Narcolepsy Support Group

A sleep disorder (somnipathy) is a disorder in the sleep patterns of a person or animal. Some sleep disorders can interfere with mental and emotional function. If you are having trouble falling asleep or having some other kind of sleep disturbance, this group is for you.

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sleepystar24 01/12/2011

I was diagnosed with N w/c a few months ago. Lately I am so exhausted that I sleep pretty much the whole day away and find that I can go right back to sleep an hour or less later and sleep the whole night. I'm wondering if it's the N getting worse or if it's something else.
I was recently in a car accident where I got so dizzy driving to work that I passed out and hit a guardrail. The ER doc warned that if it happend again I could loose my lisence. I'm only 24 and not at all happy about that possibility.

Any ideas or suggestions would be welcome.
Thaks

deleted_user 01/12/2011

Be sure your sleep doctor knows about the car accident, so they can adjust your medicine if necessary.

Also, you may want to get a series of blood tests ran so they can check for any other possible imbalances, particularly the ones known to cause major fatigue, such as thyroid, etc.

Good luck!

sleepystar24 01/12/2011

Thanks!
I'm not on any meds for the N due to other medical issues. The hospital I was taken to did some blood work and said it all looked normal. I'm being sent to my cardiologist to check that my heart condt hasn't changed.

deleted_user 01/13/2011

The current belief is that narcoelspy doesn't progress or get worse. Other factors (environmental, lifestyle, eating habits, meds, etc) though may make your symptoms worse. Dizziness is not a symptom of narcolepsy, though I could imagine feeling so sleepy that I almost felt dizzy. Perhaps that is what you meant. I get dizziness from BPV or if my BP drops too low. If you truely get dizzy you need to discuss that with your doc. Maybe a med you are on makes you dizzy?

deleted_user 01/16/2011

I am 64 and recall N, C and SP symptoms since early teens. Doctors in UK and Australia were unsympathetic, uncooperative, unaware!!!! for years so I "Went with the flow" I could not hold down a job so became "Self employed" So that if I needed a nap, I took one. I believe that it is called "self help" When I turned 50 the symptoms were becoming steadily worse. My GP refered me to a Neurologist who recommended a Catscan in case of Epilepsy. I was cleared of epilepsy but diagnosed with N, C and SP. I was the first person in Australia that this neurologist had heard of that had all three. He warned me that Narcolepsy was hereditory and became worse with age. Meds were unheard of except for amphetemins, which I rejected.
At 24 you have your whole life ahead of you but your symptoms would suggest something further than N.
Hang in there Sleepystar, my 20s were hell but I managed to cruise through it.
Cheers
Roger

deleted_user 01/16/2011

It is crazy all the contridictory info there is floating around out there!!!!
I remember being all confused when I first started redrafting info on the net...I did realize though that most contradictions were old info vs. Newer info...and new research was consistent. they, the medical community just doesn't know much about n...and let's be real...where do docs go...yes, to medical journals but also to the Internet! I did write to a few websites and ask them to update their info and I'll be darned they did. Quoting from the http://www.ninds.nih.gov/...helped.
I am worried about your dizziness. Lost us know what they finally come up with.

sleepystar24 01/17/2011

Thanks for the support everyone!
None of my meds cause the dizziness, although it would make things so much easier if it was that. I go to my cardiologist in a week to see if he can help figure out whats going on.

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