Do you have friends who fall asleep too easily? Sleep Apnea? | Golden Skate

Do you have friends who fall asleep too easily? Sleep Apnea?

Johar

Medalist
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Everytime my friend has come over to watch a movie she has ended up falling asleep on my couch. This has happened about a dozen or so times and has me worried. It doesn't matter if it is 7 pm on a worknight or 7 pm on Saturday. As soon as we start watching a show she is out, usually within 20-30 minutes.

She even fell asleep at Catching Fire in the theater.

I don't know if it is meds or sleep apnea. Driving doesn't cause her to be sleepy. if it is apnea she needs to seek treatment. If it's meds maybe she could try something different.

Not really related, but my SIL once invited me over for New Years Eve to watch movies. She fell asleep at 8 and was still out when I left around 9:30.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
My mom does this, too... I don't think it's something to worry about - with my mom it's the combo of sitting down and finally relaxing (she is on the go in one way or the other all day long) and the darker room. Plus you're normally drinking soda and eating junk food when watching movies so the extra bad sugars don't help. :)
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Diabetics often get sleepy after eating...she might want to have her A1C checked.

Other than that, if you're watching someone sleeping, and she is taking regular, deep breaths the whole time she is sleeping, and not snoring, likely she does not have sleep apnea, which involves not having regular breaths.

There is another problem that includes falling asleep too much called narcolepsy.
Webmd on narcolepsy
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/narcolepsy
Webmd on sleep apnea
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/sleep-apnea/sleep-apnea

My husband has some problem with central sleep apnea, caused by a Wallenberg syndrome stroke (He has some damage to the part of the brain that regulates breathing. In fact, he often has to think about breathing, not a particularly good thing.)
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Not everyone who has apnea falls asleep. Most feel tired throughout the day, but stay awake. Both my college roommate and my brother have sleep apnea, probably for years but got worse with age and weight.

I went through a period where I would fall asleep while watching movies, especially if the movie was set at night and dark. I actually dropped off while watching Terminator with a former boyfriend. He was surprised that I fell asleep during such a good movie, but it was during a night scene and I was tired. I also can't watch DaVinci Code because the entire movie occurs 'at night'....

However, it's not uncommon for me to be up til 1 am or as late as 2am without falling asleep......

As Toni mentioned, it could just be a case of your friend feeling tired and finally just sitting and relaxing.
 

louisa05

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 3, 2011
What kind of shifts does your friend work? My husband worked 12 hour shifts on a rotating days schedule for about a year. Add in his commute and he was going from 4:30 a.m. to about 7 p.m. for two or three days at a time. Then he would fall asleep every time he sat down on the off days. The only normal day he had for the entire time, where he was not exhausted, was the third day off in a row which only came once every two weeks.

I also remember being like that my first few years of teaching. I was going non-stop from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or so, then taking a stack of work home. When I stopped, I fell asleep instantly. And when I was in the middle of directing a play with rehearsals added to that schedule it was even worse. I sometimes slept away the whole day on Sundays.
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I also remember being like that my first few years of teaching. I was going non-stop from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or so, then taking a stack of work home. When I stopped, I fell asleep instantly. And when I was in the middle of directing a play with rehearsals added to that schedule it was even worse. I sometimes slept away the whole day on Sundays.

I remember when I had 4 new hires that I had to assist. During the 1st week, I fell asleep on the train home when I never dozed on the train for the prior 2 years. My co-workers mentioned that they don't think they could've handled having 4 trainees based upon their observations of how busy they kept me.
 

Johar

Medalist
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Been sick with sinus since December 30th, so late coming back.

She works at the college, so 8:30 to 4:30. She had 2 weeks off for break but still fell asleep when she came over to visit.
 
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