Narcolepsy

[His_Kid]

I was talking to my husband yesterday about how tired I am ALL of the time (especially lately). For some time, he kept trying to get me to get a sleep study to rule out apnea (which he has, and I don't really suspect). Anyway, for some reason he happened on a page with symptoms of narcolepsy, and holy cow! Things that I never, ever would have put together looked like they made sense!

I don't have the cataplexy or microsleep, I think they call it. I don't know if that rules me out from narcolepsy, though. Is there such a thing as a milder case? I never fall asleep while driving, etc. I do get the sleep paralysis sometimes, as well as sometimes having vivid hallucinations right before I drift off (usually very loud, evil-sounding screaming). OK, now I just sound like a nutcase. I've never really admitted that to anyone. I also SLAM into dreams. It doesn't make any sense, but when I'm really tired, my husband can be talking to me before bed, I will drift off, and literally have like an entire dream in 2 minutes or something. Most of the time I don't remember having any dreams, though.

I do get insomnia on a more frequent basis now. It is like a switch. If I wake up beyond a certain point, I am AWAKE for 3-4 hours, and nothing on this earth can put me back to sleep again.

Could all of this really be fixed? I am really afraid to have hope that I can feel better. I have just been trudging along for so long, fighting my way through each day to try to function, AND be a good mom, doing fun mom things, cooking good meals, etc. Sometimes it is just so overwhelming to want nothing more than a nap, and have little guys who need their mommy.

Sorry to be so long and rambling. Perhaps I could just get some of your experiences or perspective, etc. Thanks!

[stulchinsky]

Thank you for participating in the forum. Sorry to hear about your sleep problems. There is physician-developed and monitored information regarding treatment for narcolepsy on this website at the following link:
http://www.sleepdisorderchannel.com/narcolepsy/treatment.shtml

I hope this information is helpful. Physicians who monitor these forums respond to some posts but not to all, so please continue to post in the forum as you learn additional information.

I wish you the very best.

[narcofarkle]

You can experience micro-sleeps without even knowing it. And you probably are. You need a sleep study to find out one way or another if you are narcoleptic. If you are, you might benefit from treatment. It's worth a try.