Sleep Deprivation Can Change Your Genes

[Mya Symons]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/26/sleep-deprivation-genes_n_2766341.html?ref=topbar

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/02/20/1217154110

This is an interesting article. I was very busy at one time in my life and got very little sleep. Perhaps this changed my immune system to something dysfunctional.

(Please delete if there is a problem with posting a link to this article. I was not sure).

 

[Hell...Hath...No...Fury..]

This is very, very interesting and something I've often wondered about. I always had trouble sleeping during night time hours my whole life, and could rarely get to sleep before 2am. At the time when I got ill, I was often going to sleep at 2-3am and then having to get up for work at 5.30am. I rarely had the time to catch up on those lost hours. Thanks for posting this.

 

[vamah]

I have started wondering if different types of sleep deprivation are worse that others. I have had sleep problems because I was in pain, worried about something, had babies who wouldn't let me sleep, etc. But none of that has impacted me like the sleep deprivation since I got sick -- just not being able to sleep for no specific reason at all. I have had 3 years of bad sleep and the past year has been horrible. I can't sleep without meds at all. Sometimes not even with meds. And even when I do sleep it isn't "good" sleep -- I don't feel rested afterwards. I can't help thinking that this is doing permanent damage to my brain -- in addition to what the disease is doing -- all by itself. Thoughts?

 

[Hell...Hath...No...Fury..]

Did you have a lot of sleep deprivation prior to the ME? maybe it didn't feel like it was impacting you (as I also didn't at the time) but if it did contribute to the ME, then it would be a monumental impact, just not recognized at the time maybe.

 

[vamah]

Did you have a lot of sleep deprivation prior to the ME? maybe it didn't feel like it was impacting you (as I also didn't at the time) but if it did contribute to the ME, then it would be a monumental impact, just not recognized at the time maybe.

This is kind of a chicken and egg thing for me. I started having sleep problems before other symptoms, but whether they are a cause, an exacerbating factor or simply the first symptom is anyone's guess. I will say that the sleep deprivation started around the time that I went through a period of high stress that I think led to all my current health problems. But again, did stress cause sleep loss? Did disease cause sleep loss. Did stress and sleep loss cause disease?

 

[SickOfSickness]

I think the sleep troubles are usually a side effect.

I think stress caused poorer sleep for me first, but I was still healthy. Then viruses and physical injury gave me ME/CFS which caused the different kind of sleep problems and depression and more anxiety.

I think it's like anxiety and depression. Most of us have anxiety and/or depression because of the illness, it is not a root cause. But some of us did have one or both before we got sick. It was just one small problem before our immune systems were overloaded by the ME/CFS causes.

 

[PhoenixDown]

Sleep deprivation caused indefinite worsening of some of my symptoms that I've simply never recovered from. No body takes it seriously or believes me. A lot of it is due to noise and having selfish family.

Certain members here like to think a more serious & objective diagnosis wouldn't make a difference in people like us because "there are no treatments™", however teaching people that sleep deprivation damages us would have gone a long way for me.

 

[vamah]

I think it's like anxiety and depression. Most of us have anxiety and/or depression because of the illness, it is not a root cause. But some of us did have one or both before we got sick. It was just one small problem before our immune systems were overloaded by the ME/CFS causes.

That's a good point. And it's especially difficult with neurologic symptoms because they sneak up on you. I started to have trouble sleeping and thought, "Well, everyone has trouble sleeping sometimes. No big deal." By the time I realized what a serious problem it was, my illness had spiraled out of control.

 

[heapsreal]

I think we realise that our sleep problems are abit special compared to normal 'people' when you hear them complain they only got 6 hours sleep. Then u think wow 6 hours sleep drug free would be great instead of like broken sort of dreamy sleep which if lucky might work out to a couple of hours sleep. Definately something in the brain i think has been injured due to infections etc??

 

[August59]

If your body is not getting what is considered to be within range of Stage or Stage 4 sleep. Your body is in everyway aging at a rate greater than it would if you were getting somewhat normal Stage 3 and Stage 4 sleep.

Getting adequate amounts of deep sleep can go a long way towards curing Type II diabetes, it can get rid of high blood pressure, hormones will always abnormal without deep sleep. It seems like you have to cure one to cure the other and we don't know how to cure either one. Hope, Hope, Hope and more hope!!!!