life. I recommend getting a "real" job and working 8:00am to 4:00pm (or similar) hours, 5 days each week. Then getting to bed at a reasonable hour every night and sleeping a reasonable time. in other words get some regulation into your life. Daytime somnolence is hard to cure so it comes down to good management in the end. Take up some sport and get some exercise. Understanding your disability using good management and developing good sleep habits is the key. I had to, & so can you! Oh, and stay off system drivers like coffee, Coke, so called sports drinks & the like. All contain lots of caffeine and caffeine among other things, is a poison with known side effects.