<p>I recommend this excellent book:
Power Sleep : The Revolutionary Program That Prepares Your Mind for Peak Performance by James B. Maas.</p>
<p>This doesn't sound particularly normal. I have suffered for my entire life with insomnia as did my mother and son. Usually, it goes through cycles and lasts for a month or so. I've never experienced hallucinations. My son is on medication and I don't believe he has experienced this either. You need to get your daughter to a doctor immediately. If she has problems because of noise etc - she can use ear plugs and or a white noise generator.</p>
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I am a bit concerned because one of her roommates (with whom she is no longer friends) went to the house mother after she experienced my D hallucinating...On the other hand, I am concerned about what this girl is saying to others...
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<p>Is she no longer friends with this roommate because she went to the house mother? I find that to not be a good sign. Also, why are you concerned that the roommate might tell others about the episode? This is a medical issue, it's nothing to be ashamed of. It would be nice to keep things private but that goes out the window in many ways with communal living and to a certain extent it should. So far your daughter has recognized what is going on but that is not a guarentee that she always will. </p>
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Unless or until things appear to be getting dangerous, all I can do is make suggestions--eat well, exercise (but not at 11 PM, which is her preferred time to do so), ...
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<p>I think what many of us are trying to convey is that despite your daughter's insistance otherwise, things are getting dangerous or at the very least, they could be. Her doctor sounds nice enough but you've not said this doctor is a sleep disorder specialist so I assume they are not. </p>
<p>I've dealt with a sleeping disorder for nearly two decades now. I have been a member of several on-line communities. Virtually no one who wants to sleep exercises at 11 PM. Between the secrecy, the anger at someone who took an appropriate action upon witnessing this, and the self-sabotoging behavior, this appears to be a serious issue.</p>
<p>Instead of insisting she go off the stimulants with her current doctor this summer, I would find a new doctor who specializes in sleep disorders right now. It is a very poorly understood field among the vast majority of doctors. Switching to a specialist is something I wish I'd done much earlier in the process and it's made a huge difference in the quality of my life.</p>
<p>Is she eating properly? Is she a normal weight for her height right now? My kids tell me that girls like the ADD drugs because it helps them loose weight...also exercising at 11:00 at night is odd especially for someone who claims to be having sleep issues. Something does not sound "right" about this situation and you do have cause for concern.</p>
<p>As a parent, I'd feel much better knowing she lives in a sorority house (ex-roommate, not withstanding), knowing there's a house mom who might be a bit more attentive and observant than an RA, or roommate.</p>
<p>I remember when D1 was pretty sick once, and the house mom stayed up with her much of the night, and suggested she spend a couple of nights in the extra guest room, which just so happened to be downstairs across the hall from the house mom. Next time I saw the house mom (a couple of weeks after this), I expressed endless gratitude for watching over my daughter (and I know my daughter expressed the same!). </p>
<p>I still agree with the other posters who say she needs follow up, but the fact that she has caught up on sleep since Thursday night would make me feel better, as a parent, especially since sleep deprivation is a cumulative problem. One night once or twice a month is a different level of worry for a parent who is worried about their child's immediate safety, than three or more nights in a row. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>No, the issue with the roommate goes back to early Fall and has nothing to do with the roommate telling the house mother (as I said, my D doesn't know that the girl did go to the house mother). They did not know each other well when they decided to room together and, once they got to know each other better, my D realized they had nothing in common, starting with the fact that the girl was drunk every weekend. My D has always been on the thin side, although she gained some weight in the dorm last year. She ate well this summer and began exercising. She was a HS varisty athlete who did no exercise last year other than a some intramural basketball. I suspect that her night of 11 PM exercising will prove to be her one trip to the gym. </p>
<p>The sorority house mother does not live at the house but is there all day. Due to a coincidental years old relationship between this woman's family and my stepson's family, the woman has been extremely helpful and I am comforted by her presence, too. (Although my D has told me never to do it again, I did have the woman check on my D when I could not reach her by phone in the middle of the day--she was sleeping. She tends to sleep during the day, which may be why normally not sleeping at night doesn't cause the hallucinations. Last week, she had to go to more than a usual number of classes to decide which to keep/which to drop and was trying to not nap during the day in order to increase the chances of sleeping at night.)</p>
<p>As I am sure you all know, there is little that can be done when the "child" over 18 does not want to do something. Withdrawing financial support is about the only control, and I am not going to stop supporting her because she won't go to a sleep clinic now. I will try to get it done over her spring break (which is in February) or in the summer.</p>
<p>I am concerned that if the roommate and others do not understand that the incident was a sleep issue, they will just think she is a bit crazy or strange (neiher of which is true). I probably shouldn't worry about that now as there is nothing I can do. I will leave that part to my D and the house mother.</p>
<p>I am not being cavalier about the potential seriousness but I believe that since I am in contact with my D almost daily, I can monitor the situation. She is very open with me. I am going to try to make sure her three roommates and other close friends in the sorority are aware of the situation and know to call the housemother if things seem odd, or 911 if they seem way out of the ordinary. It is a bit touchy because even saying to call 911 if she doesn't know she is hallucinating may be an over-reaction since it may be sleepwalking. I know, though, that with our not being there, we can't take chances.</p>
<p>I was in a 24 hour dance marathon in college. My friend told me that by the end she was hallucinating - seeing doors in the ceiling. So yes, I think sleep deprivation can cause hallucinations.</p>
<p>Best wishes to you and your daughter. Glad to know the house mother is a good resource.</p>
<p>I may have missed this somewhere already in the thread, but in case no one has mentioned this yet, ADD stimulant meds can cause the onset of psychotic symptoms in some people. Delusions and/or hallucinations fall into that definition of "psychotic symptoms," I think. I second the importance of an in-person doctor evaluation.</p>
<p>I agree with everyone who has suggested getting her help ASAP and making sure she gets enough sleep. I've had experience with sleep deprivation hallucinations - when I was in college and driving home (which was a major mistake; should have known better than to drive when I could barely keep my eyes open) I hallucinated strange creatures crossing the road. Pulled over and slept for four hours and was OK after that.</p>
<p>It's good that the housemother is there to help. She needs to sleep as much as she needs, pronto. There's no way to tell what is causing the hallucinations though, without real medical evaluation. Good luck.</p>
<p>Here's an interesting report of how sleep deprivation can cause hallucinations:</p>
<p>Death</a> Valley Hallucinations by Jack Denness</p>
<p>The Badwater Ultra-Marathon is notorious for causing participants to see unusual things.</p>
<p>the medical term for these is 'hypnagogic hallucinations"; they are part of the narcolepsy tetrad(sleep attacks, sleep paralysis, cataplexy and hypnagogic hallucinations); sleep deprivation can cause them as well; it is actually 'dreaming while awake"; it is intrusion of normal REM(rapid eye movement sleep) sleep behaviors on consciousness; google "narcolepsy" for more information; get some sleep.</p>
<p>I have read that hallucinations are common during the Iditarod due to lack of sleep.</p>
<p>It sounds like a complicated situation and you seem to be as on top of it as you can be. I know it can be almost impossible to get an 18 year old to do something they don't want to do. I guess my biggest question in all this is whether or not she's abusing the stimulants.</p>