How many stages does fatal insomnia have?

that was so informative I have never heard off this either

I suffer from chronic insomnia, have been dealing with it since childhood. I thought there was nothing worse, now I know there is...jeez!

what a horrible way to die

never heard of it before

is very rare....no joke. 7 months less than 1 hour sleep a day...scared the living crap out of me ...daily sleep prescriptions finally work....now sleep about 6 hours....insomnia sucks...(its 2am as I write this) 😒

Wow. I have never heard of insomnia being fatal... it sounds scary... and awful.

OMG! these last few months I have not been able to sleep and have been having seizures and dizziness and confusion. Doctor is checking into it but has no answers. Maybe I should bring this up to him.

Thios#1, We need to count our blessings

Fatal Insomnia.. terrifying concept.. great thrash metal band name..

JezzerLX, Good to know it's treatable. Thanks for letting us know. Would be good to hear about that in the detailed answer!

I’d like an explanation of that.

Lottie Lilley-Coles , absolutely. Or find a sleep disorder clinic.

I try to stay informed about new diseases yet have no idea why. I've always been infatuated w the medical scientists' discoveries. Sometimes I don't always agree w them but stay very interested in this field..lol I have not heard of this..I guess I thought what has been described here as to be dementia. Wow, I guess I missed this one...

Libbo, Fewer than 50 families worldwide carry the mutated gene. It is not dementia with a bit of insomnia thrown in. It is called Fatal Familial Insomnia. That's the diagnosis and the cause of death. Most doctors never see it. It is INCREDIBLY rare.

Guillermo, That’s the epitome of adding insult to injury

its an horrible disease !

Laurie, what medicine helped? Seems we have a lot of ppl with insomnia on here 😢

Lack of sleep is a symptom of this disease. The disease itself is a PRION-caused brain disorder, a spongiform encephalopathy that eats holes in brain tissue, drives you insane, then kills you.

I've had insomnia for about 8 years. early menopause for me. finally got on medication. I sleep like a baby. and I don't move when I sleep and have crazy dreams, but worth it for a good night's sleep

Thios#1, I'm the same way

Thios#1, Don't forget T, it's extremely rare. I also have been an insomniac since I was around 10. We're perfectly fine!

Simon, our wonderful champion collegiate basketball coach passed away a few years ago from this. The doctors labeled her death early onset dementia which it was, but the underlying cause was insomnia. Although rare, it is a real condition and it must be taken very seriously.

A pretty dark question. Uncomfortable.

Stormy, I am so sorry to hear this about your friend. Prayers to them and the family.

great now I have something new to keep me up at night

I have never heard of that - so many people are suffering from insomnia - it should be taken very seriously

Lottie Lilley-Coles , YES! Definitely have your doctor do something INJA

wendy1945poole, I have never heard of it either! I have insomnia and this was informative.

wendy1945poole, me either.

This sounds freaky. Hope theres a way to catch it before. Maybe a relaxing vacation somewhere is much needed!?

Fredrico, that has absolutely NOT been my experience…. I required far less sleep than anyone in my family except possibly my Dad, from the time I was 9 or 10 until about age 30 (and from preschool to age 9, I was the kid who required the least sleep, despite being the youngest… during those years I shared a room with an older sibling, and Mom later told me she often sent me to bed before she knew I was tired, because my sibling would complain/resist and feel it was unfair, if they were singled out to go to bed before their little sister!). Things changed for me in my early 30s, after I had Mono for the third time. Barely a day has gone by since that, when I haven’t taken, or needed but not taken, naps. And although I have periods when I only sleep a few hours a night due to Restless Leg Syndrome (or ADHD hyper-focus on something I’m busy doing), there are also days (often 1-2.5 days in a row) when I barely wake up at all during the day or night, except for what I call “Zombie Pitstops” which is when I wake up, use the toilet, have a drink of water, maybe check if there are any critical messages (or skip that), have something quick and easy to eat (yogurt, cheese strings, a banana, crackers, applesauce, etc that require low/no prep)… and am not only back in bad, but ASLEEP in about 5-7 minutes!!! I can ‘lose’ entire weekends like that. I actually have not been able to work any kind of regular job in years because of this, in combo with a couple of other unrelated conditions

Fredrico, we don’t ALL need less sleep as we mature

Stormy, familiar? Familial?

Gives a new meaning to being “dead tired”

I thing that's I see

Guillermo, you took something negative and made into a positive. Excellent!

Player #10487144 J.C, prayer is always good.

Player #12392555, I wish you continued good sleep.

Well now, THIS is frkn terrifying! I don't like how many of these early symptoms I'm having, yoinks!

Coincidentally I watched the movie ‘Awake’ today. According to them it only takes a couple days… 😂