Posted by zeugma on November 9, 2003, at 9:26:09
In reply to Re: Likely, it's narcolepsy + sleep apnea, posted by utopizen on November 8, 2003, at 22:17:08
I used to sleep 7-9 hours a day and would feel horrible on waking up. This was so true that often, when I worked Saturday mornings, I would CHOOSE to not sleep Friday night because my performance would actually suffer if I got any sleep. Of course, by Saturday night I did not feel like a human being, but I didn't want to f** up at my job.
It's very likely that I have cataplexy. I do take a cocktail including a tricyclic antidepressant, nortriptyline, which moderated the hypnagogic attacks, and buspirone, which was also helpful although I've seen no references to this in the literature. I added Strattera in May, and since then, the only two nights I've gotten severe hypnagogic events have been the two nights on Klonopin.
So my pdoc called back last night and told me to take the 0.25 mg Klonopin in the morning, and to skip the Klono in the afternoon. Hopefully this will give me the anxiolytic benefit where I need it, when I'm at work, because that's obviously where the social anxiety kicks in. It would help not to be anxious at home also, but I can't cope with these hypnagogic problems.
Since starting nortriptyline my sleep has been normalizing... the references i've come across suggest that NE reuptake inhibitors are especially good for cataplexy. Oddly, I felt LESS daytime fatigue on the Klonopin than I've ever felt. I think this is because my anxiety is so draining on my nervous system that I exhaust myself trying to remain calm.Thanks,
z
poster:zeugma
thread:277778
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031105/msgs/277880.html