Microsleeps

[SpaceYam]

Ever had one?

I had one last week... Was driving to work, on this particular road where it begins to queue up so I was doing about 40km/h about 20 metres behind this other guy, next thing I know I'm about 5 metres, he's just about to stop so my first instinct is to slam on the brakes hard enough to make the car turn to the right a little bit . I literally do not recall the period of time in which I caught up that 15 metres difference. I don't remember my eyes closing either.

I'm pretty sure it's not the first time I've had a microsleep either. A few years back on the way to TAFE I had had a late night and on this particular road I was fine, next thing I had overshot a corner and didn't realise how - fortunately I recovered quickly and didn't get into any grief. Scared the crap out of me though! I'm sure I've had more than a few on the freeway.

It seems there's not much I can do about it though? Caffeine doesn't wake me up, it just sometimes keeps me up so a coke in morning (I hate coffee) is no use to me. I also seem to be incredibly tired no matter how much sleep I get - 6 hours, 8 hours or 10 hours. I don't particularly consider myself a danger on the road as I make an effort to make sure I am completely aware of everything around me and ahead on me, and yet all that can be undone with half a second of involuntary unconsciousness...

Anyone else had a similar experience?

 

[Bax]

Can't say I've ever fallen asleep. The only time I did go close I pulled over and took a nap.

You may not consider yourself a danger, and in all honesty your not, but when your not in control of the car I think you've been quite lucky.

Do you start feeling tired or do they just come on randomly? If your feeling tired maybe pull over and have a 15 minute power nap or something. 15 minutes late or dead, your choice.

 

[SpaceYam]

You don't start feeling tired, it just happens. I feel tired all the time, morning, day or night. I think you missed this bit:

and yet all that can be undone with half a second of involuntary unconsciousness...

 

[Shortstuff]

Time to go to the Doctor? Definitely sounds wrong to me. I went to the Docs tired all the time (plus some other symptoms) and it turned out I have diabetes!

Although you are safe 99.9% of the time, you have probably realised that the 5m you had to spare could so easily have been 0m if the microsleep had been just the tiniest bit longer!:sleeping:

 

[SpaceYam]

I've been to the doctor, they say there's nothing wrong with me and that I just need to eat healthier.

 

[BLACKVZSV8]

Swap your Enya cds for metallica.

 

[Bax]

I'd be going back to the dr until they find something.

Is it only when your driving? And no I didn't miss it..

Not too sure what your options are but the Dr may have to run some more tests I'd say. I don't think any other measures will help you.

 

[Demons1964]

Definitely get it checked out by a specialist.

A mate of mine suffered from narcolepsy, which is probably the extreme form of what you describe. That's where you go into deep sleep (not just a microsleep) at the drop of a hat. Wrote his car off once, was lucky to survive and doesn't drive anymore.

But my untrained medical opinion is that you could have sleep apnea. That's where you basically stop breathing for a short period of time while you're sleeping. It can happen hundreds of times during the night and disrupt your sleep cycles. That might explain why you're tired no matter how long you sleep for because you're not getting a "quality" sleep. Do you snore much? For those who have sleep apnea bad, it can be a life and death problem so they're on positive pressure ventilators while they're asleep to keep their airways open.

Go and see a doctor to get a referral to a specialist, you've had a couple of close calls already - time to heed the warning signs. From what little I know about it they analyse your sleep patterns during an overnight stay.

 

[SpaceYam]

I can't say I feel like I'm having breathing problems when I sleep - once I drop off I seem to sleep pretty well. Usually if I have a blocked nose or something it wakes me up straight away when I can't breathe but unless the sleep apnea is an unconscious thing I don't think that's it.

My diet is still pretty rubbish though but it's improving... But considering I've been like this for years (a good 15 years as far as I can remember... back to early primary school years) then perhaps it would be a good idea to have a proper test of my sleep patterns.

 

[Shifty1]

ive done this before.. was on hume hwy (surrounded by trucks, SCARY) then a few seconds later i had sailed thru a set of lights (ill presume they were green or i ouldnt be here) and u to the next set.. scared me tht night...