Hi,

Has anyone found a way to “pull out” of an episode after the sleep stage has ended? I’m talking about the awful stage when you are awake but still feel like your brain isn’t back to normal. During the past few episodes, my son has found this stage to be going on longer than earlier episodes and it’s very upsetting to him. He feels like he’s almost “back” but knows that he isn’t 100% yet. He worries that he’ll stay at this stage and never get back to normal. He’s lethargic, unable to do anything that takes brain power, and worried.

Any advice would be most helpful.

Thanks!

I havem’t discovered anything other than time to help getting back to normal - that part of mine seemed to start to last longer, and I always get that feeling that this time I am gonna stay that way but I always come out of it.  I sometimes have periods of feeling normal and think that I am recovered but then the next morning I am back in it again till later in the day.  Then it seems to gradually go away. 

It is great you are understanding as I find that to other people I look fine as I am sat watching television or going into the kitchen to make a cup of tea etc. (as you say, nothing that requires brain power) but I don’t feel right at all, and don’t want to go out and am unable to go back to work still but I worry people don’t get this and because I look better they will expect me to be better!

Nat
xxx

Hi,
Your postings are appreciated, as my experience is similar and it’s good to have them confirmed by others.  After all, who wants to feel wierd?

Well, I feel that way right now because I wrote a rather long message, and in the last lines accidentally deleted it!!  So I’m going to try to repeat the substance of it and will just hope for the best.  (Computers:  Friend AND foe!!!)

I had mentioned how I do enjoy those very rare days when I awaken abruptly, knowing the episode is over and that I can do anything and everything, and probably all of it in a day or so.  Wonderful feeling!  It lasts one day.  Sometimes carries over to a few hours the next day, but soon I feel a little less good, but still OK.  The way my episodes run I generally have an OK week, plus or minus.  A week into, a week of, then a week coming out of it.  Two to three weeks later, repeat.  There’s a lot of variation in that, but that’s a big, general outline.

If I awaken during an episode when I think it’s about over, and I awaken with that thought, then the first thing I try to do is decide whether I can get up or must have more sleep.

If I think I can get up, it’s important to engage my mind right away.  Think of a puzzle that needs to be solved,  listen to the morning news.  Better, though, is to just get up, if possible.  This takes some pushing of myself.  If I need to doze more, I don’t let myself feel guilty about it, and I try not to “use” it to get out of doing something else.  (Though admitedly, I have done that.)

Then I do the most active things first,  sometimes even running into the kitchen to prepare breakfast, adjust the temperature, etc.

If weather allows, it does help to get into the sunshine for about an hour.  If I can’t do that I sit by an east window or a bright light, while I eat.  I read also, as I must keep my mind engaged until I feel awake enough to continue the day in an upright position.

If I can’t get this far, then I know it won’t be my best day.  I then must decide if it’s back to bed, or if an adjustment of the day’s schedule will be enough.  Maybe I can do some things and not others. 

For instance, I was excited to go to jury duty and knew I would get up that morning.  No, it wasn’t easy to do, but I wanted very much to do it and it was well worth the pushing myself.  However, the day was so very tiring that I knew I couldn’t commit to a one week trial.  But I managed to stay all day, and returned a part of another,  giving the opportunity to learn some of the judicial process that I wanted to learn about.  I slept 15 hour nights that week, though I wasn’t exactly in an episode. 

I will send this much, lest I delete it, too.  j