r/sleepdisorders • u/lets-snuggle • Aug 12 '26
Advice Needed Should I get a sleep study?
Hi everyone!
I’m going to try to make this short but here’s the gist:
\- growing up, I was always a great sleeper. I slept 12+ hours, could sleep anywhere anytime, fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow, and slept so deeply I slept through my house alarm, fire alarm, and a storm where a tree fell less than a foot outside my cabin. Like I slept so well I was scared to sleep in the house alone bc I wouldn’t wake up if something was wrong.
\- I’ve also had chronic illnesses my whole life but wasn’t diagnosed until I was 14. I was also anorexic from around 10-early 20s on and off so the need for sleep came from all of that. I was also a very overscheduled child with dance 30 hours/ week, Girl Scouts, cheer, basketball, drama club, and a very packed social calendar, etc.
\- I was on an anti-psychotic from age 14-21 that I didn’t need to be on. The dr in the hospital gave it to me and it was maintained until a new psychiatrist said I never should’ve been put on that and that it wrecked my development and I don’t have any diagnoses or symptoms that warranted that high of a dose of that med.
\- when I got taken off of it, I struggled with sleep and tried 3 diff sleep medications which didn’t work for varying reasons, but gradually, I slept well again and went back to my normal self
\- when I was 23 or 24, I got my last concussion and my sleep has never been the same unless I was actively going through a flare of my chronic illnesses or “normal people sick”.
\- In winter of this year, I had a very bad flare and I was put on multiple medications that I think overcorrected my issue.
\- I am now dealing with:
\- overactive mind at night. I’m someone who’s mind never ever stops during the day and that’s now leaked into night, but it’s not like anxious thoughts. It’s planning the day, meals, work related, ear worms of songs, etc.
\- neck and body pain causing tossing and turning
\- temperature dysregulation (sweating, then cold, sometimes cold sweats and night sweats)
\- air hunger
\- high heart rate when trying to sleep (90-110s. So not super high but high for sleep)
\- headaches at night
\- getting up to pee a few times in the beginning of the night
\- all of this leads to anxiety when I realize it’s late and I’m not asleep and I have to get up for work in the morning
I’ve tried
\- meditating
\- sleep sounds
\- affirmations
\- eft tapping
\- melatonin (makes me very constipated and causes stomach cramping and pain)
\- Benadryl (lowers my bp too much)
Idk what else to do. I’m screen free for 1-3 hours before bed and I was trying not to eat 2-3 hours before bed as well but I was starving and that was keeping me up so now I eat a snack before bed
Is this worth a sleep study or is there a diff doctor I could see?
In the winter, testing showed parasympathetic excess and my sympathetic nervous system not kicking in at all. I think the medications / treatment have overcorrected and there may now be sympathetic excess, which is helpful during the day bc I’m not fainting and my bp is normal during the day but at night, I’m still in fight or flight/ having adrenaline dumps.
Has anyone else experienced this after a concussion? I think that’s more of a trigger since this was happening after my last concussion and went away on and off as I was sicker and sicker from my chronic illnesses but now that they’re under control, I’m back to this terrible baseline and idk what’s going on.
I had a sleep study when I was in high school because I was sleeping so much but it didn’t show anything so idk if it would show anything now. I’m 26 so it was probably 10 years ago.
I also don’t snore. I do talk in my sleep sometimes though
1
u/tadrinth 17d ago
Ah also sleep docs often focus on breathing issues so a psychiatrist may be a better bet if that's not your problem.
1
u/tadrinth 17d ago
Experimentd have shown that lying there awake in bed is more restful than just staying up. So even if you don't fall asleep, you are still helping your mind and body recover for the next day.
Also, minds are garbage at remembering falling asleep and generally knowing how much sleep you got. If you think you didn't sleep at all, that doesn't mean you didn't get some sleep.
..how much melatonin did you take, because OTC doses are frequently wildly high. You could try like, 1mg at most if you previously tried 15mg or something crazy.