Don't know what is UP or DOWN with husband

gcvmom

Here we go again!
He is getting into another weird sleep cycle. He's been napping a lot lately. Today he got up at 7am to help with the kids and took easy child to school at 7:30. Got back around 8:10. Went back to bed at 8:15 (he did look really tired). Woke up at 2:45pm. PEE-EM!!! WTH?

He was annoyed that I -- I -- LET him sleep that long.:confused::mad:

Ahem, I did not know I was your personal alarm clock. Dear.

He claims he's only been feeling zonked the last three days. Well he's been sleeping weird for a long time. I told him to ask the psychiatrist about it when he saw him on Tuesday. Did he? Of course not! :hammer:

Why do I have to be there to remind him what to say? :puppet:
 

flutterby

Fly away!
I think you should carry a tape recorder around with you and take verbal notes. Then give it to husband to let the psychiatrist have a listen.

Oh...and a very loud alarm clock. :D
 

susiestar

Roll With It
Since you are his alarm clock, put some water in the fridge. Dump some on him to wake him up. He picked the clock, not you.

Or get an airhorn and give him a squawk with it. THAT will get him up. And it is kinda fun, LOL!!!

I think the stars are out of whack or something. It has been strange here also.
 

crazymama30

Active Member
GN is right, my husband is completely out of whack right now. Yesterday he slept till 1:30pm, went and picked the kids up, and fell asleep watching TV at 5:30pm and woke about 8pm. The day before he slept untill 3pm. For a while he was having insomnia, not going to sleep untill 3 or 4 am, now he has hypersomnia. Goes to sleep by midnight and sleeps forever.

He has been talking with psychiatrist, saw him last Tuesday and does not see him again untill Oct 12.


GCV, I feel your pain.
 

Mattsmom277

Active Member
I am going through the same. I'm actively fighting it, but it sucks me in sometimes. I have had days lately that I force myself to go about my day, and literally at some point my body will collapse if I don't get straight to a bed. Nothing will keep me up. I can sleep 8 hours. Get up. A couple hours (sometimes more, sometimes less, much less) sees me back to bed and sleeping a long period (hours even). Then I can sleep again that night. It's awful to be honest. I love the days where I can fight it and win. But some days if I don't go with it, I honestly would collapse.

This is 100% a reaction of my MS to the change of weather/seasons etc. A beginning of a flare. However many years ago I was going through problems with seasonal affective disorder mixed with a 2 year period of depression and it was very similar, just a different cause. I didn't like it. I hated it. I felt it was out of my control for so long. The key was workign with a doctor when it was depression based. It made a big difference.

One thing that helped immensly was a light therapy unit. Have you ever considered one? They can be pricey but if prescribed can be covered by most insurance companies. It was my lifeline. I have never parted with mine in case I ever need it again. I have loaned it though and those using it were greatly helped. Just a thought.

I hope he can pull himself out of this. I can't imagine it is easy to live with from your position. Likewise, I'm sure it isn't the highlight or proud part of his day either.
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
It sounds like my husband. And I suspect my husband is depressed. Last weekend he went to bed at 10:30 Saturday night, got up at 1:30 Sunday afternoon, went back to bed at 4:00 Sunday afternoon and slept until 8:00 Monday morning!

But in all honesty, it could be something else. Has your husband been to the regular doctor lately? If not he should probably have some blood panels run. I don't know if his doctor will go for it or not, but he might need to have his hormonal levels checked, too. husband got his checked several years ago, after all of the other ones were run, and they found that his testerone was almost nil. It does help him - when he takes it - to be more alert and to sleep better.
 

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
I was just thinking Testosterone... My Father and father in law both have this issues. As most know my Father has serious Mental Illness and my father in law has serious Depression/Anxiety.
Oh, my lovely family!!!! LOL
My father injects himself (because he loves needles- the heroin addict in him) My father in law rubs the cream on himself.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
Yup, he sees a GP pretty regularly. He was just in there last week for a follow-up blood panel to see if his cholesterol medications are working. I think it's part depression, part Trileptal. Just goes to show you, just because someone's in a good mood most of the time and functioning o.k. doesn't mean they can't be struggling with depression on some level. I think energy level and productivity are types of secondary markers that can linger. Maybe he can talk to his GP when he goes back next week for the blood test results. Although I would have preferred he speak with the psychiatrist about this when he saw him last week!
 

crazymama30

Active Member
I don't think they would check a testosterone level unless you ask, they usually do a CBC, Lipid panel and Chem panel. The testosterone is not on those. Just more info.


I do think you are probably right, and it is the trileptal and depression. With my hub it is depression and the increase in the tegretol and the addition of a big dose of Depakote to combat either hypomanic and/or mixed state cycling.
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
I don't think they would check a testosterone level unless you ask, they usually do a CBC, Lipid panel and Chem panel. The testosterone is not on those. Just more info.

Yes, you have to ask - and sometimes fight - for them to do the testosterone test. They will want some indication that there has been some - uh - failures, on your husband's part. Of course you have to convince them that it's not depression that's causing it. But, since he has been on anti-depressants, and if there is nothing else wrong with him, it might be the right diagnosis. Sadly you have to get your husband to admit that he's had those failures. Or lack of interest.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
Sometimes I WISH there were "failures" or lack of interest in that department... but can't say that's the case yet.

He was very busy doing stuff today, however. Slept in until 10am, but then did some laundry, then did a little bit of yard work, then went to the hardware store with two of the kids, then called to tell me he was taking them on a hike for the afternoon. They've been gone three hours now and are supposed to be heading back -- hopefully before dark!

There are just some days where he gets a lot done and other times he'll go for several days of just nothing and a lot of sleeping. Probably part of the undx'd mood disorder/bipolar that I think he has.
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
Pardon me....

If you don't know what is Up or Down on husband does that make him a Butthead or the head Butt? :surprise::tongue:

This sleeping has gone on long enough - Time to tell him his JOB is now to go to unemployment every day from X to X and FIND a job.

Swear I'm writing the Pope and asking them to consider a St. GCVmom.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
And while you're asking for my beatification and subsequent canonization, don't forget to ask the governor for my full and complete pardon for what I may be about commit.... I know it's premature, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

'Course, if you ask him, I'M the one being a butthead lately. Hmmmm... PMS, unemployed slacker (oops, how'd THAT slip out?) spouse, full moon... I don't see any reason why I shouldn't have a short fuse, do you?

He had loads of energy yesterday to take two of the kids on a looooong hike. And of course, today he's in pain and went back to bed again. I'm NOT waking his sorry butt up, either.

His lack-of-job-excuse is that there aren't any local that are at his level of experience or salary. He's gotten a couple calls for job interviews that are 100 miles away, though. So I can't really blame him for turning those down. But he could at least be LOOKING on a daily basis, right? Riiiiight.:2dissapointed:
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
I just realized that you must be a little bit younger than husband and I. Hopefully your husband will get a good job soon, before your PMS goes from PRE-MS to Permanent-MS like mine along with my hormones. I swear to god, if I'm not yelling, I'm crying. And if I'm not yelling or crying I'm trying to make up for it. And I'm growing a mustache. And doing it all in a fine mist of sweat. I tell you, if my husband was out of a job and laying around the house right now, he would be locking up the kitchen knives this time!

:grrr:
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
Well, he only took a nap until 10:30 this morning, so I guess that's an improvement! Then he got busy reading his emails, including the one I sent him earlier this morning about some jobs I looked up online at a local hospital website (not his industry, but they were looking for an IT person). That one email from me got him a little more focused today, so maybe I need to just bury him in leads. I even found a job opportunity off Twitter! Heck, if the head hunters can't come up with anything, at least I can give it the ol' college try, and maybe it will eventually lead to something.

I swear, though, he is obsessed with MEALS now that he's home. He got up at 10:30 and the first things he asks is what's for lunch! And by 3:30pm, he's worrying about what we're having for dinner! And no, his waistline isn't getting any smaller since he's been off work. :p

He did jump in when I started having a meltdown over the chaotic state of my pots/pans cupboard when I tried to put something away and was met with so much disarray that I couldn't get one pot back on the shelf. I just said I needed to walk away or I was going to scream, left the pot on the floor with the cupboard doors open and went outside for some air. Then I went upstairs to chill with the TV on for a half hour. He finished putting the dishes away and gave me my space, which I do appreciate. See? They CAN be taught!

Our 20th wedding anniversary is this Wednesday. For some strange reason I can't seem to get too excited about it right now! He got a $25 gift certificate from a Mexican restaurant by his old office for signing up on their email list, so I think we'll go there for an early lunch that day. And I've been saving another $25 voucher I bought for $2 on that restaurants.com web site for a very nice French restaurant near us -- so maybe we can slip out for an early dinner without the kids, too.
 
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