Monday, March 1, 2010

suddenly sleeping while sitting upright

Question
iv noticed that lately i will fall asleep (mostly during school) randomly while trying not to sleep, and i will stay sitting straight up and sometimes not completely close my eyes. during these sleeps i have very lifelike dreams that i often think are real, i then wake up quickly to see that only a minute has passed when it seemed like 10 minutes. I'm often not even tired when these happen, i just blink and I'm suddenly asleep without knowing it. is this a possible disorder or do i just need more sleep?


Answer
The first thing you need to do is go to your md and get basic blood tests to rule out any thyroid trouble , anemia, or mono. If all checks out you may want to consult with a sleep center for an overnight monitoring of your sleep for possibly narcolepsy, which is the uncontrollable urge to fall asleep at inappropriate times.  Go to sleepnet.com click on disorders narcolepsy. feel free to email again, but first get the blood test. karel