Sporadic Fatal Insomnia So Scared

[neptune296]

Hi everyone I've been having a really really hard time lately with my health anxiety. I'm a 22 year old young man and all my life I've suffered from intermittent anxiety usually revolving around a symptom I’m experiencing.

This time its insomnia. Over the past few months I noticed I’ve been having trouble sleeping. It seemed to get worse lately though it might be just my anxiety making it worse.

This past few weeks I’ve had the hardest time falling and staying asleep some nights i get four hours sleep others I spend the whole night in a half awake state. I’m so tired and terrified that I have Sporadic Fatal Insomnia. I just don’t want to die that way. Its a terrible way to go, losing your mind and the ability to sleep ending in dementia and coma.

I don’t know what to do I just need some advice and reassurance. I know its so so so rare. Has anyone else worried about this? I don’t know what to do I’m so scared.

[Worrier97]

Sorry to hear you're having trouble. I have been in the same situation, struggling through the day on less than four hours sleep and terrified I have developed fatal insomnia.

What you have to remember is that this type of insomnia is incredibly incredibly rare and the chances of you having it are pretty much non existent.

Millions of people around the world do however suffer from the regular kind of insomnia, which is exactly what you have. People with insomnia can go night after night with absolutely no sleep whatsoever. Try to relax and accept that you are just experiencing regular insomnia (which is very common) and you will find that sleep will come eventually. :)

[anthrokid]

There have been studies with people who have stayed awake CONTINUALLY for up to 14 days. Whilst these people experience some negative side effects due to sleep deprivation (e.g. moodiness, hallucinations, memory problems), all have returned to normal functioning after sleeping again. Whilst it isn't ideal to be sleeping 4 hours a night, you are still getting SOME sleep which is better than nothing.

Also, to my knowledge, sporadic fatal insomnia is an inherited autosomal dominant disease, which means one of your parents would have to have had it for you to have it. Furthermore, it is INCREDIBLY rare. There are less than 50 families in the world known to carry the gene for this condition. So just to reiterate - peaking from a scientific perspective, if no one in your family has suffered from this condition, you will NOT have it. It is inherited, and dominant, so like I said, one of your parents MUST have the condition for you to have the condition.

Have you spoken to a doctor about your insomnia? Heaps of things can cause insomnia, and it could be something very simple such as a certain vitamin deficiency.

[swanick15]

Just as an add on to what anthrokid says out of a population of 7,000,000,000 on this planet, since 2005, 9 cases have been diagnosed with this, I don't even know how to begin calculating the odds but this is such a rare disease I wouldn't even worry about it in the slightest.

[Ashkan0_0]

hi neptune296. i hope u be ok now.i have the same problem as you and i wanted to know your progress if you are still on this site please leave a message thank you

[ServerError]

Oh, this disease. If I'd never started reassurance-seeking on the web, I'd never have heard of it. It's so rare as to barely exist but it speaks to that part of me that knows ghosts don't exist and yet still gets chills in the dark.