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Personal Update: not dead yet
9 years ago
Hello folks. For those of you who have been kinda following my health struggles, I thought you might be interested to know that I was recently diagnosed with a sleep disorder called Idiopathic Hypersomnia (IH).
Basically it means that no matter how much sleep I get, I will always be sleepy, and suffer waves of uncontrollable sleepiness that make me want to either a) lie down and sleep immediately, or, if that's not possible, b) scream/cut myself/cry/have an existential crisis... Apparently my body secretes this substance into my blood that acts like a tranquilizer. Like I'm constantly popping Xanax throughout the day. (No wonder actually taking benzos messed me up so bad a while back.)
No one knows what causes IH. I was diagnosed through a sleep study. For me, the IH seems to have been getting worse over the past year or so... I used to do okay with 8 hours of sleep, then 9, then 10... eventually I got to where I was sleeping 12 hours a night and still taking naps during the day because I couldn't keep my eyes open. And before you say it, no, the solution isn't to just sleep less. (A lot of people tell me "well no wonder you feel like shit, you slept too much, I always feel like crap if I sleep more than 10 hours" and it's like... no, that's not how it works, my brain doesn't actually know how to wake up, it's a neurological condition and you have no idea what it feels like unless you have it...) Caffeine also doesn't make much of a difference because a dose high enough to help would basically stop my heart, lol.
What typically works for people is stimulants. So I'm on ADHD meds right now, basically. They haven't restored me to a normal level of functioning, but they've definitely helped me pull through a bad patch and be more productive. So, hopefully the stimulants will keep working, and I will keep up with the art, because I really do enjoy art and I'd love to grow my following and start doing more commissions for people, and maybe get some prints together, buy a button maker, and hit the convention circuit next year. I'd also love to keep working on some graphic novel scripts I've got going right now...
That's about it for my update. Hopefully my health will improve, or at least stabilize so that I can learn how to cope better.
Peace, y'all.
Basically it means that no matter how much sleep I get, I will always be sleepy, and suffer waves of uncontrollable sleepiness that make me want to either a) lie down and sleep immediately, or, if that's not possible, b) scream/cut myself/cry/have an existential crisis... Apparently my body secretes this substance into my blood that acts like a tranquilizer. Like I'm constantly popping Xanax throughout the day. (No wonder actually taking benzos messed me up so bad a while back.)
No one knows what causes IH. I was diagnosed through a sleep study. For me, the IH seems to have been getting worse over the past year or so... I used to do okay with 8 hours of sleep, then 9, then 10... eventually I got to where I was sleeping 12 hours a night and still taking naps during the day because I couldn't keep my eyes open. And before you say it, no, the solution isn't to just sleep less. (A lot of people tell me "well no wonder you feel like shit, you slept too much, I always feel like crap if I sleep more than 10 hours" and it's like... no, that's not how it works, my brain doesn't actually know how to wake up, it's a neurological condition and you have no idea what it feels like unless you have it...) Caffeine also doesn't make much of a difference because a dose high enough to help would basically stop my heart, lol.
What typically works for people is stimulants. So I'm on ADHD meds right now, basically. They haven't restored me to a normal level of functioning, but they've definitely helped me pull through a bad patch and be more productive. So, hopefully the stimulants will keep working, and I will keep up with the art, because I really do enjoy art and I'd love to grow my following and start doing more commissions for people, and maybe get some prints together, buy a button maker, and hit the convention circuit next year. I'd also love to keep working on some graphic novel scripts I've got going right now...
That's about it for my update. Hopefully my health will improve, or at least stabilize so that I can learn how to cope better.
Peace, y'all.
No1fan15
~no1fan15
I hope everything works out well for you in the future. And now. And all the time, because you deserve it.
Tica
~tica
OP
aww, thanks. I appreciate that.
No1fan15
~no1fan15
Hugs! X3
Wow, I had never heard of this. Thank you for sharing your experiences with it. I hope you stabilize Tica and things get better. *hugs*
Tica
~tica
OP
thank you! Apparently it is a very rare condition, which is why it took me so long to get diagnosed in the first place...
Springdragon
~springdragon
Surprised nobody has said this yet. Clearly, you are a sloth.
Tica
~tica
OP
This is very true. Unfortunately, human society is not built for sloths :(
Springdragon
~springdragon
Good luck! I miss you.
Tahu
~tahu
I am so glad to hear you are still around, Tica, and I wish you well on the stimulants working out for you. Truly I am unsure what to say here.. I just want you to be stabilized again.
Tica
~tica
OP
Thank you! It'll be an interesting and probably difficult road ahead, but I'm definitely optimistic about it.
