Health anxiety sfi - insomnia

[rfarrell86]

good afternoon

for about a month now I've had trouble sleeping - as of late I have been getting maybe 4 hours of fragmented sleep . when I do sleep i try very vivid dreams like I haven't before and my heart is racing . of course I googled this and sporadic fatal insomnia came up and I match nearly all of the symptoms: insomnia check , racing heart check , teary eyes check . I am admittedly a hypochindriac and before this about 6 months ago I was convinced I had Als. however this time feels much different and all of the symptoms feel very real . I know this disease is rare but I feel for some reason I absolutely have it. please help - I'm only 31 with 2 soon to be 3 little girls. I wish I never found this stupid disease.

[Daedalus]

It's not just rare, it's extremely, extremely, extremely, rare. You're more likely to get hit by lightning on a sunny day than have the sporadic variant.

I think it's about 10 cases in total that have ever been recorded. So what's that 1 in 100 million...!

[Fishmanpa]

I think it's about 10 cases in total that have ever been recorded. So what's that 1 in 100 million...!

7.6 BILLION people in the world. 100 people EVER. AND it's genetic. No... it's so far beyond 1 in 100 million that it would be like finding a ping pong ball in the oceans of the earth.

Positive thoughts

[Daedalus]

7.6 BILLION people in the world. 100 people EVER. AND it's genetic. No... it's so far beyond 1 in 100 million that it would be like finding a ping pong ball in the oceans of the earth.

It's not the inherited version, it's the sporadic version. That's even rarer than the inherited version. (It's only genetic in that it's associated with a spontaneous mutation.)

But yes, I was probably underestimating its rarity.

It's more like diving into the Pacific ocean, and then inadvertently swallowing & choking on the ping pong ball.

[Fishmanpa]

We can agree that this is impossible ;) OP... Really, you stand a much better chance getting hit by lighting 2X!

Positive thoughts and a sleeping pill to help

[rfarrell86]

thank you for the replies fishmanpa and daedalus- I know it's rare it's just before this I never had issues with sleeping then one day and thereon after for now the last 3 weeks ive had major issues with my sleep - which in turn has only increased my anxiety

[rfarrell86]

I posted about a week ago and since then my insomnia has only got worse. I have no had insomia since April 2nd so going on 3 weeks . averaging 3-4 hours a night with (at most) 1-2 hours at a time . I've also developed very watery eyes and a rapid pulse. my anxiety has only increased as I spoke with my mom who also has insomnia but said the length (3 weeks ) and the fact that the little sleep I do get is only 1 hour at a time is concerning . I'm dead convinced I have sporadic fatal insomnia now - I've been told insomnia normally doesn't last this long and from reading previous posts it seems most peoples insomnia lasted days and maybe a week or 2 . doctor doesn't even know what this disease is and said it's my anxiety. however I've never felt this before ? I'm very concerned because I read along with insomnia sfi manifests as watery eyes due to lack of autonomic function . I'm at a loss - any words would be appreciated

---------- Post added at 16:24 ---------- Previous post was at 15:44 ----------

on top of this the sleeps i do get are unusual dreams, very vivid, and i dont feel i go into a deep sleep like i use to. I dont know what else could explain all of these symptoms outside of SFI, literally nothing else matches.

[Fishmanpa]

on top of this the sleeps i do get are unusual dreams, very vivid, and i dont feel i go into a deep sleep like i use to. I dont know what else could explain all of these symptoms outside of SFI, literally nothing else matches.

Anxiety matches perfectly! I'm not a sufferer but I'm going through an extremely stressful and difficult time and my sleeping has been horrendous! The difference is, I recognize it as stress and not some impossibly rare illness.

Positive thoughts

[rfarrell86]

thank you fishmanpa -- my question is can insomnia last this long ? 3 , almost 4 weeks with 2-3 hours of broken sleep? it really freaks me out as i use to be able to sleep whenever, wherever-- boat , plane, heck i could almost fall asleep standing up and this insomnia appeared out of no where

[Daedalus]

The vivid dreams are because you're sleep deprived. It's extremely well documented that when you're not getting enough sleep you go into REM sleep much more quickly, and it's in REM sleep that you dream.

Plus, 3-4 hours - okay, it's not ideal, but parents with young children will survive on those kinds of quantities of sleep for months.

[AMomentofClarity]

Where are you getting that insomnia only lasts a few days or a week or 2? Lots of otherwise healthy people deal with chronic insomnia.
The global prescription sleep aid market is worth $60,000,000,000. Do you think that would be the case if insomnia only lasted a couple of days?

I think you’re using google to find what you want to find that justifies your completely irrational and impossible fears.

[Carys]

Yes, it can last this long.....I posted a thread a couple of weeks ago, after 2-3 weeks of terrible insomnia (it was actually about lorazepam, as I eventually needed it to get any sleep), if you look it up there are some good suggestions on there for techniques to help. However, I would add, if it is that bad I think you should ask the GP to prescribe something for you to break the pattern you are in.

I was getting scared too - but the more scared I got the worse it got.

Here we go.....ignore the first page as its me going on about being worried about lorazepam withdrawl, but was having mostly 4 hours sleep a night, 3 , sometimes less and all broken up ...

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=216373&highlight=lorazepam

You are not the first person to come on here and be scared of this fatal insomnia thing, infact a few people have thoguht they had it - none of them did of course, and you won't either. :)

[Elen]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your thread was merged with another of your threads.

Please when posting on similar topics add it onto your previous post rather than starting a new one.

It is nothing personal it is just to make it easier for people to follow your story and to give you advice as a whole.

Elen

[Pmrr]

I know people who have only been getting a few hours a night for years!

[Kingdawson]

I know people who have only been getting a few hours a night for years!

Same and they are perfectly happy.

[Imeleedi]

A lot of people with SFI on here at the moment given its only been seen 10 times across global medical literature.

[rfarrell86]

Imeleedi, thank you for the response, any advice on how to get out of this hole? i feel everyday im losing my mind, ive never felt this way before and its making my sleep even worse than it already is

---------- Post added at 17:25 ---------- Previous post was at 17:22 ----------

ty you again for the reply daedalus

---------- Post added at 17:26 ---------- Previous post was at 17:25 ----------

ty carys for the reply , im admittedly a hypochondriac, but this is the deepest hole ive been in , probably due to lack of sleep, but my mind keeps telling me i have this disease

[Carys]

Have a read of the thread I posted above - after the first page - there are suggestions for dealing with the insomnia.