When you are tired...

[Stomptown]

My eyes quit working properly.  It is not nice.

I have the same problem. I have 20/20 vision but when I'm tired I lose the ability to focus. It's especially bad when I'm driving or watching movies. Gotta love getting older!

[Rockhorst]

When my kid was born, 5 months ago, I started noticing double vision. Not blurry, but really double. One main image and a faint copy offset from it. It didn't bug me all day, but especially in conditions with a lot of contrast it became unbearable. So now I've got glasses on and it saves me a lot of headaches. On days that I'm well rested I don't need them and leave 'em off. I notice I do want them on in the car, but not when I'm on my racing bike. Funny how this works.

Speaking of being well rested: I'm not. I was actually thinking of starting a topic about it, but then this popped up. I just don't fall a sleep before 3 o' clock in the morning and it's driving me mad. I've always needed about 20 minutes to doze off (jealous of my girl friend, gone within 2 minutes all the time), but currently I just don't fall asleep at all. The conditions just don't matter. Yesterday I had a 65 km bike ride (to and from work) with 7 hours of teaching physics. I was pretty tired when I got home. So cooked dinner, watched a quiz but noted myself feeling very tired on the couch. So I went to bed, highly anticipating a nice comatose night. As soon as I lay down, BAM, wide awake.

I'm out of ideas on this one. I've reduced screen time at night, applied a heavy (software) filter for when I do use the screen, basically dark room mode, try to be active during the day and passive in the evening to wind down. It doesn't work. I just don't fall asleep until 3. That is like clockwork by the way. But then I have to get up at 7 and I start my day feeling tired. This all is in tandem with pretty bad skin from the shoulders up (eczema from birth, but it's getting worse as I get older) at the moment. Lying awake in bad, the itch becomes noticeable and I start scratching. This is a cycle that just keeps itself going.

Any tips on either issue (although I've given up on a successful skin treatment, just sleeping would be such a relief for now)?

[culturejam]

I get song loops regularly, not just when tired.

When I'm really tired, I get "exploding head syndrome" (no kidding, that's what it's called). Essentially, as I'm drifting into sleep, I will hear very loud / short sounds, like a loud "BANG!" almost like a firecracker or maybe somebody just dropped something heavy on the floor. Other people hear gunshots or explosions. I hear BANG! Very annoying because it usually happens multiple times. I've learned to ignore it by now, mostly. I frankly, it seems to be going away now that I've lost a few pounds (I suspect it was tied to sleep apnea somehow).

Here's more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_head_syndrome

[madbean]

I've had that exploding head thing happen a couple of times. Nothing like waking up to a huge adrenaline rush.

I remembered another thing: I get an eye twitch like that Scrat guy from the Ice Age movie, haha.

[gordo]

I get the eye twitch and once it starts it might last for a day or two at random times.

For anyone with sleep issues I strongly recommend getting tested for sleep apnea.  Wearing the mask is annoying at best but the quality of sleep, even if you don't get enough, is superb and a real game changer.  Current machines are insanely quiet and I bring mine with me on roadtrips and vacations.

Another "fix" is the current wave of prescription sleep medications like Ambien.  They're quite powerful and prone to misuse but used properly can introduce your body to what a good night's sleep really feels like.  The idea is to use them short term (few months or so) and then stop.  It's like a reset to your circadian system and puts the whole sleep process back on the rails.

[m-Kresol]

I have the same problem. I have 20/20 vision but when I'm tired I lose the ability to focus. It's especially bad when I'm driving or watching movies. Gotta love getting older!

Me too. I now have 2-2.5 dioptrines during daytime, but with atropine eye drops (dilates and relaxes your pupils) i got around 4, so blurry vision all over. When I get tired, I can't compensate that as good and my vision suffers. Same thing, when I got too much to drink.
Also, I had real double vision the first time last year and had it 2-3 times since. The first one was likely alcohol induced, but the others weren't. I think it has to look really attractive when I'm closing one eye after the other to check if those lovely ladies are indeed twins

[MJ_Sound_Cubed]

Ill look into it, thanks Ham  

i have no aversion or stigma to taking something like this if it helped.

If i find the headaches revert back to how they were a couple of months ago (and i'm just in a 'good phase' and that the changes arent actually making any difference) ill give it a go. Thanks for the suggestion!

How much salt do you take per day and how much water? The brain tends to expand in size when the body is low in sodium and iodo, causing headaches.

[chromesphere]

THanks MJ.  I don't add salt to my food but i don't avoid it either.  Interesting idea though, i will keep an eye on my salt intake, cheers!

[chromesphere]

I should start a thread in the fault diagnosing section. "migraines when tired, getting nightmares, please help".

Im only half joking