Tuesday, March 16, 2010

somebody help!!

Question
hello, i am 21 years of age and i have been having some problems. everytime i fall asleep i get woken up in the morning very easily, this is not the problem though. usually after i fall back asleep i start having very weird dreams wich most of the time i can remember, when i wake up i feel like i am not fully awake and almost not concious, i feel like i dont know where i am even though im in my own house and i just feel really out of it all day, everything looks different to me. i dont have health insurance so seeing a doctor is out of the question for right now, i have also done a decent amount of hallucinegenic drugs in the past. my brother takes klonopins and those usually help. it almost feels like im having a 24 hour panic attack, and if i drink alchohol at night in the morning my symptoms are far worse. just by reading i think my neurotransmitters are screwed up or maybe i have a chemical inbalance. also most times at night my eyes are really sesitive to light, like if i see brake lights in front of me when i blink even though the car turned i still see flashes, with any type of strong light. anyway this is ruiing my life i dont feel normal the way i used to and i dont have the same feelings about things i used too. i hope someone out there can help me. thank you

mark


Answer
What you are experiencing are called hypanangogic hallucinations as well as natural normal phenomenon. Our bodies are programmed to wake up and go sleep at the same time, but sometimes there is a minute lapse so one is dreaming with ones eyes open. If it happens often and your daily wakefulness is effected, it is a symptom of narcolepsy, but if it happens once in awhile it is normal, in your situation it definitely is from the drugs and alcohol worsens it.  An md will put your on antidepressants which hold back the dream state but only for so long.  I suggest you stay away fromthe alcohol also if it persists then you should see a sleep physician at a sleeep center, your local hospital can refer you,go to sleepnet.com click on disorders narcolepsy and read about its symptoms hypnanagogic hallucinations, you dont have narcolepsy but they explain it better, if its just once in awhile relax its normal, if you can remember when it happens to move your eyeballs from right to left it will break the cycle feel free to email again karel