What sleep disorder does my stepbrother have?

[NickTunes]

My stepbrother is bipolar. He takes meds for his bipolar that make him sleep.

The thing is, though, he has had this problem with sleeping his whole life. He forgets to mention to the doctor that the sleep problem has been something that has affected him his whole life, it didn't just start when he was diagnosed with bipolar and started on the bipolar meds.

His mom was telling me that when he was a baby, she would sometimes wake him up if they had to go somewhere, and he would never cry, he would always just stay dosing off and be very mellow.

He says now that he has a full-time job, all he can do is work. He constantly has to struggle to stay awake.

He can sleep for 36 hours at a time and still be tired the next day, his mom was talking about when he was in high school, sometimes he would sleep the entire weekend away. And, they had to wake him up for school, sometimes they would be yelling for him to get up for 2 hours before he could wake up and get going.

Also, he says that his mind takes about an hour after getting up before it is functioning right. He can forget every thing that happens within the first hour of him being awake and does not know why.

If you need any more information let me know. He is going to mention all of this next time he goes to the doctor (which I'm not sure when that is) but I was hoping to get some insight into this to try to help him with this.

His need for sleep is irregular and affects him to such a great extent that it makes it nearly impossible for him to function in the world.

[BobbySox]

Many people are unaware that food intolerances are often the main cause of various illnesses. Gluten sensitivity is known to be associated with over 300 symptoms and medical conditions, including brain disease/bipolar. Sadly many are prescribed drugs which they don't need. A simple dietary adjustment is often all that is needed to restore good health. Large numbers of us are suffering from gluten intolerance unknowingly as GI masquerades as other illnesses. Doctors rarely check for GI and prescribe drugs which do not cure the problem and often make it worse because of drug side effects.

I speak from experience.

Celiac Disease Symptoms | Gluten Free Works

[sk8joyful]

Originally Posted by BobbySox

Many people are unaware that food intolerances
are often the main cause of various illnesses.

Gluten sensitivity is known to be associated
with over 300 symptoms and medical conditions.

I speak from experience.

I'm truly sorry that was your experience. But
what many people continue confusing...
is that association, & linkage is often NOT, the same as causation.

And marrying those 2 concepts erroneously together,
actually causes more problems, as people are finding out.

[Clint Cora]

Yes, such critical info should be disclosed to his doctor. It might warrant a consult to a sleep specialist - yes they do exist. His doctor can't set this up if he doesn't know about all the issues.

[sk8joyful]

Originally Posted by NickTunes

My stepbrother
forgets to mention to the doctor that the sleep problem has affected him his whole life.
His mom was telling me that when he was a baby, he would never cry, he would always just stay dosing off and be very mellow.

It didn't just start when he was diagnosed with bipolar and started on the bipolar meds, that make him sleep more.

He can sleep for 36 hours at a time and still be tired the next day.
He can forget every thing that happens within the first hour of him being awake and does not know why.

The man went from being a 'mellow' baby, to sleeping increasingly more than needed, to
Now
being on (drugs forcing him sleep even more - but noone questioned that insanity ) ?

Did anyone ever track his Hormone-levels?
.

[NickTunes]

Originally Posted by sk8joyful

The man went from being a 'mellow' baby, to sleeping increasingly more than needed, to
Now
being on (drugs forcing him sleep even more - but noone questioned that insanity ) ?

Did anyone ever track his Hormone-levels?
.

I guess his bipolar/drug addiction kinda clouded the whole sleep thing. I think his mom thought the bipolar itself was responsible for the sleep problem. I'm not sure.

What would he ask his physician for to track his hormone levels? Bloodwork?

[laughingmatter]

See a doctor, sounds like hypersomnia

[zeloc]

Originally Posted by sk8joyful

I'm truly sorry that was your experience. But
what many people continue confusing...
is that association, & linkage is often NOT, the same as causation.

And marrying those 2 concepts erroneously together,
actually causes more problems, as people are finding out.

Very true. BobbySox, can you provide any reference for gluten being associated with 300 conditions, excluding unsubstantiated websites?

[BobbySox]

The University of Chicago - Celiac Disease Center - Symptoms

From Science Daily

Sensitivity To Gluten May Result In Neurological Dysfunction; Independent Of Symptoms

jccglutenfree

[zeloc]

Thanks for the references, I didn't know the connection with gluten sensitivity and neurologic disease. To be clear, while celiac can cause as many as 300 symptoms per the UChicago website, we are not talking about 300 different disease associations. Very interesting topic.