Does this ring a bell with anyone?Almost like clockwork, when I'm very constipated I'm overcome with the need to sleep for hours starting at around lunchtime each day - this is nothing like the normal afternoon food 'siesta' that many people experience. It's like an injection of a sleeping drug related to the time of day and not to do with whether I've eaten.I'm guessing the onset at this time of day must be something to do with an automatic daily cycle to peristalsis gut contractions - does that make sense?Anyone else have a bad time of day?
Bad time of day for sleepiness - afternoon
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Well the colon has a 24 hour period of higher and lower activity.Your alertness also has a 24 hour period.THe only time I had that sort of "malignant" sleepiness I had a sleep disorder and it certainly wasn't my colon making me go to sleep.The colon is most active around the time we get up. Is more active during day time and less active during sleep. It also has bursts of activity above the normal "awake" activity level every time you eat.There is a dip in alertness (increase in sleepiness) in all people around or just after lunchtime. It happens if you eat lunch or not. If you are not sleeping well at night for any reason the afternoon sleepiness will be much more pronounced than if you are getting a good night's sleep.Sleeping poorly will also make IBS worse. But it also makes almost all health issues worse. It isn't specific to IBS.
Thank you, Kathleen, you are so knowledgeable. I really wanted someone to say 'yes, afternoons are worse for me too' but I guess that would be too simple for me - I do have some weird symptoms that seem to suggest there is more than constipation going on. I'll think about it a bit and get back to my doctor. I've been looking through past posts and I must say you come across as a very knowledgeable and very helpful person - thanks!
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I have to go back in time for this; but I used to nod off every afternoon and it would stretch on through the rest of the day if there was any need for real mental activity. I remember one time driving the length of Vancouver Island, where I live, from a job site in the north. I would pull off at every opportunity for a 10-15 minute nap. Later I owned a deli coffee shop, and after the lunch rush and clean-up, I would be on my own. I would regularly sit down for a cup of caffeinated tea and my head would bob up and down. After a couple of years of that I took an outside sales job. Driving back to the office was always a battle against falling asleep at the wheel. (Open windows in the winter, radio at high volume, nothing worked. It was all I could do to keep my foot on the clutch at stop lights.) This felt like narcolepsy at the time, and I had no strategy, other than quitting work and giving up driving, for dealing with it.So here's the sales pitch. (Run away, run away.) I started taking a highly absorbed set of multi-vitamin minerals that were guaranteed to give more energy (network marketed, of course) and within 10 days that stopped. I have not had to contend with that--and have stopped being a threat to others on the road--since March of 1998. It has been the smartest thing I have ever done. You can send me a PM if you like or you can ignore this altogether. I do wish you good luck with this, because I know just how dangerous and frustrating it can be.Mark
I really appreciate that, Mark, thank you. I'll pm you to find out more about the supplement you took - willing to try anything especially something that sounds like it could work.Cheers,Donald
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