DH just really scared me. Again.

[Rajah]

He went in to take a bath about 45 minutes ago. Usually, he doesn't take longer than about 20 minutes, so when he hadn't come out, I got concerned.

He'd *fallen asleep* in the bathtub! And it took using ice against his skin to wake him up.

I know he's been over-worked and stuff lately, and that his accident yesterday shook him up and he's upset over his car, but he really concerns me when he falls asleep so hard that kitties playing on him, me speaking, and even me shaking him don't wake him up. At least ice does.

But this was the first time I know of he's fallen asleep in the *tub*!

Any ideas of how to prevent this in the future? Now I have to be afraid of him drowning in his sleep, too?

 

[JC2]

Oh man, Rajah! That would have scared me too! I don't have any help, but here's a {hug}

 

[Dan Murphy]

If this happens often, Tammi, sleep study

 

[Rajah]

It's happened about 4 times now in the past year, and when it happens, he's *always* had two+ glasses of some alcoholic beverage.

But, this doesn't happen every time he drinks alcohol (wine, beer, cognac, etc), so I don't know if there's honestly a connection.

Thanks for the link, Dan. Of course, getting him to go to a doctor is harder than giving pills to the cats, so...

 

[catsrule]

Good Luck, Rajah. Hope your DH is ok.

 

[Cindy B]

I've seen that happen to others as well. Really, just relax...

If you had a tense week, you banged up your car, had some wine, and went to relax.. I would probably sleep as well...

 

[snoopy]

Rajah, I would be concerned about this. If a few glasses of alcoholic beverages causes your husband to fall asleep so soundly that he has to be woken up with ice, then I would caution him not to put himself in dangerous situations when drinking (i.e,, driving a car!, taking a bath, etc.). I am sure you have already talked to him about this, but I would be scared to death if this happened to someone I loved.

Its one thing to fall into a hard sleep in the bed, a whole other story in the bathtub. Good luck, dear, I hope you can convince your husband that after drinking he should really be more cautious.

 

[helenabear]

No advice here Tammi... but I would be very worried too. Good luck {{{hugs}}}

 

[C.Ann]

Any chance at all that he suffered a concussion in the accident? Ask him if he hit his head and if he did, you might want to call the doctor or ER..

 

[DixieDreamer]

Hugs Tammi... that would have shook me up too.

 

[abaldacci]

Rajah
I would have him see a Dr. That is not normal. I woudl be scared too.

 

[NHAnn]

Originally posted by C.Ann
Any chance at all that he suffered a concussion in the accident? Ask him if he hit his head and if he did, you might want to call the doctor or ER..

that's exactly what crossed my mind when I read your post Rajah.
Scary!

 

[Rajah]

Since he didn't hit his head at all (to my knowledge), nope to the concussion.

And snoops -- yes, I have pointed out to him that every time he's fallen asleep that hard, he's been drinking. *But*, as I said, it doesn't happen every time he's been drinking, so I don't know if there's a connection. I think every time it's been when he's been exhausted already then drank some alcohol.

I've never seen him like this when he's driving, even after drinking. But this is the first time I've seen him fall asleep in the tub, too.

Had he been on the couch, like he was the past three times, I wouldn't be *as* concerned. Especially after what he went through Tuesday night and yesterday (that car means a lot to him). He'd wake up with a stiff neck and maybe a headache, but he could survive sleeping on the couch. But this time was in the tub -- and even after I woke him up, I had to go in there 3 *more* times before he finally started draining it, and even *then* he didn't want to get up, he just wanted to snooze away some more in the tub. At that point, as long as there wasn't water in it, he can sleep in the tub if he *really* wants to. But once the water was gone, I think he got cold because he finally got up and actually went to bed.

 

[Boots]

{{{{{HUGS}}}}}

 

[kendall]

Rajah,

perhaps this is a form of narcolepsy triggered by alcohol? Since this has happened repeatedly, I would check it out. Try reading at http://www-med.stanford.edu/school/Psychiatry/narcolepsy/
and check out the links area to read about sleep disorders in general. What would concern me is his inability to physically wake up - and I read the concern in your post. Perhaps you will be able to convince him to have some sleep testing done. In the meanwhile, you should write down more information about the episodes - what preceeded (activity, alcohol, time of day, etc), a description of the sleep (hard sleep, restless, etc), and what you had to do to wake him up. Include time references too. Document as much as you can so you can (1) share this information with your DH in a calm, organized way and (2) provide detailed data to the doctor.

Then again, perhaps he is simply a "hard" sleeper and the alcohol compounds this trait.

Hugs - hope you can resolve the mystery for your own peace of mind!

 

[Kermit]

In addition to what's been mentioned here already, you might want to see if it's more likely to happen when he drinks alcohol with sulfites. A lot of people are allergic to those anyway. I've never heard of a sleeping allergic reaction, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were possible.

 

[snoopy]

Good point, Kermit.

My aunt had a similar reaction to white wine, where she would get very dizzy, then fall into a hard sleep. I had forgotten all about that until you mentioned it. She found out she was allergic to the sulfites in white wine, and stopped drinking it.

Rajah, if he refuses to accept this is a problem, you might consider videotaping him so he can see how difficult it was to wake him up. If I were you I would stop at nothing to get this problem resolved, however infrequent it may be. It only takes once to have a fatal accident. (not trying to scare you, just worried for you and Von Drake!!!)

 

[Rajah]

Kendall -- I hadn't thought of actually *documenting* the incidents. I'll have to do that. I have asked him to at least not take any more baths when he's so tired and has been drinking. He said he wouldn't, so we'll see.

Originally posted by Kermit
In addition to what's been mentioned here already, you might want to see if it's more likely to happen when he drinks alcohol with sulfites. A lot of people are allergic to those anyway. I've never heard of a sleeping allergic reaction, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were possible.

You do have a point, there, Kermit -- DH *is* allergic to slufa drugs. I hadn't ever made that connection...

Snoops -- another good idea! If this happens again, I'm pulling out the video camera. He doesn't believe me that he's that hard to wake up. He is usually a heavy sleeper (didn't used to be, but has become one in the past few years), but not usually *that* hard.