I have actually fallen asleep when I had gotten back in the car while I was putting gas in the car. It sounds like sleep apnea. It can be debilitating. It had destroyed my health. The narcolepsy is a remote possibility. A sleep study can diagnosis the problem. Wearing a CPAP machine at night is a real pain, but it does work. Believe me, sleep apnea can develop into a very serious illness. My sleep study revealed that I was stopping breathing on the average of 15 times an hour throughout the entire night. Don't ignore this.

It does sound like sleep apneoa. We all learnt about narcolepy in Med School but my understanding is that it is exceedingly rare. Sleep apneoa is probably quite common and typically affects the truck driver coming the other way. Do you have a partner who notices that you sleep very fitfully, with long periods 30-45 sec of not breathing followed by a loud snore. This goes on all night and your partner may have moved to another room or left you. This can be treated by positive pressure ventilation through a mask during the night.

Hi Val

This sounds very much like a condition called narcolepsy. Here, people have a tendency to fall asleep in quiet, calm surroundings or even during mundane tasks, at an abnormal rate.

It may also be associated with a sudden loss of muscle tone resulting in collapse, or sleep paralysis. Some people report vivid hallucinations in the moments before they sleep, although some patients do not experience any of these other symptoms.

Narcolepsy affects as many as 1 in every 2000 people and is probably due to the lack of a substance called hypocretin in the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord.

Unfortunately, narcolepsy is not that easy to treat. Drugs such as dexamfetamine, or a low dose of tricyclic antidepressants may be of some benefit - speak to your doctor.

Hope that is of some use, best of luck!

I'm wondering if low blood sugar could play a part in this problem. Or how about just being under too much stress so when you finally quit moving, you fall asleep?

Sleep apnea can deprive you of ever having a good nights sleep. This can cause one to fall asleep very easily while doing simple tasks such as driving or even waiting for a page to come up on the computer. Usually the afflicted snores when asleep. A good thing to rule out if nothing else. Any ear, nose and throat doc can help. The condition can be treated and greatly improve your well being. Ignoring this condition can cause high blood pressure and other health problems, including death.

It could also be that you have a partner who snores, comes in late, or turns on the light while you are sleeping? Noise and light are known to reduce the quality of sleep, as well as caffeine and pseudo-ephedrine. Even though you are asleep, apparently two hours of sleep without caffeine or Nyquil in your system are better for you than four hours of sleep on cold medication. I know it's hard to find time, but you should REALLY try to get two hours more sleep a night, and try to make sure it's QUALITY sleep. If you find you can't sleep in bed, even if you're really tired, the next day you should try going for a jog. You may be surprised how much just fifteen minutes of exercise can improve sleep!

In other words sleep deprivation could cause some to fall asleep while sitting or doing some tasks.

Sleep apnea is not really a sleep problem, it is a breathing problem that happens while sleeping. Many over weight people get this. the person stops breathing for a few seconds, many times throughout the night and is very tired the next day of course. There IS a treatment for sleep apnea. Now Narcolepsy is a disease that makes a person uncontrollably fall asleep, during work,meetings or ANYWHERE else. They do not have to be bored to fall asleep. My best friend has it and she can fall asleep during dinner etc.

• Sleep Apneoa

• What is it?

It is a sleep related breathing disorder that causes your body to stop breathing during sleep. The following are the two primary types of sleep apnea:

1. obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)
2. central sleep apnea (CSA)

OSA happens when the tissue in the back of the throat collapses and blocks the airway. This keeps air from getting in to the lungs. This is a very common sleep disorder. It happens because the muscles inside the throat relax as you sleep. Gravity then causes the tongue to fall back and block the airway. Blockage of the airway can happen a few times a night or several hundred times per night.

CSA occurs when the brain fails to tell the lungs to breathe. As this signal is lost, the lungs do not take in the oxygen that your body needs. This happens most often as people are falling asleep.

Who gets it?

Sleep apnea can occur in men and women of any age.

OSA is most common in obese, middle-aged men. There is a strong relationship between weight and OSA. A man's neck gets thicker as he gains weight. This increases the level of fat in the back of the throat, narrowing the airway. With more fat in the throat, a man's airway is more likely to be blocked.

Children with large tonsils may also have OSA.

CSA is most common in the elderly and in patients with heart disease. It can also occur as a result of a stroke.

How do I know if I have it?

About 1/2 of people who snore loudly have OSA. Snoring is a sign that your airway is being partially blocked. While you may not think you snore, ask the person you sleep with. He or she can tell how often you snore and whether or not you stop breathing.

Many patients with OSA are sleepy during the day. They find that they are still tired even after a nap. When you stop breathing, your body wakes up. It happens so quickly, you aren't even aware of it. This disrupts your sleep process. You can stop breathing hundreds of times in one night. This will make you feel very tired the next day. OSA patients are often obese and have a neck size of more than 17 inches. Many patients with OSA also have high blood pressure.

Loud snoring is not a factor with CSA. Patients may not know they have it unless someone watches them as they sleep. CSA may be a result of an illness such as a stroke or heart disease. Many older people have episodes of CSA as they fall asleep, but they have no major consequences.

It is also important to know if there is something besides sleep apnea that is causing your sleep problems.

You could have narcolepsy or sleep apnea.

You could have hypoglycemia. Your body's ability to store glucose is impaired or you have a parasite stealing your glucose so you feel alright or even ecstatic for a short time after eating then fall asleep. Look into what could have caused this for you (eg. particular medications especially antibiotics) then get your metabolism and digestion back on track through:

1) exercise

2) drinking plenty of water

3) staying away from foods full of simple sugars (like cakes, chocolate, biscuits, icecream) and white flour, rice, pasta and pastry. These make you feel great for a short time, then crash. Don't drink fruit juice - eat the whole fruit.

4) trying to eat smaller amounts throughout the whole day instead of a few large meals

5) eating a raw salad every day. If you are at the point where even a raw salad is putting you to sleep, eat some high protein food with it eg. lentils, beans, dairy, meat and some 'good' fats eg. olives, avocados, nuts and seeds.

When you are crashing, instead of reaching for a chocolate bar, try cinnamon in milk or yogurt, or a banana rolled in cinnamon and coconut.

If your hypoglycemia is caused by candidiasis, you can kill it by eating probiotics eg. unsweetened yogurt, garlic and onions. Note that when you start to kill the candida, you will probably feel worse for a while before you feel better. If the candida is in your blood stream killing it can induce depression, anxiety, extreme rage and psychosis. This is extremely serious. If you have any indications of these symptoms, do not attempt to kill the candida unsupervised, and take it extremely slowly.

Following these guidelines may take a few weeks to start working, depending on what stage you are at with the hypoglycemia. Even when you have recovered, you will find that these are good guidelines for everyone to follow to stay healthy.

You did not mention how old your child is. If your child is below the age of 6 then here are a few tips:

Read your child a story (funny one) Put a night light in the bedroom Never have the child sleep with one or both parents, but until the child settles down it is advisable to sleep on the floor by the child's bed. Play a radio low with nice music.

If you child is 12 or older then try talking to them. Perhaps school is bothering them. If there is not peace in the family and parents are arguing or considering divorce (the biggest fear of children) this too must be discussed with that child.

• If you feel like you want to eat at night , just try getting a glass of water or juice instead. Often people put on weight because they are bored and need something to do with their hands - so they eat.

• If drinking instead doesn't work. Try snacking on healthy things such as fruit.

• I drink a cup of hot tea before bed.

• Try eating a very light healthy snack, such as an apple or a handful of grapes, etc. And a big glass of milk. If you don't like milk, try a chocolate milk or some other drink with some substance Then slowly make how much you eat smaller until you only drink a glass of milk or something. And if you want, you can slowly stop drinking that too. It is probably mostly habit that makes you hungry at night. You can also try eating dinner a little later. But try to make it at least two or three hours before you go to sleep.

• I've been watching my calories on a website. You list everything you eat and it counts the calories, vitamins, fat grams, carbs and everything for you. Since I've started doing this I've noticed that I pay way more attention to what I eat throughout the day and it's really helpful. To answer your question. Drink lots and lots of water all day long (with a straw and some lemon if you find it hard to drink water) and I guarantee that you'll get full way faster and after a few days you'll feel fuller all the time. Trust me on this one. I used to eat a horse before bed every night and now I'm down to some water and not much else.

• Break your addiction ! Read a really good book or a boring one and you will find that in doing other activities you can go to sleep. Remember that you are addicted to doing something a certain way. Ignore your stomach. Tell yourself over and that you can do it. After a while it will be come a great habit. Nothing puts on weight more and makes sleep less relaxed and enjoyable than going to be with food recently consumed. Going to bed a little hungry is amazing. Tell yourself over and over that you are fine and morning will come with a smile because you will be ready to eat a nutritious delicious meal.

• A banana is really good, it is good for sleeping. There is mysterious link between sleeplessness and heart disease. People who don't get much sleep are more likely than those who do to develop calcium deposits in their coronary arteries, possibly raising their risk for heart disease, a new study has found.

• Eat a balanced breakfast and automatically your hunger will subside throughout the day. Research says that people who eat balanced breakfast never feel the craving and don't do binge eating at all.

• So eat a balanced breakfast and avoid cravings at night.

• Doing exercises will help you to get more sleep. It will also keep you health and away from many health diseases and heart related problems.

Try a supplement called Appesat. You take it with your dinner and it expands in your stomach to help keep you fuller for longer. This may help you sleep easier at night as you wont feel hungry.