Two years previously, Oliver Alvis was living the sort of life most would be green with envy about. Just 28 years old, he had paid off the mortgage on his four-bedroom home, climbed the promotions ladder to the rank of train driver, and even purchased his own light aircraft after gaining a private pilot’s license. Hard working, disciplined, and driven, he was fit, clean-living, and had big things planned for the future.
Now, at 32, Oliver defines himself as a specter of the man he used to be. He lost his house, his livelihood, his health, and the one thing most of us most take for granted: the capacity to sleep.
A Life Turned Upside Down
What had started as a one-off sleepless night in late December 2023 soon degenerated into something much worse. Weeks passed, and still, Oliver did not get any sleep, yet he didn’t even feel tired. Rather, he got stuck in an endless state of being awake, like his mind was jammed into emergency mode.
It’s not poor sleep,” he says. “It’s complete annihilation of sleep. I don’t fall asleep, I don’t fatigue. I’m trapped in a waking nightmare.
The last 21 months of Oliver’s life have been spent in “a slow, waking death.” His body hurts all the time. His joints cry out in agony. His eyesight has declined. Even strong anesthetics, the kind used to knock patients out during surgery, won’t knock him out.
“I’ve begged doctors, emailed sleep specialists all over the world, and even offered to pay for long-term observation,” he explains. “But my pleas have gone unanswered.”
Endless Search for Relief
Desperate for answers, Oliver sold his house and has spent tens of thousands of pounds around the world seeking treatment. He has had dozens of therapies – from cognitive behavioral therapy and hypnotherapy to sound baths, acupuncture, and meditation retreats. He’s taken countless medications, from benzodiazepines to opioids. None of them worked.
In Turkey, even doctors gave Oliver general anesthetic in a desperate bid to make his body sleep. Astonishingly, Oliver remained awake, leaving experts bewildered. “You are very powerful man,” a doctor spoke to him in amazement.
Since then, he has tried experimental remedies in Colombia, India, and Europe, but each try ends on the same note sleepless and shattered. “I’d give everything I own just for the oblivion of sleep,” he says.
A Mystery Beyond Medicine
Doctors are also stumped. One possibility is paradoxical insomnia an extremely rare disorder in which patients feel wide awake when, according to brain scans, they are exhibiting sleep-like patterns. But Oliver assures that what he’s going through is something else. “I am awake every second. Days run into nights without sleep. I can’t live like this much longer.”
Professor Guy Leschziner, one of the UK’s top neurologists and sleep experts, cautions against the risks of extended sleep deprivation. “In animal research, total sleep deprivation is lethal within weeks. Although human data is limited, sleep is critical to survival. Without sleep, the body and brain start to close down.”
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Fighting for Awareness
Albeit suffering, Oliver is now speaking out to bring attention to the ruinous effect of insomnia and the medical ignorance surrounding extreme cases such as his. “Sleep is the cornerstone of life, yet doctors informed me that there’s nothing they could do. I feel abandoned.”
Nowadays, he persists with his battle from a leased apartment in India, holding on to the hope that there is someone, somewhere, who will discover how to assist him. His message is clear but chilling:
“All I long for is rest, so that I can live – not just exist.”
