#1 ·
So, I’ve been dealing with insomnia for a week now, and it’s getting worse by the day. It doesn't matter how exhausted I am; this thing hit me like a bolt from the blue. I have absolutely no clue what's causing it.
I lay down totally wiped out, try to relax, but sleep just won't come. It doesn't matter what I do—whether I'm crushing it at the gym or working my brain to the limit during the day—I just can't sleep. Why? Who knows. I'm barely functioning without rest, and I can feel my heart racing and sweating more than usual, probably because of the lack of sleep.
First I was getting five hours, then three, then two, and now it's been two days since I laid down and I haven't slept AT ALL. Everything is spiraling. Is this just standard insomnia that can be fixed?
While Googling these symptoms today, I stumbled upon some malignant type of insomnia caused by prions—which is super rare and hereditary—but also this version called fatal insomnia.
http://www.uchospitals.edu/news/1999/19990526-sfi.html
In some cases, you don't even need a genetic predisposition for the disease to develop. These specific parts are what's really freaking me out, because the symptoms are identical to mine:
"We found a disease that is indistinguishable from the genetic disorder but lacks the disease gene," said Jim Mastrianni, Mayo Clinic, assistant professor of neurology at Harvard University and lead author of the study. "Sporadic fatal insomnia is an exact phenocopy, but not a genocopy of fatal familial insomnia."
Familial fatal insomnia has been identified in only 24 extended families globally, but the sporadic version, while still incredibly rare, might actually be more common, potentially making up "most or all cases of pure thalamic dementia," according to the researchers.
The first SFI patient was a perfectly healthy 44-year-old man from California who started having major trouble falling asleep. His primary doctor originally brushed him off, claiming it was "all in his head." But after about four months of averaging only one hour of sleep per night, the patient struggled to walk, lost weight, and cried excessively (matching the old description of "dwindling, peaking, and pining").
The patient was sent to dr. Mastrianni (who was then a clinical instructor of neurology and medical director of Alzheimer's diagnostics at UCSF), who started the testing that confirmed the diagnosis. High doses of sedatives only helped for a little while, and the patient suffered a steady, worsening loss of coordination and short-term memory, along with increasing trouble telling dreams from reality. One year after the symptoms started, he was moved to long-term care. Four months later, suffering from severe delusions, he passed away.
Anyone got any advice?
I lay down totally wiped out, try to relax, but sleep just won't come. It doesn't matter what I do—whether I'm crushing it at the gym or working my brain to the limit during the day—I just can't sleep. Why? Who knows. I'm barely functioning without rest, and I can feel my heart racing and sweating more than usual, probably because of the lack of sleep.
First I was getting five hours, then three, then two, and now it's been two days since I laid down and I haven't slept AT ALL. Everything is spiraling. Is this just standard insomnia that can be fixed?
While Googling these symptoms today, I stumbled upon some malignant type of insomnia caused by prions—which is super rare and hereditary—but also this version called fatal insomnia.
http://www.uchospitals.edu/news/1999/19990526-sfi.html
In some cases, you don't even need a genetic predisposition for the disease to develop. These specific parts are what's really freaking me out, because the symptoms are identical to mine:
"We found a disease that is indistinguishable from the genetic disorder but lacks the disease gene," said Jim Mastrianni, Mayo Clinic, assistant professor of neurology at Harvard University and lead author of the study. "Sporadic fatal insomnia is an exact phenocopy, but not a genocopy of fatal familial insomnia."
Familial fatal insomnia has been identified in only 24 extended families globally, but the sporadic version, while still incredibly rare, might actually be more common, potentially making up "most or all cases of pure thalamic dementia," according to the researchers.
The first SFI patient was a perfectly healthy 44-year-old man from California who started having major trouble falling asleep. His primary doctor originally brushed him off, claiming it was "all in his head." But after about four months of averaging only one hour of sleep per night, the patient struggled to walk, lost weight, and cried excessively (matching the old description of "dwindling, peaking, and pining").
The patient was sent to dr. Mastrianni (who was then a clinical instructor of neurology and medical director of Alzheimer's diagnostics at UCSF), who started the testing that confirmed the diagnosis. High doses of sedatives only helped for a little while, and the patient suffered a steady, worsening loss of coordination and short-term memory, along with increasing trouble telling dreams from reality. One year after the symptoms started, he was moved to long-term care. Four months later, suffering from severe delusions, he passed away.
Anyone got any advice?