why though?

My sleep doc told me that many people who have narcolespy w/o the cataplexy are mis-diagnosed with ADHD because the symptons are so similar. The stimulant treatment they give ADHD works for them.

I have narcolepsy and my brother has adult ADHD. genetics?

Where did you read this?

Be very careful of where you find your information.

Unless it's published from a reliable source and peer reviewed, it's likely that it's false.

Anyway, unless i see a link of where you read this, i'm going to say that it's 100% false.

There isn't enough known about narcolepsy to predict such a tie between another illness.

The only time adhd and narcolepsy are mentioned in the same sentence is to speak of how people are often misdiagnosed. The same can be said for depression, anxiety, etc.

Where did you read this?

Be very careful of where you find your information.

Unless it's published from a reliable source and peer reviewed, it's likely that it's false.

Anyway, unless i see a link of where you read this, i'm going to say that it's 100% false.

There isn't enough known about narcolepsy to predict such a tie between another illness.

The only time adhd and narcolepsy are mentioned in the same sentence is to speak of how people are often misdiagnosed. The same can be said for depression, anxiety, etc.

maybe reading this article will help:
http://wiki.answers.com
Can your child have narcolepsy and adhd
Sorry no hyperlink I can't think this morning how to do it.

That many adults diagnosed with narcolepsy were diagnosed with ADHD as a child doesn't translate to many children with ADHD will be diagnosed with narcolepsy as adults. Better would be that many adults with narcolepsy were misdiagnosed with ADHD as children. And yes, kids that have undiagnosed sleep disorders- apnea, narcolepsy, restless leg, etc. may appear easily distracted or over active and/or impulsive...their behaviors making sense if they are looked at as ways to shake off sleep or the results of sleep deprevation. I would vote for sleep problems being ruled out before the diagnosis of ADD or ADHD is made. Interestingly the meds prescribed for ADHD are stimulants...so even if the kid is misdiagnosed the meds may help...(and thus reinforce the misdiagnosis)

http://www.sleepnet.com/narco6/messages/423.html

I found this topic also discussed at this forum.

This is what I found on ninds.nih.gov narcolepsy fact sheet page:

"Recently there has been a growing awareness that narcolepsy can develop during childhood and may contribute to the development of behavior disorders. A group of NINDS-sponsored scientists is now conducting a large epidemiological study to determine the prevalence of narcolepsy in children aged 2 to 14 years who have been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder."

I believe the Drs and scientists have found a strong correlation between narcolepsy and the former diagnosis of ADHD in their patients.

The fascinating thing is I've had this theory for a few years. I was dx'd ADHD when I was 13. When I think back on it, I realize all my symptoms were of narcolepsy. I first had cataplexy when I was 18 months old! And boy did I have behavior problems while growing up lol!

But wait! There's more! I took my theory one step further and convinced 2 of my ADHD friends to do sleep studies. And guess what? They're BOTH narcoleptic!

Personally, I think most children with the blanket term of ADHD most likely do have one sleep disorder of another. If they can scientifically prove this, I think the quality of life for these children will have a chance to improve.

And I have a feeling that it will be proven.

Oh and what I mean by ADHD being a blanket term is that Drs give that diagnosis when they don't know what's wrong with the patient.

Seems to me that it has more to do with inheriting the faulty gene known as hypocretin receptor 2. By the time most N are dxed, 90% of the cells that produce a hypocretin known as orexin will have been destroyed.

I guess I'm only agreeing with many others in that I have read several articles, papers, etc., that kids (and even adults) have been misdiagnosed with ADHD when in fact they have narcolepsy.

The thing is with kids, narcolepsy can present in such a way that kids, in order to combat their sleepiness, or 'boredom' in school, will, for lack of a better term because I'm so sleepy now I cannot think, make them selves hyper as a tool to keep themselves awake.

Just think of it in terms of how you sometimes manage your sleepiness. I know I have gotten up and forced myself to move around, flitting from one thing to the next, in an effort to stay awake. My attention span has steadily decreased over the years too.

Two of my sons inherited my narcolepsy and one was diagnosed early on as ADHD. Even now, at age 32, he definitely acts like he is ADHD. He is constantly on the move, and now, because he is an adult, he has chosen a lifestyle that is not only fast paced but keeps his adrenaline pumping. In his off time he races and does stunt riding on his latest and newest Honda CBR1000. But the ultimate adrenaline kicker is the fact that he is in the Army, currently in Iraq for the third time, and his job requires things of him that keep the adrenaline pumping. He also drinks a ton of coffee.

When he's home, he is constantly in motion, but if he sits down in my rocker recliner, he's gone in seconds. Out like a light.

I read somewhere that some undiagnosed narcoleptics not only present as being ADHD, but also choose 'risky' behavior (like racing and stunt riding on a motorcycle perhaps?) because those are things that force them to be almost hyper vigilant in forcing themselves to stay awake.

All that said, there has been must conjecture concerning many aspects of narcolepsy. We cannot simply believe everything we read. I found one article on the Internet that said narcolepsy is more prevalent in men, and onset was generally when a person was in their 20's. We know that's not true. But if someone googles narcolepsy and that happens to be the one thing they read, that is what they would believe.

Another article on the Web stated that there are 2 million narcoleptics. They must be living on another planet because numbers sited by Stanford and other reliable sources cite numbers that are well under 200,000.

Be careful in taking any article or paper at face value. Reliable info can be found at the Narcolepsy Network and papers and articles coming out of Stanford University.