Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with sleepy

I'm so tired, I haven't sleep a wink. I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink...

punkbitch — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 05:30:40 -0800

I didn't sleep a wink last night. Now the day is beginning. How can I stay fresh? No, I don't mean summer's eve... I was out until late and then started shaving the giant beard I'd grown and honest to god that took over an hour (with a hideous razor). Suddenly I find its daytime. I have to go to work in about an hour and then class later this evening. Any great remedies to cure tiredness? Obviously sleep is out of the question and while I love coffee, I think I've been OD-ing on it lately and would prefer something less jittery. I want something that makes me feel...like I slept! sigh.

Ah, also, I live in Buenos Aires (in case you had an American, British, Aussie etc.. product to recommend).

Finally, since I'm rambling, whatever you recommend obviously doesn't have to be a 'product.' Yoga? Breathing? Ice water? ugh... so...tired...

I'm dead-dog tired -- in my dreams.

Avenger — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:25:12 -0800

Sometimes I get utterly, mind-numbingly sleepy and exhausted ... in my dreams. Whats going on? I've asked around and so far I seem to be the only person who experiences exhaustion in his dreams. It goes something like this: About once or twice a week I'll be having a normal dream (.i.e, I'm a naked astronaut piloting a chicken to Mars with Abraham Lincoln as my co-pilot, etc.) but suddenly, maybe 2/3 of the way through the dream, I'll be overcome with total exhaustion within the dream itself. At that point, I'll usually stop what I'm doing and try to find some place to "sleep" (ironically enough) within my dream. I just wont have enough energy for the dream to continue. I can't stress enough that when I feel this way, the urge to "sleep" within my dreams is absolutely overpowering. I also wake up tired and exhausted when I have these little episodes.

I'm not sure if I should be concerned about this, but it seems a little disturbing to me that I should get exhausted at, ostensibly, the very moment that my body and mind are supposed to be recharging. It's also a little psychologically disturbing when my dreams get interrupted by this "Meta-Narcolepsy" (a phrase I coined) -- it makes me feel as if my brain isn't working quite right -- especially since this happens fairly often.

Does anyone else have any suggestions on what this might be, insight on how to avoid it, advice on sleeping better, etc?

Sleepy characters?

kepano — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:22:15 -0800

What fictional characters or real people would you say are defined by their sleepiness or tiredness? My Google-fu was failing me. Is there an obvious source for this kind of information?

What's wrong with my brother?

Tullyogallaghan — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 18:14:11 -0800

I know this is not a medical board but 'just speaking in terms of human experience - my brotherr is 77, an ex-ultra marathoner, ex space shuttle designer now fallen on hard times, health-wise and emotionally. He sleeps all day, is up all night, has dizzy spells and is always angry and swears constantly at his wife. They lead a very isolated, survivalist existance. He hasn't been to the doctor in 20+ years and won't go now. He used to be a health food nut, ran in 50 marathons but had double knee replacement 10 years ago and 'never recovered, emotionally, in that he lost his old running lifestyle after the surgeries. Any ideas? He's also very forgetful. Thanks for any help.

Irn-Bru makes me sleepy. Any idea why?

dcbarker — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:07:03 -0800

Irn-Bru makes me sleepy. Any idea why? I'm Scottish and like many other Scots, I was raised on Irn-Bru. If you're not familiar with it, it's a bright orange carbonated drink produced in Scotland since 1901. It outsells every other carbonated drink in many areas of Scotland and is the third most popular soft-drink in the UK.

The problem is... I've started to notice over the last 2 or so years that about 20 minutes after drinking it I get very drowsy, often to the point of falling asleep. I wake up later feeling drained and exhausted.

This never used to happen, and doesn't happen with any other soft-drink. I prefer Diet Irn-Bru (the sugar free variety) but this seems to happen with both diet and regular. I've asked many friends but can't find anyone else affected in this way.

Actually, nothing I drink or eat does this to me at all. Only Irn-Bru. And the effect is so strong, I usually just slump over on my bed and snooze for a while. It's not a normal sleep. It's a drowsy, drained and sluggish sleep. It's kinda horrible actually and leaves me feeling pretty crap.

I don't drink it as much as I used to because of this, but I really like it. I'd like to be able to drink it more often. The question isn't "how do I stop the happening?" (the obvious answer to that is to stop drinking it). I just want to know why it happens in the first place.

Does anyone have any insight into why this might be happening? Bonus points of a definitive answer!

Thanks MeFites! :)

My left eye is closing and it looks weird.

eve28 — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 03:45:46 -0800

HELP MY EYE!!!! I hope that got your attention, because I have a long explanation about my LEFT EYE.....It has a serious problem where it is constantly closing and it is basically half the size of my right eye. I have no idea what it is and need any information that there is out there. Sorry it's so long :( My left eye started doing this weird thing last year. It started just closing on its own; it comes and goes and lasts for a short moment to a few minutes at most.

It's almost like it gets sleepy. I have big eyes so when it begins to close it is very noticeable; more than half the size of my eye is lost. On Christmas eve I found an eye doctor who was awesome enough to give me a free eye exam. He said there was no growth on my brain, my eyes are the same size, I have good vision, maybe lite reading glasses, but that was it. He also said that I should try to reduce stress. I did. I moved to a great place, found an awesome job. Now my eye is flipping out again.

I'm really worried because it has become worse, much worse; It is closing more and more and now I have started feeling this strange pressure in my head (earlier today and all I wanted to do was pass out.) I had to force my self from not sleeping. The pressure will sometimes turn into this shooting pain from the right side of my brain, and my left eye closes and the right side of my mouth clenches.

I really have no idea what it may be, but I am curious to know if anyone may have some sort of an idea. I do not have health insurance, so I have to wait until the free clinic can fit me in and than refer me to a specialist. But until than I need to know what it may possibly be, any ideas at all. Has anyone ever had this issue.?

How can I make myself feel energized?

tastybrains — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 12:07:48 -0800

How can I get myself to feel refreshed & energized after feeling run-down for awhile? I constantly feel overwhelmed with life and thus stressed out and burnt out. I'm looking for advice on how to feel energetic again. I feel sleepy, somewhat sick, and run-down most of the time. I have trouble concentrating a lot, and can fall asleep at the drop of a hat. On the weekends when I don't have an alarm to wake me, I can sleep 14 hours no problem.

I'm in my mid-twenties, working full-time, married, living with my husband & two cats. I have been dealing with depression/anxiety (currently being treated with Wellbutrin and Celexa) and am also working to lose a lot of weight. I feel like I'm too young to feel so stressed and tired.

My diet has been pretty darn good as of late, as I've been losing about 1 lb per week - I've cut out almost all sugar that isn't naturally occurring in fruit and have been getting plenty of whole grains, vegetables, legumes, lean protein, and "good" fats (olive oil, etc). I've been exercising about 4 times a week for about 30 minutes and breaking a sweat.

I thought these things would "fix" me, but I still feel like crap almost all of the time. I still have a lot of weight left to lose, but I don't feel like extra weight alone should make me feel so BAD.

This has gone on for more than a year. I have been working with my doctors who basically have no answer except "depression", but honestly since being on the meds, I don't feel depressed anymore. I feel motivated, and there are so many things I want to do, but I just don't have the physical energy.

My doctor has done tons of blood tests and follow up blood tests. She has tested for lyme, lupus, and a gazillion other things. The only thing that is abnormal is my C-Reactive Protein and another inflammation marker are elevated, but they cannot figure out the cause of that.

I don't know what to do to feel better, but I'm looking for advice as to things I myself can do. I know exercise is important and has in the past made me feel better, but lately it just makes me feel even more run-down.

I was thinking I could take a week off in the spring to try & get my energy back, but I don't know how. Most likely if I took a vacation or a long weekend, I would take naps & read, which is all I ever seem to feel like doing.

Help?

Sleepy European wants to stay awake in Super Bowl

pettins — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 12:07:51 -0800

How can I stay awake during the Super Bowl tonight, whilst watching in Europe (game kicks off just before midnight our time) Its not that I don't enjoy the game, its just that it lasts a long time and is during the wee small hours of the morning.

Any tips to staying awake - Maybe monitoring stats or something similar?

I want to make it through at least till the main part of the game is over - I guess this is typically some time in the final quarter as opposed to worrying about seeing the post match frenzy!

Thanks for any tips.

PS. I will be by myself as my wife does not share this passion and the kids have school tomorrow!

How does thinking of dreams cause sleepiness?

daisyace — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 09:57:24 -0800

When I wake up, I lie in bed and think. Gradually, I get more awake until I'm ready to get up. But, if I think about the dreams I just had, I get overpoweringly sleepy again. Why is it that thinking about anything else helps me to continue gently waking up, but thinking about dreams puts me immediately and irresistibly back to sleep? Of course, if I start thinking about stressful things like work or things on my to-do list, it makes sense that I get more awake, but I've been experimenting with this, and I get more awake even if I think completely non-stressful thoughts, as long as they're not my dreams. Also, if I think about dreams later in the day, I don't get noticeably sleepy.

If my experience isn't just an oddity, I'm interested in what biological mechanisms or other principles could explain how thinking about dreams causes sleepiness.

Staying Awake

Johnny Assay — Thu, 18 Mar 2004 13:57:49 -0800

Fun with narcolepsy: how can I keep from falling asleep during talks? [more inside] I'm currently a graduate student, and as such I often attend talks, lectures, and colloquia in the mid- to late-afternoon. Problem is, unless the speaker is incredibly scintillating (which most are not), I find myself drifting off to sleep within ten minutes of the lights going down and the first transparency being displayed. This happens regardless of whether I've gotten my eight hours the night before or not. More often than not, drinking a cup of coffee right before the talk will have no effect. And unless there's something I'm subconsciously repressing, I'm not under much stress at all.

How can I break myself of this habit? It's starting to become somewhat embarassing.

Fighting Zoloft drowsiness

ArsncHeart — Wed, 18 Feb 2004 13:54:22 -0800

I take Zoloft (50mg/day) and it's making me drowsy - I'm sleepy during the workday and ready to go to bed by 9:30. I already drink a moderate amount of caffinated beverages, and I work out three to four times a week. What can I do to combat the drowsiness?