Same

I agree with #33.

Setting multiple alarm clocks wasn't my solution for curing hypersomnia. One of the OP's complaints was that he couldn't wake up in time for class. I've found that setting two or three alarms at close intervals will wake me up better than one alone. It doesn't make me any less tired during the day, but I can at least get out of bed. There are varying intensities of most diseases. Maybe I am only a moderate hypersomniac, but hypersomnia is, for me, not a disease, but rather a symptom of my depression. I deal with both. I have to.

Oh, ok. I was talking here about the disease called hypersomnia, not about hypersomnia as a response to a medication, or as a symptom to another disease. Depression very often causes hypersomnia, that's why the really few people who suffer from hypersomnia are most of the time diagnosed with depression and treated with antidepressent medication. In the case of depression, of course, a lot is in the head (although depression has a big physiological compound too), and it's true you really have to fight it and make everything you can, because when treated, and after a while, the symptoms will disappear. With hypersomnia (the disease, not the symptoms), you can fight all you want, the tiredness will not disappear, and it's really, really difficult to function normally, even if you manage to wake up (which you can, of course. The problem is not waking up (very difficult, though) or falling asleep (which you do abnormaly quickly when hypersomniac), it's coping with the extrem tiredness all day long :(

It's really strange the way doctors sometimes think. At least where I'm being treated, hypersomnia is given as a diagnosis in the last resort, because it's what's called a "garbage sickness", they give you this diagnosis when everything else has been ruled out. For my case, doctors were so sure it was depression they didn't even bother making blood exams. Consequence : I, too, had pernicious anemia, but it was not showing in the blood (blood cells are anormally big in the case of pernicious anemia, mine were perfectly normal), although my level of B12 was somewhere between 75 and 85... I then got what's called a tetrapyramidal syndrome, which, basically, means that the peripherical nervous system is degenerating (B12 is involved in the growing and maintaining of nerve cells). I could have died. Luckily, I was hospitalized and given the proper medication before any irreversible arm was done, but it's probably what triggered my hypersomnia. Sleep apnea, as well as restless leg syndrome, can also cause tiredness. Actually, a whole lot of problems can cause tiredness. I wish the doctors were really more involved in what they are doing, before giving out irrelevant medication. BTW, antidepressents which work as serotoninergic (Prozac, for example) are totally useless in the treatment of hypersomnia. (and yes, I know quite a lot about the disease and the treatments, I've been sick for 2 years and a half. Feel free to contact me by PM if you have any question. It's really hard to have a sickness no one cares about, even the doctors...)

Thanks for the info, I'll take that into consideration. I had a couple blood tests done, and I'm thinking that would have seen a B12 deficiency if there was one. I've been taking multivitamins more often lately as well just to try to cover any other bases, since it cant hurt :P I've only been on the Ritalin for a month now, and will probably try a little higher dosage to see what it does. So I may look into other possible treatments if this doesnt help as much as I'm hoping it will. I had a sleep study (mentioned in an earlier post), and it showed that I didnt have sleep apnea. I noticed after the test that I'd get startled awake from not being able to breath just before falling asleep. I talked to my neurologist about it and he said it was nothing to worry about and that they did see that on the test. It has only happened like 4 or 5 times, so I didnt think it was an issue unless it persisted while I was asleep. And a little bit of humor out of this situation: I just got back from NY visiting a HS 'friend' for a week. At least 5 of the nights she said that I would start mumbling things only 15 minutes after we went to bed. Seeing as most people dont get to sleep in this time, yet I can get into REM sleep in nearly this period of time, I am apparently very prone to talking in my sleep and someone else witnessing it. I'm pretty sure one of the nights I said something in the lines of "No Jesus, I dont like spicy foods", but I'm not certain. LMAO Apparently us hypersomniacs are very entertaining to sleep with.

Thanks for the info. Yeah, the prozac was for the "depression" so it didnt work. I'll look into the B12 thing, and just mentioning that I had blood tests and yours didnt show there makes me curious as well. I'll surely keep up with the vitamins as well and if I see an improvement in general (not just after taking the uppers :P) I'll at least have an idea what its from. You all have been surprisingly helpful in a very short period of time. Really glad I posted this. :)

Thanks ^^ For the B12, the anemia was shown by the really low B12 count, but my blood cells hadn't grown bigger, so the doctors said "no, it's not pernicious anemia, B12 is really low but apparently your organism can cope with it". I took some B12 pills, but it didn't do any good. Later, they discovered I have a genetic disease and my body can't assimilate B12 by the stomach, I have to get injections. So now I do injections every three months, but that's ok, my B12 has returned back to normal. Things you should check too, as someone said, is celiac disease. A blood test can rule that out, but it's not always efficient, sometimes giving false positive or false negative, but if you do a gastroscopy, the doctor can take some cells from your stomach and analyse them, and normally it should tell if you have celiac disease or not. I hope not, because celiac disease is extremely uncool. I had to test eating like the people who have celiac disease for two months, just to see if I would get better, and that means you can't eat pastas, you can't eat bread, you can't eat pizzas, you can't eat cookies, etc. etc., unless they are made with special flour. I hope you'll get a working treatment and you'll get better !!!

Ouch, that would suck, because I work at a Papa Johns. lol. Thanks again for the extra info, I'll keep it in mind. I dont think I've had any life threatening episodes or whatever to indicate this, but its good to know none the less. It sucks just going to a doctor and just expecting what he says to be the most informed opinion.