Is there a doctor in the house? (narcolepsy question)

[lilFajita]

I have similar troubles as you have described. I sleep soundly at night, and I wake up naturally after about 6 hours. However, I get extremely tired during the day, and if I am not actively engaged in something, I will fall asleep, no matter how much I fight it. I avoid driving at night as much as possible, because I will definetly nod off...it can happen during the daytime too.

I am pretty healthy- I exercise, eat well...when I went to my family doctor, she has nothing value of say, besides to cut down on carbs. Its kind of frustrating, because I don't know what level to take it to-- I'd hate to go to a specialist for them to just say that its normal. I wish my family doctor had given me more info. 😕

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: nCred
What about Modafinil?

I have 120 200mg tablets of Provigil left-over from samples my doctor kept dumping on me over a period of about six months. lol!

Provigil didn't work well for me. In doses necessary to help keep me awake I had some side-effects; headache, nausea, and a nervous/anxious feeling. I am currently taking Ritalin and like it better. Other people have a good response to Provigil.

I am pretty healthy- I exercise, eat well...when I went to my family doctor, she has nothing value of say, besides to cut down on carbs. Its kind of frustrating, because I don't know what level to take it to-- I'd hate to go to a specialist for them to just say that its normal. I wish my family doctor had given me more info.

Your family doctor probably didn't have any more info to give you. You can answer the following questionnaire to roughly gauge whether or not your daytime sleepiness is suggestive of a potentially serious problem.

The Epworth Sleepiness Scale

The Score Key:

Less than 10 suggests that you may not be suffering from excessive daytime sleepiness.

10 or more suggests that you may need further evaluation by a physician to determine the cause of your excessive daytime sleepiness and whether you have an underlying sleep disorder.

In my opinion, there is a gray area between 8 and 10 that should be considered borderline or questionable. These are situations which involve little activity or stimulus and it would not be unusual at all for a person to have a slight or even moderate chance of falling asleep in a few of them.

But a person suffering from 'unusual' daytime sleepiness will regularly fall asleep when there is a 'lull' in activity or stimulus, such as stopping at a traffic light. Its almost as though you have to keep yourself moving and busy at all times, because if there is a pause or lull in the action for two minutes, you're drifting-away into the Land of Nod. That's a problem.