I found out why I'm always feeling drunk/fatigued and I feel dumb for not finding out sooner
It's because I'm sleeping.
I know that sounds weird to some, but I've eliminated everything else.
This weird, general-anesthesia feeling fatigue started after I was treated for something that kept me awake, so I started sleeping normally.
When I wake up, the feeling is EXACTLY like coming to from general anesthesia. I've been under before and you don't forget that feeling. I'll wake up clammy, feeling sick, retching. I don't feel normal until around 8 pm.
By 4 AM I am buzzing. My physical movement speed is no longer sluggish and my thoughts are much faster. I'm also way more productive.
Then even though I don't feel tired, I lie down on my bed because sitting up too long hurts my back. When I get too relaxed that's when I fall asleep and feel fucked up. 3 hours, 8 hours. Doesn't matter, if I hit deep sleep even for one cycle, that's enough to flood my brain with general-anesthesia-like toxins it seems.
16 replies
IANAMD but you appear to be describing, in vivid detail, the symptoms of severe sleep apnea AND the lingering effects of deep hypoxic events, which are dangerous. Have you consulted a doctor about this? Sleep apnea is very common and treatable.
That does not sound like my experience with sleeping.
You sleep and wake up refreshed?
Yeah, in fact that is one of the main reasons I like sleep (the other reason is that sometimes in dreams I get to be a pirate or fight ninjas and shit).
It you're waking up after any amount of time feeling clamny, sick, or like you've just been drugged, I'm gonna say that's not normal and you should get it checked out by a medical professional.
My glymphatic system is inverted. When I sleep, my brain builds up toxins. When I'm awake...that glymphatic system activates, flushing the toxins out.
I think my brain produces other toxins during sleep than just adenosine, since caffeine inhibits adenosine, the toxins my brain produces during sleep are unaffected by caffeine, which is why no amount of caffeine alleviates the "hangover." I must be awake for at least 8 hours to feel normal.
That would put the approximate half-life of the toxin at ~2ish hours. Which, interestingly, is around the same as some general anesthetics!
No, it's not, not without some serious mechanical assistance that doesn't currently exist because nobody has ever needed their glymphatic system reversed. The reasons are the same as the reasons that osmosis action doesn't spontaneously "invert" - your glymphatic system works across a concentration gradient, just like osmosis, so to reverse that you need external pressure to force the compounds out of your blood and back into your brain. Not happening in your body, I guarantee it.
You might have sleep apnoea, or you might have some external factor that's disrupting your sleep, but you should definitely get it checked out by an actual doctor.
Sounds like a bummer. Is that a clinical diagnosis?
Some acquired mutation perhaps. I don't think there's a name for it yet, but there are some rare cases where people haven't slept at all for years. Thai Ngoc is one example.
You really should see a doctor about this.
If you can't afford one out of pocket and/or have no insurance, see if you can find a free clinic in your area.
I'm no doctor, but it does sound like Apnea. You can do diy diagnostics by recording your sleep on audio. Please do it
It's not sleep apnea. that wouldnt explain why i feel very energetic at 5 am but if i sleep i wake up feeling hungover for 8 hours.
I reckon my glymphatic system stops when I sleep and then activates when I'm awake. Toxins literally build up in my brain when I sleep.
You know what causes your glymphatic system to stop working? Sleep apnea!
not sleep apnea. ive had someone watch me sleep too. that wouldnt explain why i feel awake at 8 pm right up until i fall asleep. if my glymphatic system wasn't active I'd feel tired always, and the tiredness would worsen the longer im up.
No, that can still all happen with sleep apnea
You have no reason to insist that all the observations you are lumping together are actually related by cause.
You don't know that. Get looked at for sleep apnea, wear the thing for a few nights and report back with results