Health Organization for Pudendal Education

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".

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

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.

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

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.

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