fighting to keep eyes open when no more tired than usual

[avavs777]

hi all,

recently i’ve been really struggling to keep my eyes open at certain times. i take a class where we watch a lot of documentaries and i only struggle when i’m in that class. i can feel my eyes shutting so i force them open, but i can’t keep them open and i lose consciousness for a few seconds/minutes. i find it absolutely exhausting to deal with and i already suffer with chronic migraines so having to fight with my eyelids doesn’t really help! it can happen 15+ times in an hour… i haven’t found anything that helps. the thing that is confusing me the most is that i’m always extremely tired, despite getting 8+ hours of sleep every night but it only seems to be in that specific class that i struggle to keep my eyes open. it’s not an issue of boredom, that being said, however, i have no clue what’s going on. has anyone experienced something similar?

thanks

[Cat00]

Yes but it turned out I had glandular fever...

[bamboo89]

You've said you're always quite tired - I would suggest that watching and listening to documentaries are perfect conditions for nodding off, frequently, if you are generally tired, especially if the documentary consists mainly of voice and not loud music, and particularly if the documentaries are most often in the afternoon. If they are after lunch, what you eat at lunchtime might be contributing to the problem. You may not be aware of being tired all the time you're moving around or interacting with people, but sitting still, being comfortable and having a probably soporific documentary playing makes it highly likely your underlying tiredness overtakes you, no matter how interesting the content of the video. Certainly, I have the same trouble every evening - I sit down to watch a programme on the tv I really want to see, mostly feeling perfectly awake, and then find my eyelids closing within ten minutes or so, and however I struggle to keep them open, I nod off or actually fall asleep without realising, until/unless some loud music occurs, l ike an advert. It's now at the point where I record everything in case I do nod off so I can watch it later. I must say, if I let myself nod off even just for ten minutes, that generally means I'm refreshed enough to then restart the programme and can then watch it, but obviously, that's not suitable for your situation.

I know why I'm tired, its a drug I'm on which unfortunately disrupts sleep, though its not one for migraine, but I'd suggest you see a doctor to try to establish why you're so tired even though you're getting 8 hours at night. If you are on a drug for migraine, could that be having an impact on your fatigue? Otherwise, you may be anaemic or have some other malfunction going on of which you are unaware - the first step is to describe how you feel, and the doctor should arrange for a full array of blood tests.

Miriam

[Crossstitch1]

Have you had an eye exam lately? Wondering if you need glasses ...similar happened to a friend and the correct prescription sorted her...just a thought

[avavs777 in reply to Crossstitch1]

Hi there,

Thank you for suggesting this! I do actually have glasses- I’ve literally just received my 3rd prescription! I’ll be sure bring it up next time I go to the opticians though

[WelshUnderdog]

Have you had your B12 levels checked lately? A lack of Vitamin B12 can cause extreme tiredness and a lack of energy/confusion etc. The same with Iron. Iron deficiency can cause tiredness and lack of energy. It might be worth seeing if you can get your bloods checked just to see if there’s anything going on there and both can be fixed with a change of diet or with supplements if needed I’m sure. Hope you get to the bottom of it!