onwillalone

I also have EDS and, as a result, POTS. I don’t know if you have dysautonomia because of your EDS, too, but one less common symptom of dysautonomia is severe insomnia. A good friend of mine has POTS and you sound very similar to her. She’d end up hallucinating from lack of sleep, had to drop out of school for awhile, etc.

I’m not a doctor and I’m not giving you any medical recommendations, but we’ve both significantly benefited from fludrocortisone for the POTS. She was also diagnosed with ADHD and Ritalin has made a huge difference, too. She probably sleeps 5-6 hours a night now.

I don’t know if you’ve looked into this already, but I hope it at least helps to know you’re not alone

No, thank you for your reply! I don't want to put any dog in a living situation that's bad for them so I'm glad to hear that you've managed. Good luck with all the trouble you may or may not be having! :)

I've been trying to get a service dog for awhile but it seems like there are so many barriers. I also go to college and one of my issues is that I don't know if I would have enough space for a dog. I live in an apartment-style dorm (I have my own room and bathroom, and I share a kitchen/living room space) so I do have more space than most. Do you live in a dorm? How do you handle this problem? Does the school give you trouble?

Another issue is that I have enough money for month-to-month costs but not enough for buying a dog or paying for training. Most organizations I've looked at help with service dog costs if you're a veteran, but I'm not. Do you have any suggestions?

I know I asked a lot of questions. Thank you so much for doing this AMA! I'm glad you shared your story.

Cool, thanks for the tip!

I used to get these looping dreams in which I’d “wake up,” get dressed, go to school, etc. and then partway through my day, my alarm would ring and I’d realize I never actually woke up. Then I’d “wake up for real,” get dressed, go to school, etc. and the alarm would ring again. This would happen multiple times before I could actually wake up. I haven’t had these dreams in awhile, but what was that? (I have narcolepsy, if it’s relevant.)