Does anyone else fall asleep during the day without realising

[JaneLewis50]

One minute I'm wide awake and then my eyes are drooping and I'm fast asleep. Often I don't even realise I'm falling asleep. Somedays, embarrassingly, I even nod off holding a cup of tea and wake up with tea soaking through my trousers looking like I've wet myself 🤣 Don't know if it's my age. But it has gotten worse since I've had pulmonary hypertension. Just wondering if anyone else is like this.

[Taviterry]

I lead an active life, and sometimes in the early evening when I'm using my desktop PC I find my head drooping towards the keyboard before I return to full wakefulness. And I've learned to record TV programmes in case I nod off when watching one. I don't attribute this to my condition or medication, just that I'm far more active than most people of my age. (Yesterday I spent five hours, partly in a muddy ditch, repairing a boardwalk and returned home across town at the start of the so-called rush-hour.)

[PinkKizzie in reply to Taviterry]

Hi Taviterry, I'm a poor sleeper and I'm active and I find I nod off while watching television so I record programs too. When I was young and at school I used to look at my Grandpa having an afternoon nap in his chair and would think 'how can anyone sleep during the day' but now I do it myself!

[Taviterry in reply to PinkKizzie]

Many people - including "experts" - believe that a 20 to 30 minute nap in the afternoon is a "Good Thing". And at my age perhaps a deserved indulgence, but one that I forgo.

[PinkKizzie in reply to Taviterry]

'morning Raviterry, thank you for your reply. I'll probably have an afternoon 30 mins nap.😀

[Silvertail in reply to PinkKizzie]

Oh yes. I would hate it when my parents and grandparents had an afternoon sleep. When I was really young I use to go to my grandfather and lift his eyelid and ask him if he was awake. I was not popular. 😆

[PinkKizzie in reply to Silvertail]

'morning Silvertail, thank you for your reply, made me laugh. It's good to look back to the good old days. 😀

[Silvertail in reply to PinkKizzie]

Oh good. Laughter really is the best medicine.

[PinkKizzie in reply to Silvertail]

Silvertail, and music and dancing, three best tonics the world over.

[Silvertail in reply to PinkKizzie]

Absolutely.👍

[Lowerfield_no_more]

I suggest you speak to your GP. There might be a medical reason for your condition. And in the meantime if you drive a vehicle, consider whether it is safe to do so, for your sake and that of others.

[Digger0 in reply to Lowerfield_no_more]

Seconded!

[Deejay62]

I have heart failure 23% EF and severe pulmonary hypertension. I feel tired all the time but I do take pain killers and gabapentin plus a cocktail of meds for heart failure plus bisoprolol. I’m now taking 11 tablets in the morning 4 lunchtime 5 in the evening and 2 at night. I’m surprised I even function.

[PinkKizzie in reply to Deejay62]

Hi Deejay62, I thought I was bad with 6 tablets at breakfast, 2 at teatime and 2 in the evening. Keep well.

[Deejay62 in reply to PinkKizzie]

And you x

[Yumz199725]

I used to do this and I know I'm gona get ill when I fall asleep during the day or even when I first wake up and then literally cant stay awake. Hope it's not your heart condition causing this for you ❤️ x

[Shabana1974]

Hi have you been testing for sleep apnea. 1 of the symptoms is dropping off to sleep in random situations like this situations you described. I have sleep apnea, the test is very easy, the hospital gives you a monitor to wear at night. Which consists of a device that measures your pulse rate and those in the nostrils oxygen masks. And they ask you to wear it a minimum of 4 hours at night. And that is it.

Best regards

Shabana

[Silvertail in reply to Shabana1974]

Both my husband and I have obstructive sleep apnoea. (Very romantic when we are side by side in bed with our masks on. 😂) We have never fallen asleep in the car at traffic lights - of course that's very dangerous to other motorists and does happen to some people if they are not being treated with CPAP therapy.

[Silvertail in reply to Shabana1974]

My hospital keeps you overnight, They wire you up and have a spy camera 😜 in the ceiling above the bed to record what goes on with your breathing etc.

[Shabana1974 in reply to Silvertail]

Oh that would be my worst nightmare

[Silvertail in reply to Shabana1974]

It's not too bad, and I sneak in a Serepax so I'm sure to sleep. 🤗

[Shabana1974 in reply to Silvertail]

We with me I become hyper aware of my environment when not home and even with sleeping pills a go off for 1hr then restless for the rest of the night. (I don't if it's because of I was raped when I was 16)

[Silvertail in reply to Shabana1974]

Could be. It seems to me that bad things that have happened in the past can affect us for years to come.

[Shabana1974 in reply to Silvertail]

True

[baly_2023]

I would see a doctor as its deosnt seem right at all and if driving ,have a good think about whether you're safe to carry on driving for the safety other yourself ,road users and pedestrians .

[JeremiahObadiah]

I also find watching tv very soporific , particularly any programme I have been looking forward to watching! Frustrating.

However, to be falling asleep at random times eg in the middle of drinking a cup of tea doesn’t sound right. Could it be narcolepsy? I think it would be worth asking your doctor about this.

[Petermagennis]

This could be syncope or presyncope or it could also be sleep apnea, which us heart faulire patients can be affected by, please bring this up with your nurse, consultant or GP, as it has ramifications if you drive or operate machinery.

[Qualipop]

Oh yes, absolutely. This year has become much worse. I sat down to watch the Terracota Army on tV last night and woke up just as it finished. It's almost every evening. I can be knitting or like you sitting with a cup although I haven't soaked myself yet. I'm not taking any medication that could cause it but I do wonder if yours may be too strong. AFter my heart attack I was put on bisopralol and couldn't stay awake at all. I'm suspecting that now mine could be just age (75) although it does almost always happen after having our main meal of the day. It never happens before about 6pm. I sleep extremely deeply, the second my head hits the pillow but I do have very broken sleep due to pain. I get maybe 3 hours at a time. The odd thing is I don't move AT ALL at night. I've had nurses wake me up just to see if I was dead. At least I don't have to make the bed LOL. WIth all your medication I would speak to your doctor about it.

[JessicaRed]

Hi yes I do this, most often after eve meal sometimes after lunch but thats improving since my aortic valve replacement surgery in NovIm type 2 diabetic

[Silvertail]

I hear you. I once ruined a laptop computer by nodding off holding a cup of tea. My husband was not amused. Yes, (mostly while on my laptop) I nod off often sometimes before lunch, mostly in the afternoon and night. I don't know I've been asleep until I wake. Sometimes I don't know if I've been asleep or not. I've missed the end of a TV programme more times than I can say. (If it's not the end of the film, it's in the middle, so I still don't know the full story. 😪)

[AuntyEdna]

Hi I just read this and can relate to all the comments here.

I fall asleep at random in the afternoon usually mid stitch knitting ! Very frustrating when you’re knitting a complicated piece🤦🏻‍♀️ I also nod off watching anything on tv after 6pm and have deep but broken sleep - awake every two/ four hrs . I take a pleather of pills - all the usual heart, thyroid, pain, anxiety . Guess it could be them but now not sure if I should be worried? ( I sometimes drive 100 miles alone to visit our daughter).

[MoyB]

I'm nearly 73 now so may be forgiven for nodding off, but it's happened to me all my life! When my daughter was a baby, I used to pop her in her cot after lunch and go back to clear the table. I'd sit down for a minute and an hour later I would wake up with everything still on the table and daughter awake from her nap.

As a university student, I discovered that you really can sleep standing up - or I can, anyway! I leant against the library shelves while we were being given a talk and woke up when another student nudged me, in time to move to the next section.

I've fallen asleep on busses and trains and was a dreadful passenger when we went by car as would be asleep before leaving the end of our road. My husband used to get very annoyed.

I often fell asleep in the shopping centre car park at lunch time when I was working and only just made it back to the office in time.

I often struggled to stay awake in 2.00pm meetings so used to make appointments for 2.30 when possible as I was ok by then.

I have never fallen asleep when driving but have had some close calls when I've had to pull over and shut my eyes for ten minutes or so.

Now, I see beginnings and ends of TV programmes but very few middles, and, yes, I've woken up wet from a cold cup of coffee on more than one occasion!

No one has ever tested me for sleep apnoea or narcolepsy but I have often been diagnosed as anaemic and I sleep a lot less when I've been treated for that!

It's not really an issue for me any more as I don't have to work and can nod off when I feel like it (unless I'm out with other people! Lol!). However, with hindsight, I should probably have had it investigated years ago and would urge you to speak to someone about it, just to see if it's 'normal' for you, or if you are indeed suffering from a disorder of some kind that can be treated.

Good luck! (And sweet dreams!!)

xx Moy