Man Explains His Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder In This Interesting “Ask Me Anything Thread”

Michael Reed wasn't born with a sleep disorder. It seems to have snuck up on him during high school. Reed says that he started 1992 as an outgoing teenager and lived an active life, which included running, martial arts and cycling. But things started falling apart during the course of the year when began to have problems sleeping.

"I’d often wake up in the middle of the night, struggling to get some shut-eye and wondering how I was going to get through the day ahead. Even when I could, I would find it difficult to stay asleep and would sometimes wake up every half an hour or so," he wrote in a Metro "First Person" piece.

As you can imagine, Reed didn't feel great in the mornings. "I felt like I’d swigged half a bottle of vodka and downed a couple of sleeping pills before I left the house," he revealed.

It would be many years before Reed was finally diagnosed with Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder (N24SWD). Those with the disorder have an ever-shifting circadian rhythm, and their sleep and wake times are constantly pushed progressively earlier or later. But having N24SWD doesn't only leave you feeling exhausted. It affects many other aspects of your life and body too.

"As a consequence of this ever-shifting rhythm, individuals with N24SWD experience inappropriate fluctuations in appetite, mood, and alertness," explains the Sleep Foundation.

They often, as Reed has described, have difficulty keeping work, school, or social commitments. They're also prone to depression due to the stress of not being able to keep a normal schedule, or as a side effect of sleeping during the day and not getting enough sunlight.

N24SWD is most common in people with total blindness, with an estimated 50% of completely blind people having the disorder. Experts say this is because total blindness means there's a lack of light input reaching the internal clock.

When it comes to sighted people with N24SWD, their condition is often misdiagnosed. "Symptoms manifest as generic daytime sleepiness and nighttime insomnia," explains the Sleep Foundation site, adding that this makes it easy for doctors to believe the patient has a different sleep disorder.

"As a result, many sighted people have the disorder for years before receiving a diagnosis," notes the foundation. And Reed can attest to this.

After first experiencing sleep problems in 1992, Reed sought the help of a number of medical professionals.

"In 2019, I decided to seek medical assistance once again and the GP I met this time around was much more helpful and understanding. Eventually, I was referred to a sleep clinic in a different part of the country, and one of the specialists I met recognised my condition," he writes. "It was then, after 27 years that I was finally given my official diagnosis of Non 24 Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder."