[poll] Did your sleep problems occur only after stimulants?

[Bradford]

My background for the question:

In high school I started experiencing chronic fatigue. At that time I could sleep for 10 hours straight without waking up, but felt like I heavy rock throughout the rest of the day, making it hard to function. It got progressively worse, so I got on stimulants (Adderall). Immediately, I started experiencing insomnia, which made sense. I got used to it. While medicated, I would get hyper-focused and wear myself out mentally. I then started experiencing midnight awakenings. I would wake up feeling like I did not sleep at all. This persisted for several months until I finally gave up on Adderall. 5 years off Adderall and I still experience these sleep symptoms. Even small things will cause me to feel like I overexerted myself mentally.

 

[barbc56]

@Bradford

Do you have ADD or ADHD?

If I remember correctly, these drugs work differently on people who have ADD or ADHD than on people who don't have either of these disorders. I will try and find a citation in my files.

I take Nuvegil when needed but it works differently than regular stimulants. It's used for excessive daytime sleepiness. It doesn't disturb my sleep. In fact it sometimes helps as it may keep me awake longer during the day, so I am tired at night. There have been times I've taken Nuvegil and fallen asleep again.Go figure.

It's never given me a lift but I do know it's used as a street drug. It may mean if you don't need Nuvegil, it has an increased stimulating effect, relatively speaking.

Barb