Hello,
I was wondering how tiredness relates to SPD?

I am newly (yesterday) diagnosed as having this and I was wondering how much of my life this actually impacts. Can it cause one to be unrested every morning and sleepy all day? I have almost no energy; the OT said I was fried sensory wise.

So I guess, any input on SPD and sleep?

Any correlation between SPD and depression? I guess I don't fully understand SPD yet....

Also, any information for someone new to SPD would be helpful, too. I have no idea where to go from here.

Thanks so much.

Welcome Angie :-)

For excellent information I recommend the book, "Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight" by Sharron Heller. You can find a link on the front page of my blog.

I'm yet to read the book, but from personal experience, I can say it does affect all of that. It helps to know what your triggers are and to try and avoid them, but this is often easier said than done. If you work, obviously you can't just avoid stuff. Well, at least I can't. The only relief I can get are quiet breaks and my earphones. I know I'm always tired when I get up, no matter how long or well I sleep.

If your SPD keeps you awake when you want to sleep, your body won't get enough rest. Due to that during your next day you will be exhausted and even more easily SPD fried.

Lowering your SPD triggers that affect your sleeping will go a long way to improving how you feel overall.

I feel like I'm tired most of the time. I seem to need 9 hours every night, when most people I know are fine with 7. My husband is a horrible sleeper and I tend to stay up until he goes to bed around 11:30 to midnight. Then I try to get up around 7 during the school year. I rarely have trouble falling asleep, usually asleep in minutes. I find waking up to be hard.

I read a lot of dream books when I was younger and read sleep books when my older (SPD) son was a baby. We sleep in 90 minute cycles. If you can time your wake up time with those cycles, you should feel better, have an easier time waking up. So 6, 7 1/2, 9 hours of sleep a night.

I've been diagnosed with depression and anxiety, and just have the self diagnosis of SPD. My older son is officially SPD and anxiety. I often wonder about depression/anxiety and SPD. Sometimes the line between the two seems to blur. Low self-esteem too. I see that in my mom, my older son, and myself.

My older son also has low muscle tone as part of his SPD and I wonder if that relates to being tired. He is not athletic at all because of being clumsy (sensory related) and tiredness. I'm pretty clumsy too, can remember spraining my ankles at least once a year growing up.

I know that I need alone time every so often to recharge my battery. I feel very drained after being with more than 2-3 people at a time. Gets overwhelming in large groups.

I haven't found an OT for adults with SPD. But I haven't tried overly hard either. I've been seeing a psychologist since Feb (also saw one in '05-'06, and on and off in 90s) and try to go weekly to an exercise class. I know the movement and exercise help me physically, mentally, emotionally.

Exercise is imperative for me. At least 30 minutes a day. Without it nothing works right: I don't digest my food, I can't think, I don't sleep and I spiral right down into severe depression. But figuring this out took years. The hard part is, i don't always get an immediate return. If I exercise today, I feel better tomorrow. So tomorrow I may be on a roll making up for yesterday and not exercise and feel like crap the day after.

---

...If you exercise, make your muscles do hard work, you actually raise your sensory threshold. I figured this out myself, sort of. When Sharron Hellor explained it in the book it was a real "Ahhhaaaa" moment.

How are you Angie? Any releif yet from the exhaustion and depression?