- This must be what a personal hell on Earth is like.
Is there anything better than going to sleep after a long, exhausting day? You crawl into bed, pull the blanket to your ears, close your eyes, and drift off.
That’s not a pleasure Oliver Alvis gets to enjoy.
The British man claims that he hasn’t gotten a wink of sleep for nearly two years. One night’s sleeplessness spiraled out of control for reasons no one seems to understand, and Alvis hasn’t slept since.
He has traveled the world, consulting experts far and wide to figure out what on earth is wrong with him. Yet, even super-strong sedatives can’t make Alvis fall unconscious.
Meanwhile, he says his extended sleeplessness has ruined his life. The once active and musclebound man is now a barely functional wretch who can’t see or walk straight anymore.
His bizarre condition has led some to believe he couldn’t biologically have survived two years without any sleep. Certain experts have suggested that he does fall into such a light sleep that it doesn’t register to Alvis as dozing off.
To Alvis’ misery, however, that probably makes no difference.
Total Disappearance of Sleep
Go back two years, and Alvis was leading a perfectly normal life. He was physically fit, he enjoyed his work as a train conductor, and he had just purchased a four-bedroom condo.
Everything was coming up Alvis. And then he couldn’t fall asleep.
One night, sleep simply didn’t come. Oh well, everyone has a sleepless night every now and then. Alvis went on with his day, expecting he’d get some rest the next night.
But then he didn’t sleep the night after. Or the one after that, or the one after that.
For reasons he can’t comprehend, Alvis became utterly unable to fall asleep. He says now that he hasn’t slept a single moment for the past 21 months.
“I don’t just have a lack of sleep; it’s the total disappearance of sleep,” he told Mail Online.
“I don’t feel sleepy. I don’t fall asleep. I’m in a permanent state of alertness.”
At night, Alvis says he largely walks in circles at his home or wanders around town. He admitted that when seeing homeless people sleeping on benches or in front of stores, he becomes oddly jealous of them.
“I would rather trade places with them, just to fall asleep — something I would trade all my possessions for,” he confessed.
‘The Person I Was is Gone’
It’s no wonder Alvis is desperate to fall asleep. His endless insomnia has utterly ruined his health.
“I have lost almost everything. The person I once was is gone,” he said.
The constant sleeplessness has taken a serious toll on Alvis’ body. His muscles ache all the time, and simply walking makes him feel like his body is encased in a suit of iron.
Alvis suffers from digestive issues, and his vision has become seriously impaired. That’s not a surprise, considering he said his eyes feel like melting out of his skull and his brain throbs like there’s an ever-tightening vice around it.
“How can it be that something so natural, so essential as sleep, is completely taken away from me? I used to wonder what pain could lead someone to wish for death. Now I understand,” Alvis said.
Paradoxical Insomnnia
Alvis emphasizes that he’s not suicidal, but he is hanging at the end of his rope. To find some relief for his condition, he has traveled around the world consulting sleep experts and doctors.
Among other places, the sleepless man has had appointments in Colombia, India, Italy, and Turkey. He has tried everything from sleep therapy to extra-strength sedatives — and even questionable stuff like illicit hallucinogenics.
Yet, nothing works. Relaxants that would knock out a rhino seemingly have no effect on Alvis.
His bizarre condition, which has gone viral on social media, has left doctors and bystanders baffled — and some of them skeptical. Some experts and regular folks alike claim that it’s biologically impossible for Alvis to have gone almost two years without and still be alive.
Animal studies have shown that most mammals will drop dead from exhaustion if they can’t sleep for an extended period, ranging from a couple of weeks to a month. As such, some doctors suggest that Alvis does fall asleep but he’s not aware of it.
This condition, called paradoxical insomnia, causes patients to think they’re awake, although their brains are in very, very light sleep. It doesn’t make the insomniac feel refreshed in any way, but it does keep the body going, for better or for worse.
Alvis probably doesn’t particularly care if his brain is asleep or not, though. He just wants to be asleep — period.