I went about 20 years with untreated sleep apnea and probably all my life with restless leg syndrome.
As a result it is very difficult for me to REM sleep, the side effect is weight gain, mood swings, and what looks like narcolepsy when it is really bad. Also probably arthritis. It certainly doesn’t make it better. I also don’t dream.
This also makes it hard for me to go to sleep and stay asleep.
CPAP helps. Sleep hygiene helps.
Stress makes it worse, this storm is horrible as I can’t relax at all.
The sleep issues have always affected mood and for a few years, doctors misdiagnosed me as having manic depression. First clue they were wrong, drugs made me worse.
Good news is that I recognize the symptoms in a teenager immediately and have gotten kids treated. Not the specific sleep disorder, but at least head them into a medical diagnosis instead of a futile psychiatric diagnosis.
Bad news, I still can’t sleep.
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