Excessive Sleeping

[HerMajesty]

Hi, I tried to research this online, but the internet search engines seem to have a hard time differentiating between "excessive sleeping" and "excessive sleepiness". I am NOT excessively sleepy. I am having increasingly frequent (started very occasional, now twice this week) bouts of falling into a kind of comatose sleep from mid-afternoon to the next morning, usually 13-15 hours. I wake up feeling not refreshed but like I maybe slept 4 or 5 hours.
I am wondering if this is med related: I have been on high dose (2400mg / day) gabapentin for 4 years and 10 to 20 mg valium per day for 3 years. Until recently I had to take a lot of antibiotics due to high post void residual from neurogenic bladder; and my need for antibiotics was greatly reduced just in time for me to start struggling with chronic yeast overgrowth as a result of all the antibiotics - so now I am on Ketoconozole. These weird sleeping jags predated the ketoconozole but have become more frequent since I started it. Those are the only 3 meds I am on.
To be honest, I don't consult a doctor about it because although I have no other symptoms of liver or kidney problems, I am afraid consulting a doctor would lead to one of those medical freakouts about liability leading to a reduction in meds - and I do all I can independently to reduce my meds: What I am on I really need and don't want any problems about it.
So I am just wondering, does anybody else experience something similar or can anyone point me to a resource that describes the same phenomenon? I would appreciate the help because as I mentioned, the internet search engines just are not "getting it".

[Rosemary]

Hi Her Majesty

I just wonder if you have a Thyroid problem which might need checking - have found this link which mentions sleeping more than usual but still feeling exhausted under Hypothyroidism.

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/fatigueener ... austed.htm

Best link i can find at the moment - i have read elsewhere of thyroid problems being linked to hormones and occuring around the menopause.

My husband takes pills to correct his imbalance - has been monitored closely by our doctor to get it right for him and feels fine now.

Rosemary x

[HerMajesty]

Thanks Rosemary,

I was thinking it might be perimenopausal too - no change in menses but I know some weird symptoms start long before periods cease. The thyroid thing seems unlikely though because again, like everyting I am looking at, it mentions chronic daytime fatiuge. Now mind you, when I look back at who I was before all these neuro difficulties started, I am not the superwoman I used to be, but I do not believe I have have daytime fatigue or sleepiness on any regular basis. Just the crazy comatose sleeping jags.

[Rosemary]

Hi again

The menopause doesn't always do us any favours i've have had some weird feelings - needed a nap some afternoons but not the sleeping for such long hours - there is a website called 'menopause matters' which has been started by a gynaecologist in scotland and has a forum which may help you - mainly uk that has recently gone .com and well laid out/easy use forum.

Hope that you can find an answer to this as it must be worrying.

Rosemary x

[Grammy]

I would think that a sleep study would help. I have had one and it found central sleep apnea most likely due to the small dosage of methadone that I was taking at the time.

[HerMajesty]

As I see I got a recent response to this: The update is, around the time I posted this I started showing a lot of symptoms of chronic candidiasis related to the 2 years surrounding my surgery when I was on chronic antibiotics due to incomplete bladder emptying. I went on the anti - candida diet and treatment with antifungals. I don't know if candida was the cause of the sleepiness or if the change in diet was just beneficial, but i am no longer having this sleeping problem. Also I did get the labs done due to the candidiasis issue: Thyroid was fine, liver fine, kidneys fine, in fact all I had was a slightly elevated white blood cell count because of the chronic infection. So problem solved