Episode 47: Hypersomnolence, OR Sleeping Too Damned Much, OR I Want My Life Back

I've mentioned hypersomnolence on the show many times, but what exactly does it mean?  How does hypersomnolence affect one's day-to-day life?

A typical day.

Of course, "hyper" means too much of something, and "somnolence" means sleepiness. And I have been dealing with this strange and debilitating condition for the past six-plus years. The official diagnosis is idiopathic hypersomnolence; "idiopathic" simply is medspeak for "We don't know why the hell it's happening." More frequently than not, it seems, idiopathies end up being caused by brain pathologies, and recent studies on this condition point toward the same.

Another term used is primary hypersomnolence; this means the problem is due to its own cute self and not something else going on in the body.

Another typical day.

Hypersomnolence can also occur due to other health conditions, such as cancer, in which case it's known as secondary hypersomnolence. Whatever is happening to me is slow-moving, and most cancers aren't, so I'm not overly concerned about that. As any faithful viewers know, I suspect I may have myotonic dystrophy and am waiting for my DNA results as we speak. This is a genetic neuromuscular condition, and one of its hallmarks is--you guessed it, sports fans, hypersomnolence. But whether or not I have myotonic dystrophy, there's no doubt (and I have scientific evidence, as described below) that I have, indeed, been blessed with hypersomnolence.  Lucky me.

And, yes, yet another typical day.

I've always tended toward sleepiness, particularly having trouble waking and getting out of bed in the mornings and, in recent years, the afternoons and even some evenings. Yet I managed to get going all through school and most of my work years, kicking and screaming all the way. I used to sleep in until 1 or 2 on the weekends and would feel a little guilty for it--but that was nothing compared to what I've experienced since 2006 or 7.

Episode 8: Effexor, Mugwort, and Dream Pillows

N.B. Feel free to skip portions surrounded by [brackets], as these represent tangents and, at times, diatribes.

In Episode 6, I discussed my recent identification of a heretofore "noxious" weed (in my estimation) in my yard. The tenacious thing pops up in all my garden beds and, as much of my lawn is uninitentionally turned over to weeds (because I don't have the energy to work it the way I want to), this monster grows to as high as 4 feet in the "prairie field" behind my house. I have precious little sunlight in my yard, which sits on the northeast-facing slope of an Appalachian mountain. The sun sets early on my house, like 4 p.m. So I know my sunny zones, one of which is a stretch along the northern woods where certain patches enjoy daylong sunlight that flows over the house's roof, past its shadow, and into that narrow strip before my yard ends at the wooded (and wonderfully natural) lot next doors.  Other spots, other than a 20 x 20 patch just in front of the house and before 100-foot spruces block it. This is completely extraneous information, but I do try to describe my setting now and then, since most of The Mary Dell Show, in homage to its precursor (see the Pilot Episode for the history of the show) will be devoted to herbs, plants, mushrooms, and such.  At least I hope so.  Medical problems are cropping up--pun intended--at an alarming rate.  These topics occur to my rambling brain during ramblings in my small, mostly wooded 1/2 acre lot, and sometimes the surrounding woods owned by my neighbors, who don't mind.

Mugwort, photo from Horizon Herbs