I need to know... is this insomnia?

Question

well... according to every doctor i've ever had i have a stunning case of insomnia... but now upon further analyizing i'm really starting to wonder if it's insomnia or something else..

it takes alot ot put me to sleep, and i sleep irregularly, and falling asleep for me can take hours... common signs of insomnia..

but even with drugs, my mind just seems to naturally fight going to sleep... i can be ready to pass out within seconds like a doctor just gave me anesthesia... but my mind just won't shut off, it wont' let me rest...

is this actually insomnia, or is this something else? i don't just have the inablility to sleep, my mind is literally preventing it.

Answer 1

sounds like CFS:

    * Fatigue: Unexplained, persistent, or recurrent physical and mental fatigue/exhaustion that substantially reduces activity levels and is not relieved (or not completely relieved) by rest.

    * Post-exertional malaise: An inappropriate loss of physical and mental stamina, rapid muscular and cognitive fatigability, post exertional malaise and/or fatigue and/or pain and a tendency for other associated symptoms to worsen with a pathologically slow recovery period of usually 24 hours or longer. According to the authors of the Canadian clinical working definition of ME/CFS,[5] the malaise that follows exertion is often reported to be similar to the generalized pain, discomfort and fatigue associated with the acute phase of influenza. Although common in CFS, this may not be the most severe symptom in the individual case, where other symptoms (such as headaches, neurocognitive difficulties, pain and sleep disturbances) can dominate.

    * Sleep dysfunction: "Unrefreshing" sleep/rest, poor sleep quantity, insomnia or rhythm disturbances. A study found that most CFS patients have clinically significant sleep abnormalities that are potentially treatable.[25] Several studies suggest that while CFS patients may experience altered sleep architecture (such as reduced sleep efficiency, a reduction of deep sleep, prolonged sleep initiation, and alpha-wave intrusion during deep sleep) and mildly disordered breathing, overall sleep dysfunction does not seem to be a critical or causative factor in CFS.[26][27][28][29] Sleep may present with vivid disturbing dreams, and exhaustion can worsen sleep dysfunction.[30]

    * Pain: Pain is often widespread and migratory in nature, including a significant degree of muscle pain and/or joint pain (without joint swelling or redness, and may be transitory). Other symptoms include headaches (particularly of a new type, severity, or duration), lymph node pain, sore throats, and abdominal pain (often as a symptom of irritable bowel syndrome). Patients also report bone, eye and testicular pain, nerve pain and painful skin sensitivity. Chest pain has been attributed variously to microvascular disease or cardiomyopathy by researchers, and many patients also report painful tachycardia. A systematic review assessing the studies of chronic pain in CFS found that although the exact prevalence is unknown, it is strongly disabling in patients, but unrelated to depression.[31]

    * Neurological/cognitive manifestations: Common occurrences include confusion, forgetfulness, mental fatigue/brain fog, impairment of concentration and short-term memory consolidation, disorientation, difficulty with information processing, categorizing and word retrieval, and perceptual and sensory disturbances (e.g. spatial instability and disorientation and inability to focus vision), ataxia (unsteady and clumsy motion of the limbs or torso), muscle weakness and "twitches". There may also be cognitive or sensory overload (e.g. photophobia and hypersensitivity to noise and/or emotional overload, which may lead to "crash" periods and/or anxiety). A review of research relating to the neuropsychological functioning in CFS was published in 2001 and found that slowed processing speed, impaired working memory and poor learning of information are the most prominent features of cognitive dysfunctioning in patients with CFS, which couldn't be accounted solely by the severity of the depression and anxiety.[32]

    * Autonomic manifestations: Common occurrences include orthostatic intolerance, neurally mediated hypotension (NMH), postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), delayed postural hypotension, lightheadedness, extreme pallor, nausea and irritable bowel syndrome, urinary frequency and bladder dysfunction, palpitations with or without cardiac arrhythmias, and exertional dyspnea (perceived difficulty breathing or pain on breathing).

    * Neuroendocrine manifestations: Common occurrences include poor temperature control or loss of thermostatic stability, subnormal body temperature and marked daily fluctuation, sweating episodes, recurrent feelings of feverishness and cold extremities, intolerance of extremes of heat and cold, digestive disturbances[33] and/or marked weight change - anorexia or abnormal appetite, loss of adaptability and worsening of symptoms with stress.

    * Immune manifestations: Common occurrences include tender lymph nodes, recurrent sore throat, recurrent flu-like symptoms, general malaise, new sensitivities to food and/or medications and/or chemicals (which may complicate treatment). At least one study has confirmed that most CFS patients reduce or cease alcohol intake, mostly due to personal experience of worsening symptoms[34] (although the cause of this is unknown and may not be strictly "immunological" as implied by the symptom list).