Hi Jaclynn:  It sounds to me like you may have a condition called
Narcolepsy.  This condition has no bearing on the amount of sleep you are
getting, however, less sleep will bring the episodes on sooner and more
frequently during the day.  The patient generally has briefs episodes of
deep sleep in which they launch almost immediately into R.E.M. stage where
they may actually start dreaming.  This may be why you wrote "lettuce" on
the slides, you actually launched into a dream state.  A sleep disorder
clinic should be able to diagnosis this and I believe that a blood test can
be done as well.  
This condition can be treated with "Ritalin" which acts, interestingly
enough, as a stimulant for an adult.  This is most notable as the drug of
choice for children with Attention Deficit Disorder to curb their
hyperactivity.
P.S. - This may effect your driving privileges until resolved by your
physician.
Hope this helps a little!

Dave Charters
Credit Valley Hospital
Mississauga, Ontario
Canada

-----Original Message-----
From: Jaclynn Lett [mailto:jlett@cid.wustl.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2001 5:12 PM
To: 'histonet@pathology.swmed.edu'
Subject: sleep "depravation"?


Sleep depravation -- Do you carry out perverted acts in your sleep?

Sleep deprivation -- Do you suffer from the lack of sleep?

Sorry, but you'll have to pardon me.  I'm attempting to be funny (even
though it's only been three days, this has been a long week nonetheless).

Actually, I've been known to fall asleep at the ultramicrotome (forehead
resting against the stereomicroscope) and nod off in the middle of labeling
slides at the cryostat (waking up to find I've written things like "lettuce"
instead of specimen numbers).  This sort of thing has been getting worse; I
used to have no problem driving on vacation for nine hours and now I find
myself drifting off after two (and that's after having consumed three large
cups of coffee).  I'm currently undergoing sleep analysis--no diagnosis yet.

If anyone has the solutions to these sorts of problems, there are obviously
a lot of us out there interested in the matter.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving (and to those that don't celebrate
Thanksgiving, stay safe and happy as well).

Jaclynn M. Lett, Research Technician

Electron Microscopy Core
Fay and Carl Simons Center for Biology of Hearing and Deafness
Central Institute for the Deaf
4560 Clayton Ave.
St. Louis, MO  63110