Nighttime Narcolepsy

I may have a serious medical sleep-related illness. I have this total inability to stay awake late at night, particularly when it comes to movie-watching. Now, I know that people have different internal clocks, and that I am much more an early-bird, day person than a night owl. I think my ideal "waking" hours would be somewhere between 7 a.m.and 10 p.m. if I had any say in the matter. This is funny to me as, back in college, waking up for an 815 class was really dreaded but now, 530 a.m. is often a normal "start time".

Anyway, back to the late-night drowsiness. It is actually very irritating and inconvenient. Kelvin and I went to see "Inception" on Saturday night which was (supposedly) a very gripping and exciting film. I can't really comment, though, as I was dozing off within about 10 minutes of the 750 PM start time. As soon as the lights went down in the theater, I knew what was imminent. And there was nothing I could do about it.

Due to the above fact, I rarely go to evening movies at the theater unless it is a matinee. An 8pm start time is virtually impossible (and a waste of money) for me, and I will usually decline and save myself the $10 or whatever movies are nowadays. The only time in the last couple of years I was successful at a night-time movie was when I was coming off night-float and had slept the whole day prior to the movie. In any case, the 750 pm start time for "Inception" was pushing it. Despite being on an outpatient rotation and feeling rather well-rested, it still wasn't good enough, and there went another many bucks down the drain for a movie which I slept through and will have to rent later, as apparently it was pretty good.

We get Netflicks now, which is great; however, I must say that due to my high likelihood of falling asleep watching the films in the evening, sometimes it takes 2-3 evenings to finish one movie.

This frustrates me to no end. The problem did precede residency, if you were wondering if chronic sleep-deprivation has something to do with it.

I really wish I could change things! Some people tell me that I'm just not going to interesting enough movies, although I don't really buy this. It really doesn't matter what the movie is. I've tried coffee and sodas ahead of time. I've tried maintaining an upright position at all times (horizontal or lying down = game over). I try pinching myself. The thing that works the best, truthfully, is having all the lights on; however, this obviously wouldn't fly in a public setting. With the darkness, my eyelids seem to have a mind of their own, and keeping them open really does not seem to be under my voluntary control.

The Epworth Sleepiness Scale is a medical questionnairre which assesses your likelihood of sleeping during the following situations and recommends further workup based on your responses (0 points= no chance of dozing, 1 = slight chance of dozing, 2 = moderate chance of dozing, 3= high chance of dozing)

Sitting and reading	____________
Watching TV	____________
Sitting inactive in a public place (e.g a theater or a meeting)	____________
As a passenger in a car for an hour without a break	____________
Lying down to rest in the afternoon when circumstances permit	____________
Sitting and talking to someone	____________
Sitting quietly after a lunch without alcohol	____________
In a car, while stopped for a few minutes in traffic

My score is a 11 (high in the first few categories, low in the last 3), which per their grid:

9 and up

Seek the advice of a sleep specialist without delay

Maybe I will, if I find some time off from residency, get myself a formal sleep study to check if I have sleep apnea or something.

In the meantime, though, I welcome all suggestions for ways I can treat this "conservatively."