Disclaimer - I know that the people of reddit are neither health care professionals nor specialists. I have an appointment with a pulmonologist scheduled for late October. Regardless, I’m truly desperate for theories.

I (24F) have not slept through the night a single time in literal years. I am so incredibly tired, and the very little time I feel adequately rested never lasts.

I had a single-night, at home sleep test conducted in March of this year. It found nothing clinically significant with regards to apneas of any sort. I did have events, but not enough to immediately suggest that sleep apnea is the issue. The results were sent to my PCP (who to be perfectly honest, I am not impressed with), who referred me to a pulmonologist for further evaluation. With there being over 6 months between the study and the follow up appointment, I am really just wanting to talk about it. Although there was no conclusive evidence of apneas—

I had 38 wake ups the night of my sleep study.

The company I used is remote, so the sleep medicine specialist who interpreted my results was not someone I’d spoken to before. She recommended trying to keep myself on my side, as I had less wake ups in that sleeping position compared to my back or stomach. She also recommended trying to see if getting electronic devices away from me helps keep me asleep, citing newer research into EMFs affecting sleep.

I am a terribly restless sleeper. The graph of positions I was in through the night is ridiculous. I wake up looking like I’ve been through a tornado. The test did not pick up any snoring from me at all.

Most of the time when I wake up, it’s checking the time, seeing I can sleep more, and going back to bed. Regardless, I know how important REM sleep is, and when I’m waking up over 3 dozen times over an 8 hour span (that’s on average once every 12 minutes) I know I am not getting enough.

I struggle with fatigue like crazy. I do live with ADHD, depression, and generalized anxiety. I have a lot of trauma. I’m not having PTSD symptoms (i.e. reexperiencing events through dreams). I’ve had a medical marijuana card before, which helped me get to sleep faster but did not help me stay asleep. Melatonin only makes my historically vivid/distressing dreams more vivid.

There is definitely room to grow with regards to sleep hygiene. I do typically fall asleep with something playing in the background, but 95% of the time I wear a blackout sleep mask. I’ve tried sleep casts, white noise, rain sounds, music, podcasts, audio books, tv shows to listen to. Nothing seems to make a difference. I don’t make an effort to turn off screens 1-2 hours before bed because I work long hours, which already involve a computer the majority of the time, and after spending 11 hours a day working in direct client care in the mental health field, I honestly just want to watch trash reality TV half the time or a comfort show.

I do take naps, typically on the weekends when I’m not working. My body knows nothing of a 20-30 minute nap, and if I allow it to have its way, will take a 2-6 hour nap after sleeping 8-12 hours at night.

I’m very open to pointers. I’m 100% sure that there is information not included in this wall of text that may be relevant. I will answer any and all questions (within reason and relevance). I am tired. I don’t know that there is nothing in the world that I want more than to feel well rested.