I really wonder if I have narcolepsy. At 15 I began being struck with STRONG sleeping spells during the day. I would HAVE to sleep, and would fall asleep during class and when I got home for hours. I would fall immediately into vivid dreams, characteristic of narcolepsy. These would occur regardless of how much sleep I got…and from that point on I seemed to be drained of all energy and was perpetually tired, even if I slept all day…apparently the teens is the normal age for narcolepsy to manifest.
I have never had the same level of energy since, and I continue to have sleepiness spells. I have already gone to a doctor about it who suggested I do a sleep study, but apparently at the time my insurance would not cover a full experience at an overnight sleep lab. They just gave me a headset to wear at home that only measured whether or not I had sleep apnea, and I confirmed I do not have sleep apnea.
I am interested in performing another sleep study. I only feel like I have normal energy after drinking energy drinks. I find it concerning that it takes excessive caffeine to make me feel normal. However I am not sure if my insurance will cover it and it can be expensive without them covering it. I wonder if there is some way I can make them pay for it? If they do find out I have narcolepsy this could greatly change my quality of life, as I could go on meds to manage the constant sleepiness and fatigue…and plus narcolepsy I found out can sometimes cause symptoms that mimic psychosis so what if my disorder really is a sleep disorder and not a psychotic one? I really want to get this done. Even if I find out I don’t have narcolepsy that at least crosses another thing off the list.
The doctor I saw also brought up that depression could cause such fatigue. However at the time it started I was not depressed and didn’t have another depressive episode until my senior year of hs. Furthermore my depression began around when I was 10, but the sleepiness and exhaustion only began in my teens. So I am not sure this is the answer.
I had sleep study. They diagnosed me with hypersomnia. The sleep doc could not prescribe the stimulant, said the pdoc would have to due to my schizophrenia. I still sleep at least 12 hours a day. They gave me one drug that was an AD, can’t remember which, but it worked by blocking memory storage of dreams. It worked but made me suicidal, in my dreams I was unconscious, that is terrifying, people just dragged me around places. Try l theanine, melatonin. I think the AP drugs help the most with allowing more restful sleep. If your dreams are chaotic, chances are the AP will induce order and calm in the dreams and allow you to rest. Risperdal gave me the best sleep and dreams.
I believe that some cases of psychosis are caused by misregulation of the sleep system, just like some cases may be caused by viruses in utero…it is known that sleep deprivation leads to symptoms of psychosis. If the brain is never properly resting, that could lead to hypersomnia and psychotic symptoms…I’ve done extensive research on it and written a paper/given a presentation about it
They said my brain waves showed that i was in constant REM state, basically indistinguishable from waking consciousness.
Did you find any thing that could turn off the brain, induce deep sleep?
No, I don’t think so. Maybe some sleep medications, but ones like ambien and whatnot are almost impossible to get prescribed because of the addictive nature. They’re typically only prescribed for severe insomnia, so getting it for hypersomnia would be very difficult. I hope to change that someday…as if your brain is constantly tired it is obviously not resting correctly.
R.E.M. sleep brainwaves mimic waking brainwaves, so during it the brain is not resting…not sleeping brain=psychosis…
I hope to perform research and publish on this topic someday. Start getting people who may be qualified on meds to repress R.E.M. sleep and promote deep sleep…see how symptoms improve…
Actually the primary treatment for narcolepsy is stimulants. So yes, caffeine would help as it is also a stimulant.
I’ve only take 2 doses of Effexor. It made me sleepy so I chose not to go on it during finals time. I’ll start it when I’m done. And even when I was on an antidepressant it did nothing for my energy.
My old doctor thought I had narcolepsy. I had the sleep study and turns out I only ever get stage 1 and 2 of sleep. Never got stage 3 or REM sleep. So I was diagnosed with hypersomnia. I eventually grew out of it though. Only lasted a few years, luckily.