REM Fragmentation Disorder
I've had this for over ten years now. I used to have insomnia as a kid, but it's fallen apart into this.
I had a sleep study when I was 16, and the only advice they gave then was a lamp to help me get up in the morning.
My results at the time showed I was having conscious and unconscious wakeups throughout the night. My stages were normal until I entered REM. I had 12 minutes before that stage collapsed and I was kicked back out. According to them, I either woke up, or moved backwards to a different stage, causing waking brain activity while I still slept.
I kept trying to find answers to fix it but nobody had any.
I had another sleep test to update my results last year. They confirmed it was still happening, and had progressed.
I had a third to check for narcolepsy. It was negative.
When my brain scans showed normal, I was referred to a psychologist. She tried, but nothing substantial was showing. I now develop panic attacks when I'm told "Try sleep hygiene" (I do. I have. It's useless. And at this point it feels dismissive)
My regular therapist hesitates medication. Normal sleep medicine helps you fall asleep, but not stay asleep. I had a poor reaction to it. He also mentioned one to keep me asleep, but with my arousals, there's a risk it'll keep my body asleep, but not relax my brain. Aka... now I'm a sleep walker.
So no go.
I'm just tired of being tired. I don't even know if I want to keep fighting my disorder. I take medicine to help me stay energized throughout the day. I can only do the bare minimum all the time, so it's hard to go out and have fun, or try harder at work.
I fall asleep easily, but my bad nights have me waking up 4-5 times in the same HOUR.
Idk what to do, I just need to somewhere to vent about it.