After my departure from Decagon (the first time!), it soon became apparent I had sleep disorders. They weren’t all discovered at once but here’s what we found with time:
I was not only a rapid cycler but my Circadian rhythms had been suppressed by long term use of antidepressants. This meant I slept 3 or 4 hours in the afternoon and then was up all night until about 4 or 5 in the morning and then slept again until around 10 or noon. This is how my sleep cycles have been for 14 years or longer and I just started living with the body’s natural backup clock – the Ultradian rhythm.
But being nocturnal didn’t solve everything. I was still tired all the time. Sleep studies at Gritman hospital showed I had sleep apnea pretty bad. So I became a hosehead and have been ever since. Getting oxygen to my brain improved things quite a bit but something else was still wrong.
After three years of chronic diarrhea, the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong. My blood levels were all normal, etc. I started weaning off the Lithium and the symptoms started going away. I had lithium toxicity. So I was switched to Depakote and that helped. But neurotoxicity has continued and I can’t feel my feet any more. It’s getting worse so I’m going to a neurologist in Spokane soon. All they can do probably is assess the damage. But maybe there is something else I am not aware of.
There was nothing from the Spokane doctors except further classification that I have small-muscle neuropathy. Which is supposed to be less debilitating. I cannot tell the difference between heat and cold. My hands have started having synesthesia –essentially “false sensory readings” mainly textural weirdness. So I continue to worsen.
In 2014, after three years of observation, my physician in Pullman has admitted that all evidence points to my medications for chronic fatigue and worsening symptoms of neuropathy. The doctors for awhile seemed to think I was on the edge of diabetes. That has never proven true. I now walk with a cane when out of the house.
