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Heather Reed, 37 years old, suffers from a rare sleeping condition called Kleine-Levin Syndrome also known as

which makes her sleep for 22 hours a day and still feel tired and exhausted. It was two years ago when she was first diagnosed with this condition and 5 years before that, she was also diagnosed with myalgic

- a condition which causes persistent fatigue.

syndrome” “sleeping beauty encephalomyelitis

Having these two medical situations made it difficult for her to live a normal life. On a good day, she can sleep for as long as 12 hours but since she also has myalgic encephalomyelitis, on some days she needs to be sleeping for a total of 22 hours. With her situation, it can be impossible to continue working because she can hardly even have time for herself and her social life, let alone going to work, which explains why she had to give up her work as a conservation biologist.

Reed shared how significantly her conditions impacted her personal life. “It certainly has an impact on my life. I feel like a ghost. I went from my healthy life to not being able to get out of bed, because the fatigue was so crushing and all encompassing. I was tired to the point where it physically hurt.

She added: “I only spend about eight hours awake a day. “

“If you try and compact everything you need to do into eight hours, it’s just not possible. I am able to do very little in those limited number of hours.”

Her diseases and condition made her suffer from problems like forgetfulness and muscle fatigue which is why she can barely do anything when she is awake. She had to miss a lot of social occasions and family gatherings. According to the doctors, most of the people who suffer from KLS recover within seven years and Heather is hopeful that she is also going to be able to recover and get it under control.