Interrupted sleep=Nausea

When I have to wake up at an unusually early time (say, 3 or 4am), I invariably wind up feeling heavy (for lack of a better word) and disoriented, have a pinching feeling at the base of my neck, and am typically nauseated (this can become severe; I’ve learned not to eat anything for several hours–otherwise, well, the food makes a repeat visit). This also happens if I have gone to bed and have been asleep for a few hours, only to have to wake up–for example, last night I fell asleep at a friend’s house, then startled awake at 1am and realized I had to get home. I felt like I never really woke up; I had all of the above symptoms, and even once I was home and in bed, getting back to sleep was extremely difficult.

Has anyone ever experienced this? And what causes it? No one else I’ve ever spoken with about it has any idea what I’m talking about. I’m the only member of my family who has this problem.

Any ideas?

I think I know what you are talking about, Ruffian. At least, I also get unpleasant physical symptoms when I have to wake up really early, or are wakened only a few hours after I fall asleep.

I don’t get the nausea thing, but I do feel extremely cold and weak, and get the shakes really bad. That only usually lasts for about 30 minutes or so, but after I’ve been awake for three or four hours under those cicumstances, I get an almost overpowering urge to go back to sleep.

Not just an “I’m tired because I didn’t get enough sleep” feeling, but an almost narcoleptic type state. I’ve learned that my husband has to do the driving in the early morning when we get an early start on trips, because I am just not safe behind the wheel until about noon.

Well, I don’t get nauseous or weak, but I do get some nasty-ass headaches. When I wake up at an ungodly hour, I usually feel awake within an hour or so, but the headache stays with me for most of the day, unless I take a massive dose of Excedrin.

I do get nauseous when I have to get up really early, but it’s never been so bad that I couldn’t eat and hold down food. I don’t get any other symptoms though, and I don’t really have any clue as to the cause.

Ruffian, I don’t have an exact answer for you, but since this happens to me as well, I can tell you what I have come to realize. Your body is mad at you for changing your schedule around. Most people’s bodies get accustomed to a set schedule and when that schedule is interrupted the body gets very upset.
I went through the nausea and stomach cramps when I switched from a day schedule to an overnight schedule. I would eat and get sick because my body wasn’t used to eating at that hour. It seems to me that some people are more sensitive to changes in their normal schedule. As far as I can tell the only way to cure it, is to keep your body on the same schedule as much as possible. It took me about 2 weeks on overnights before I started to feel “normal” again.
I don’t know if that helps or sheds some light on the subject, but it is what I have noticed and I have had to change my schedule a lot for various jobs.

It doesn’t happen to me if I wake up on the couch, or at an early hour, but I too, had these symptoms when I went from a day shift to the blasted, infernal, GaWdforsaken night shift.

Even if I DO get 8 hours of sleep, I feel like something the cat dragged in until about 8pm. It’s more of a internal clock function. Even after 4 months, almost 5, I haven’t become accustomed to this shift and I still feel brainless and inhuman upon waking up.

-Sam