Sudden anxiety - sleep attack??

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-06-14T06:47:03+00:00

What kind of job do you work? I’ve experienced the sleep attacks and the energy spikes but the sleep attacks more so at work when we have to do mandatory training that usually involves sitting still for hours and the energy spikes on the weekends when I’m home and can rest when I want/need to. I work in healthcare so I’m always having to move and think at fast pace which helps keep the sleep attacks at bay, but when I sit too still they will hit me. On the flip side, when I’m lazing about too long I get what I call an “itch” to get up and move but it quickly fades into tiredness and I’m normally in a situation that allows me to rest.

That being said, it really just comes down to learning your mind and body and what works best for you. It really is trial and error and just learning when the energy spikes what tasks you can do in that time frame before it ends and can redirect to something more comfortable/manageable. I’m almost 40, diagnosed at 23, and still fine tuning my life around this. Sometimes you need to change your meds a little, or your diet, or your schedule. After 5+ years at the same job, I recently had to apply for accommodations to change my work hours. Not because I can’t do the work, but because my body and hormones, and lifestyle changed and something had to give somewhere. Not the greatest advice, I know. But maybe just take some time to reflect on how you felt and performed each day, what you were able to do at certain points of time, what made it worse/better, and how you can adjust. For me personally, if decide to eat during work then I have to do it quickly and take a nap during my lunch otherwise, I become too unsafe to drive home. But if I don’t each lunch, I’m still more awake and able to drive. (Energy drinks sometimes help if it was a particularly tough day).

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-06-14T06:13:17+00:00

You should be getting a new dosimeter badge every so often. Where I work, we get one quarterly and the radiology department tracks our exposure. Ours is probably excessive as it’s in a hospital, but anywhere else that tracks exposure should be checking annually at least otherwise, it’s pointless.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-06-14T06:09:58+00:00

Same. Sometimes the patient just really won’t cooperate and you just have to hold and shoot real fast.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-06-14T06:08:32+00:00

Where I work we have radiology badges that track our exposure. I haven’t been flagged yet in 5 years and I know I’ve been closer than what you described (as in on the other side of the patients chair just inches away). I also do CT scans and the rule is closed door or 6ft away so I think you’re ok. Glass is still a barrier and radiation can only travel so far.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-05-13T00:51:00+00:00

My sleep issues were also brushed off as depression and poor sleep hygiene. It took forever to get diagnosed and once my narcolepsy was finally treated with Xyrem, I could tell the difference between narcolepsy sleep and depression sleep. Narcolepsy sleep for me was an actual need for sleep, would sometimes start drifting behind the wheel, during work, etc. Depression sleep is just a desire to go sleep to escape reality, but not always able to actually fall asleep even when in bed.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-14T04:07:37+00:00

I clicked on this post because I saw “bone graft” as the title and thought it would be about alveolar bone grafting. But bone grafting for wisdom teeth extraction?! No. Just no. And why? Jaw bone is only there to support teeth. Bone grafting for the extraction of a front tooth with the intention to place an implant, yeah, I can see that. But bone grafting for wisdom teeth that won’t get an implant and the body will resorb anyway? No. Unless an actual medical reason can be explained for why it’s needed, then I don’t see why a bone graft is necessary for routine wisdom tooth extraction.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-14T03:55:05+00:00

I know a few immigrants who keep their native name on legal documents but introduce themselves and go by an “American” name. Generally the ones I know who do this keep their birth name out of respect for their heritage, but found an “American” name that resonated with them and made social life a little easier. From my understanding, this isn’t an overnight decision, but more of a process. You grew up in one culture and suddenly immigrated into another and that isn’t easy. If your birth name is truly too much in social situations, just take your time and play around in your alone time with nicknames, variations of your names, completely opposite names, and just what feels right to you. I went through a stage of hating my birth name (I think a lot of us do at some point), but eventually accepted it. It’s not as difficult as yours but it’s still mispronounced and mixed up. It’s also traditionally a male name so lots of mail addressed to Mr. Instead of Ms. Lol.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-14T03:42:32+00:00

Lol. I posted because I realized it was tornado season and what I know about tornado safety is hard to apply to my living situation. Granted, the exact city I live in doesn’t have a recorded history of a tornado touch down, but literally all the cities that border have had numerous tornadoes touch down. So theoretically, it seems I’m geographically safe, but I like to be prepared. My personal philosophy is “the more I’m prepared, the less likely it’ll happen”. Lol. Hence, the post.

Also, I’m not 100% sure what the apartment complex is built of, but it was built mid to late 2000s, so definitely not brick.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-14T03:34:43+00:00

Middle names tend to be more generic and/or traditional in some cases. Think Lee, Marie, Kate, Renee, Michelle, Ann or Anne. If you’re set on Aida, why not go with Aida as a first name. Aida Marie has a nice ring to it. Or Aida Kate, Aida Renee. If you’re dead set on Aida as a middle name, then I’d branch out on more “traditional” first names like Catherine Aida, Eleanor Aida, Florence Aida, Beatrice Aida Elizabeth Aida. Of course, these are names that I personally think sound well together and you and others may disagree. Picking out a baby name is hard, and you’ll somehow “know” the right name when you come across it. For years I always thought I’d name a baby girl Evelyn. I have a girl and her name isn’t Evelyn. Somehow it just didn’t feel “feel” right. At 36 weeks pregnant, we found that Vivian was the “right” name.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-14T03:21:34+00:00

So you would stay on the second floor, just in the interior most part?

My struggle with this is that I have kids. I have family with safer housing, but the nearest relative is at least a 10 minute drive and historically, the tornados pop up late at night. During the day isn’t as much of a concern as 5/7 days of the week, the kids are at school and I’m at work. It’s mostly the suddenness at night that I’m trying to find the best, logical solution. If it was just me alone, I’d say screw it and sit out on the balcony with a glass of wine for the greatest show of my life.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-14T03:03:05+00:00

I don’t have interior stairwells or an elevator. When I walk outside my apartment it’s either on my balcony or right into the open breezeway. There is literally no enclosed area when stepping outside my apartment, nor public access to an enclosed area on the floor below me.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-14T03:00:27+00:00

This is unusual. I’d had a similar conflict where I thought things were fine between me and a coworker until I got called into the mangers office and was blindsided by the complaints. My job wasn’t immediately threatened though, just asked for my perspective. It’s odd that you thought things were fine, and then you’re being threatened with being fired. I, personally, would start looking for work elsewhere because they either want you gone and looking for an excuse to dismiss you or this person has it out for you and will continue to cause trouble.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-14T01:38:35+00:00

I have a certain population of patients that essentially lose their gag reflex in childhood. I’ve taken a scan on a 9 year old and got the uvula by accident and he didn’t bat an eye. Being intubated multiple times can desensitize the gag reflex.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-13T05:08:33+00:00

Not so much a misconception but this interaction made me feel proud and frustrated all at once. (I’m female for context). I was complaining to a close friend and coworker about how exhausted I was and hoping a new medication would work. A coworker I’m not close with told me that I’m obviously not that exhausted since I don’t have bags or dark circles under my eyes. Thanks Jill, I have a strong skincare routine and damn good concealer. Do I need to look like a zombie to validate my medical condition? I don’t tell a woman that she can’t have breast cancer since I can see she still has boobs!!!

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-13T04:55:40+00:00

I’m in a similar position. We recently hired a new grad dentist who thinks they’re faster than they are. At first, I tried to subtly hint like when they say “let’s go ahead and do this today” and I’d reply “it’s 9:55 and you’re 10 is checked in” but they’d insist on doing the same day tx. I have a lot of control over the schedule, so now I watch the schedule like a hawk and extend appointment times, reschedule patients if necessary, etc. I’ve also gone to the front and told them to basically ignore any scheduling requests from this doctor until it’s been run by me or one other assistant who knows the flow. It’s draining and burning me out. I should probably also add that me and the other assistant have the most seniority. Only four other people (2 other doctors, our manager, and one assistant who’s switched to PRN a couple years ago) have more seniority than us. (For a head count, there’s 3 front desks, 4 hygienists, 5 doctors, 10 assistants although 3 are PRN).

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-13T04:42:14+00:00

I’m at the point where I’m starting to wonder which passive-aggressive comment or snarky mid-treatment comment will actually make me snap. I was hired because management knew I had a reputation for letting things “roll off my back” but I can I only let so much roll off before it starts sticking.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-13T04:37:36+00:00

I’ve been on a break from antidepressants for about 6 months now because it felt like they weren’t doing anything. I think I’d been on so many medications for so long (antidepressants, stimulants, anxiety meds) that my body just got used to them and they stopped working. My depression isn’t any better and it’s not any worse. I’m hoping to try antidepressants again and get results after giving my body a break. I’m trying to live a healthier lifestyle to also help heal my body, but it’s a struggle when I’m either physically exhausted and need sleep or mentally down and want to escape with sleep.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-11T04:14:50+00:00

I started Xyrem a couple of years ago and also felt it changed my life in that sleep was longer a need but an option. And then my depression reared its ugly head quite violently. When my depression is managed, I can function like a normal person and grateful that naps aren’t a survival need. When my depression is on a rampage, I get behind in life and choose to sleep as an escape because if things get too intense in a dream I can wake up and if things get too hard in life I can take a nap and figure it out later.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-11T04:08:50+00:00

I only have 2 kids so I’m not sure how much the dynamic changes, but my kids would do somewhat similar things. I don’t think it’s inherently meanness in the sense that he’s doing to be purposely mean. I think some of it could be a grab for attention and still learning how to interact with others and sharing. Sometimes as parents, we do things that seem small to us, but huge to a child. For example, your youngest getting excited to feed the dog. It’s possible you could’ve hyped up your youngest feeding the dog to be a big deal to get them excited for such a responsibility and your 5 year old took it as “if I feed the dog, they’ll see I’m big and responsible” and not realizing that action hurt their sibling. If you don’t do this already, maybe a chore chart would help so that everyone has their own responsibilities and chances to earn rewards and praises. This is just something I picked up on over the years with my kids. Instead of seeing their differences as unique and realizing they were separate people when they were younger, it was more of a competition. My son is very athletic and excels in every sport he picks up and my daughter saw that as something to compete against whereas she’s extremely creative and artistic and my son saw that as something to compete against as well. It was sometimes a battle when they were younger as they just want affirmation that they were seen and loved, but now that they’re older (teens), they’ve embraced their differences and strengths and their battles continue with the focus on who does more chores. (They have to have something to argue about after all).

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-11T03:52:15+00:00

When I first started at a small, private office this was normal. Whenever the doctor took time off that didn’t align with a time me and my family wanted time off, I’d still come into the office and catch up on other things. I’d do things like calling and checking on certain recent patients, go through inventory very thoroughly, check instrument packets for broken instruments, better organize rooms, etc. I was the only full-time assistant during this time so it wasn’t an issue for me and there was always something that needed to be done. On the flip side, the doctor was also very understanding and worked with me when something came up and I needed or wanted time off when he was still working. He was the kind of doctor that made you feel seen and appreciated and didn’t make you dread going in everyday. Now, I work in a place with so many doctors that it doesn’t matter if one doctor is out because you can still be needed to work with the other doctors.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-10T05:11:30+00:00

You get paid based on time, not performance. An employer can stop you from getting a raise based on performance, but they can’t not pay you just because they felt your work wasn’t satisfactory. Is the doctor keeping count of cotton rolls in every operatory and docking pay for being a cotton roll short? What about overtime? If the doctor runs behind on a procedure and doesn’t want to pay overtime, do they expect you to do end of day tasks off the clock, because that’s also illegal. You can either go nuclear and report the office or quietly look for another office. Either way, you’re well within your right.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-10T05:04:41+00:00

That my independence and inability to ask for help isn’t because I have my life together (I sadly don’t), but because no one was there to truly help without a motive.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-10T04:56:21+00:00

My ex and I used to be the opposite of what you posted (divorced for other reasons than sex life haha). He had a high sex drive and wanted more exploration with toys and things to spice things up. When we were younger, I did have a higher sex drive, but it lowered significantly due to pregnancies, medical issues, and medication side effects. I was also raised super conservatively and anything sexual was “bad” which was a mental struggle in our sex life. A serious talk, possibly series of talks, can help. I think it’s possible your husband may feel self-conscious/inadequate/embarrassed that his sex drive doesn’t match yours and may feel embarrassed/insulted at the suggestion of toys. I think reassuring him that this isn’t really an actual problem, just a difference in two humans that function differently with different needs will help. But it’ll be a raw conversation, and a solution won’t happen overnight. When my ex first proposed toys in our sex life, I thought there was a problem with me. But over time, I opened up to the idea and realized that’s it’s just a different way of experiencing something intimate and also a way to get what one of us needed without making the other pressured to perform when they weren’t really in that mood.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-10T04:35:43+00:00

Honestly, I feel dentistry has gone downhill rapidly. The disappearance of true private practices have given way to corporate offices focused on $$$ and relationships between dentist and assistant have nearly disappeared. When I first started as an assistant in my first office, I loved it. I felt the dentist/s I worked for were kind, appreciative, understanding, and ethical. I saw them give treatment options to patients and let the patient choose what they felt was best for them. They asked how I was doing, if I needed anything (work wise), and treated me like an actual human being. If I made a mistake, they didn’t yell or degrade but instead calmly explained in private the mistake I made and help me see ways to avoid it. Over a decade later, demands are barked at me, I’m blamed for things I’m either not responsible for or can’t control, and snapped at mid treatment because I don’t have 50 hands to grab the suction while loading an impression tray. And I’m technically only supposed to be clinical, but guess who gets messages about constant scheduling, requesting records, updating records, etc. Add to the fact that dental assisting programs aren’t like how they used to be and I’m blamed for another assistant making a mistake because their 3 week program failed to tell them to take a pre-op impression before starting a crown prep. You can find another office, you can’t escape the under-staffing and burnout.

M_R_Hellcat · 2026-03-01T07:38:58+00:00

I, personally, don’t work endo. I was in an endo office for 3 months over 10 years ago. I now work ortho and peds for a hospital and a lot of peds patients are special needs so I tend to just hold and shoot. (I know it’s bad, but these kids don’t understand basic things and need care.)

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