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Body Integrity Identity Disorder and sleep patterns
Written by Sean on Tuesday, July 22, 2008
I was visiting my GP earlier today to discuss a problem I’ve had with sleeping these last few weeks. As I was decribing the issue, and the history, he pointed out something that made a whole lot of sense. Lately, I’ve been sweating a lot in my sleep. Way more than usual. I’ve also been having some nightmares. I saw the doc about trying to stop the amount of sweat I’m producing at night.
It’s ridiculous, really. This is Winter, even with a single sheet on and nothing else, I soak the bed with sweat. I’m always running somewhat "hot" at night and I often sweat. But it’s not been this bad that I can remember.
My nightmares have been regular as well in this recent period. I can *remember* at least one every night. They aren’t the kind to make you sit up in bed suddenly, screaming in terror, but they are bad dreams all right. Funny thing though, when I describe these nightmares to people, they tell me that they *would* sit up in bed screaming, yet, for me, they aren’t "that bad". Perhaps it’s a sign of something. Dream analyst, enjoy the feast ;)
In any case, the doc has prescribed me some sleeping pills for a week, to see if they can knock me into deeper sleep than dream sleep. He suspects that my body is sweating that much because of the levels of stress my dreams induce. Makes sense to me.
When I spoke about the fact that I always need a lot of sleep (8 or 9 hours to be functional), coupled with me being so hot at night, the doc said that it is possible that I’ve always had some pretty bad/agitated dreams. This would explain why I need a lot of sleep, and rarely wake up rested.
Last year, I was writing about how Body Integrity Identity Disorder even invaded my dreams. It might be more true than I realised when I wrote that.
I’m tired of this incessant attack on me (pun intended). BIID isn’t leaving me alone. It would be good if I could find some relief from it.
Tags: BIID, Body Integrity Identity Disorder, Dreams, Nightmares, Sleep
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3 Comments
2 On 23 July, 2008, Sean said:
Yeah Brice, it’s pretty much it. But don’t forget that there’s a tiny pebble in the ill-fitting shoe as well…
Yesterday my GP took me off clonazepam (anxiolytic) cold turkey, since I’ve been taking it for more than four years. I had a night of sleeplessness, nightmares, and feeling hot. It reminded me of what you’d written. I’m hoping it’s just withdrawl symptoms and it will go away. Yesterday also happened to be my first day out of a wheelchair in a while, so maybe it’s that. Either way I feel terrible this morning.
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1 On 23 July, 2008, Brice said:
As I read this and the one referred to, the thought came to me, this is like having to wear really ill-fitting shoes 24/7.