A Day in the Life: Idiopathic Hypersomnia

Being someone with idiopathic hypersomnia (IH), it causes me to sleep an excessive amount. Sometimes detailing my day-to-day habits is enlightening to outsiders to see how I operate.

While this usually happens by listing out my nap schedule vocally, here I wrote out everything I did for the day instead.

My day-to-day with idiopathic hypersomnia

I made this piece as my day went on, making a grocery list of what I did for the day. I wanted to write out one of my more normal days, but I had no way of knowing how the day would go until after I wrote out most of this piece. So, as a preface, this is one of my more abnormal days, but only because I couldn’t sleep the first few hours of the day. Besides me not being able to sleep until 6 AM, the rest of the day is pretty normal for me.

1 AM: I decide to continue working on a bit of writing and finish off my cold tea (it’s a masala chai!) that I made hours earlier. I always take a bit to finish off drinks since I forget that I made them or I get so focused on my work that I don’t notice I didn’t finish it. When I stop writing I realize I still have a bit of energy, so I clean the kettle and mug I used for the tea.

2 AM: I start winding down for bed, taking night meds, turning on my fan (I sleep best in super cold rooms), and taking off my glasses. I turn off my lights and crawl into bed to sleep.

3 AM to 6 AM: At this point, I realize I have either had too much caffeine or it's an insomnia night. I end up not sleeping at all and, instead, scrounge different social media accounts as something to do.

6 AM to 10AM: By this time I actually fall asleep, wake up for a bit, then fall back to sleep.

10 AM to 12 PM: Sleeping.

12 PM: I wake up again for a brief period and reach for my phone to check my notifications. Since nobody needs me, I end up scrolling for a bit.

2 PM: I wake up after dozing off again. I find my phone under me; I most likely rolled over it after dozing off with it in my hand. At this point I am actually able to get up this time. I throw on some clothes to make lunch.

3 PM: I reheat my pot of masala chai tea that I made yesterday night so I can have a cup of tea while I read my book. I am reading "The Future is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs" by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha.

6 PM: I finish up the last few chapters of the book and choose to go out and do something before I run out of energy for the day. I decide to eat fast food for dinner and return an item that’s been sitting in my car for the last week begging me to take it back.

8 PM: I drive back home, and by this point I’m pretty much out of spoons for the day. I shed myself of my second skin (clothes). Then I crawl into my bed to be on my phone until I pass out.

Hopefully this piece shows a bit of what I go through!