Last night I had the strangest thing happen to me.

I work night shifts, and had finished my week up Tuesday morning. Normally I sleep a few hours when I get home so I don't waste the whole day, but because of some things I had on my mind and possibly the new Vyvanse I was put on for my ADD, I didn't feel all that tired. Ended up staying up all day and playing with my dogs and getting some stuff done around the house.

So last night around 10pm I decided to go to bed, because I was feeling pretty sleepy by that time. The wife is out of town on her first clinical rotation in New Mexico, so I decided to let my pugs sleep on the bed with me.

A few minutes after closing my eyes and starting to doze off, I remember "dreaming" the most horrific feeling dreams about various things. At one point in my dream I had an overwhelming sense of being smothered, and my body felt like it was seizing up. I immediately opened my eyes and my limbs had been flailing around and my body was stiff at that point. I was a little confused what had happened and thought perhaps it was a bad dream combined with a myoclonic jerk. So almost immediately after closing my eyes again, a different sort of "dream" began where I something terrible was happening. Again, my entire body seemed to tense up and arms and legs started shaking. At this point I got a little scared, so I went and got a drink of water thinking that moving around then going back to bed might stop these dreams. However, this happened several more times, some times being more intense than others. If I had to guess, I would say each one lasted only 30 seconds or so, but it is difficult to say with any certainty. Eventually I had to put my dogs in their kennels out of fear I was going to injure them in one of these episodes.

All I know is I have never experienced anything like that in my life, and don't know what I should do. I am terrified though. I have heard that physiologically CH is similar to seizures

Could it be a result of just being too tired? Small seizures? Epilepsy?

You know that we ain't doctors,  so your not gonna get much medical advice here.  I'm not a bad ranch vet.  so my advice would be to stop sleeping with dogs.

          Potter

Thanks man, if you have nothing further you are excused.

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar, or how many other people suffer from both seizures and CH.

My guess is it's the Vyvanse.

Did a quick internet search and found the following side effects of this med, specifically with overdosing.....

Overdose Side Effects:
Symptoms of overdose that require immediate medical assistance include:

•Restlessness
•Tremor
overactive reflexes, which can include twitching or spasms•Aggression
•Hallucinations
•Panic states
•Hyperreflexia

It did specify these were indicative of immediate medical attention. Should definitely give the doc a ring and talk about dosing adjusting. As always it could just be your body adapting to a new med, but still wise to call the doc and run it by them to make sure you're not setting yourself up for more serious issues at this dosing level.

Good luck!

Joe

A 25 mg Vyvanse capsule would be molecularly equivalent to a 10 mg Dexedrine Spansule (both are about 7.425 mg dextroamphetamine base),

Wow that ADD drug sound like it could be a genuine stinker!

I think if it was me I'd be SERIOUSLY thinking of going off of it, and would then be pretty hopeful that it's not just coincidence and the seizure like sleep stuff could also be gone for good.

Good idea to get the dogs in their kennels. 

Sounds like you might consider getting off your ADD med before your wife returns from NM, she might get hurt sleeping w/ you.

Good luck

As to your question we have no idea what caused it but I can say I have not experienced anything you describe in my 35 year career as a CH. When I have said these are seizure like I am referring to the rapid onset and the deep fatigue and depression following a high KIP hit. Not the fugue or dissociative states you describe. Blessings. lance

Potter wrote on Aug 17^th, 2011 at 12:26pm:

A 25 mg Vyvanse capsule would be molecularly equivalent to a 10 mg Dexedrine Spansule (both are about 7.425 mg dextroamphetamine base),

But as I said before ALL drugs are different.  Even when you switch from a generic to brand name.   You might remember that I used to have seizures... when I was on seizure meds they would tell me never to go ahead and just switch to a generic version of my med---because they are not actually IDENTICAL medications, damn close, but not the same.

Kyle--check my message to you on clusterbusters.  It sounds like you probably had a seizure, I'll tell you what the docs told me when I first had mine.  Your old enough that you know your brain has worked without having seizures for most of your life, It would be very strange to have this continue.   Even if it's not the meds (Seeing as how you just switched this med 2 weeks ago and it has seizures listed as a serious side effect, that's what I would put my money on) We'll figure it out.  I have researched the hell out of seizures, and although I am not a doctor, More than once I had a neuro tell me I knew more about this then him.  I would get a Neuro appointment as soon as you can and try to do whatever you can to relax.  There are a few generic things that have been known to raise your "seizure threshold" (makes you less likely to have a seizure) and it's mostly just about taking care of yourself.  Make sure you're getting enough food, especially protein.  Exercise, fresh air, lots of water, try to get a good nights sleep (hard I know when you're worried about a seizure), meditation or even just doing some "mindfulness" and sitting quiet and still, letting yourself relax can help wonders.  There are some other OTC things like Lemon balm (melissa officinalis) and Theanine that could help, but I'm not familiar enough with ADD to know how these would work with you.   I'm gonna check this and our clusterbusters site regularly to look out for any responses for you.  I know how scary this is, but you are not alone---Get all the info you can from your Neuro and I will help you go over it and all the options.  You've got my serious attention and empathy, We will figure this out.

I would talk to doc about new drug. Doesn't sound like anything related to CH. When in cycle and taking Melatoni for the first few nights I do get wild dreams. If you dont have a one sided headache that makes you want to kill yourself I dont think you'll find what your looking for here.JMO..

Good Luck,sounds scary hope you get it figured out..