Hypersomnia and Insomnia

I have hypersomnia caused by hypothyroidism. An insomniac with hypersomnia is the strangest thing. It is confusing and frustrating. Having trouble staying awake and being unable to sleep at the same time seems impossible, but that is my current situation – I have hypersomnia and insomnia.

What is hypersomnia?

Hypersomnia is struggling to stay awake. Dozing off in the middle of the day is a symptom. This happens frequently, and it is uncontrollable.¹

I have dealt with this off and on for about a year now, and an episode of hypersomnia is extremely annoying. It makes it hard to get things done. My hypersomnia is caused by hypothyroidism and should resolve once my thyroid levels are within a normal range again. This is trial and error, so it’s a process.

How hypersomnia affects my day

I have trouble staying awake during the day. I find myself dozing off frequently, and this has a huge impact on my productivity. My days were quite long and I struggled with productivity before, but this makes it even worse.

When I doze off, I only sleep for a few minutes. It’s not common for me to sleep for more than 10 minutes at a time when I fall asleep during the day, and I wake up feeling even more tired. Short naps have never done anything other than anger me. Naps are not refreshing when you have hypersomnia and this worsens fatigue.

Having both hypersomnia and insomnia

I tend to doze off during the day, but I cannot sleep for long when I do. When I go to bed at night, I am suddenly wide awake and have trouble going to sleep. Despite having even more fatigue than usual, I still struggle to stay asleep.

I spend my days falling asleep many times but sleeping for only a few minutes each time. I spend my nights trying to fall asleep and stay asleep. Dealing with hypersomnia during the day and insomnia at night is exhausting.

Dealing with fatigue

The fatigue is unreal. I have spent decades dealing with fatigue caused by insomnia but this is much worse. It’s the worst of my fatigue caused by insomnia and then a little more on an almost daily basis. I am exhausted all the time.

I struggle to function most days. My productivity has been impacted quite a bit, and this is problematic. I have tried coffee, and this caused more problems than it solved. It did help me stay awake but didn’t get rid of the fatigue. It also made it harder to fall asleep at night.

I find myself struggling to make it through each day.

Coping with hypersomnia and insomnia

I feel like I am simply surviving some days. The fatigue is unreal. The exhaustion makes it difficult to function and get things done. It takes a whole lot of energy to stay awake, and all that energy being expended only makes me more tired.

My method of coping is optimism. I am optimistic that, once my thyroid levels are within the correct range, this will cure the hypersomnia and I can go back to dealing with insomnia by itself. That’s enough of a struggle for me.

Have you ever dealt with hypersomnia? Have you dealt with both hypersomnia and insomnia at once? How did you cope? I would love to hear about your experience.