Posted by IsoM on December 29, 2001, at 17:40:16
In reply to Re: for all of the above people » IsoM, posted by christophrejmc on December 29, 2001, at 16:18:46
hi Christophre. I still feel like a hypochondriac listing these as one doctor asked me if I fall asleep just like that, literally falling over while in the middle of doing something. When I answered no, he said "then you don't have it" and made me feel like such an ass for bringing it up.
When I fall asleep at night, I can feel myself sinking slowly down, not just 'out' like some people do. I always start dreaming when falling asleep. If something wakes me (a sudden noise or something), I can recall what the dream's about. I had thought everyone starts dreaming immediately but disturbed REM sleep like immediate dreaming, is one of the signs.
Hypnopompic hallucinations (these happen on awakening for me) along with sleep paralysis use to happen but when I started on ADs, the incidence of them went way down. I occasionally will stll get a bit of sleep paralysis (I can fight my way out of it now) but no more hypnopompic hallucinations. They were truly terrifying experiences! It felt like some evil presence was standing by my bed watching me. I didn't realise that I was still asleep as I could see everything around my bedroom. It's really, REALLY creepy.
Cataplexy was another thing I'd get. Not often but enough that others thought me funny strange. One time, when I shared a place with a friend, I opened the closet & things tumbled off the top shelf. I let out a prolonged squeal & collapsed. It's weird to describe - it was when I was surprised very suddenly or found something hilarious at a time when I was also feeling very over-stressed. I'd let out this weird squealing laughter & collapse in a pile like my body was jello. The laughter would change to crying for a couple of minutes, then I'd be back to normal. When I it happened when my sons were little, it used to distress them no end. I didn't seem able to control it. I still do it but only rarely now.
So I show all four signs of narcolepsy. That's why my old doctor was convinced I had it. I had these problems for many years & never realised that they were connnected. After reading an article about narcolepsy, I did a lot more checking & clued in what it was. I consider it reasonably mild because if I'm not home to sit or lie down, I won't fall asleep in public but I'm always yawning & having people tell me I should sleep more. It was still a constant fight to stay awake. I don't bother explaining it.
When you say you took modafinil but only "prn", what do you mean? I'm not familiar with that term.
My sleepiness can be anytime, though rarest around 7:00-10:00 PM when most people are getting tired. I've gone back to bed an hour or two after waking in the morning as I couldn't fight it anymore.
It took a week of adrafinil before I noticed anything & then it was just less yawning. My yawning "attacks" starting shortning to a few minutes only a number of times a day. After a couple of weeks, I was less sleepy though I still crawled into bed occasionally during the day. I think the real benefits started showing up around 4-5 weeks. Maybe you needed to take a higher dose for a few days to see if it would help?
> I'd be interested to know what symptoms of narcolepsy you have. I have some EDS, and have certain sensations that seem similar to cataplexy (I'm wondering what "mild narcolepsy" is). I did take modafinil for a few weeks, but only prn (which helped only slightly) -- were your effects from the adrafinil immediate, or did it take some time to "kick in?"
>
> Thanks,
> Christophre
poster:IsoM
thread:88015
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011222/msgs/88183.html