Narcolepsy, Apnea, wierdness, oh my!
Question:
Hi all, new to the group. I’ve got a question about dreams, and if what I’ve been experiencing is at all common with narcolepsy and/or apnea. First of all, I used to be one of those people that never remembered thier dreams at all. Now, since all my sleep problems started (last May), not only do I remember them when I wake up, I’m often aware of the fact that I’m dreaming while it’s happening, and can often take control (lucid dreaming). Also, I can actually feel stuff when I’m in that 1/2 asleep-1/2 awake stage (almost like tactile hallucinations. I also have auditory and visual hallucinations when I’m on the border of sleep/waking.) Also, I’ve been having a wierd "event" happen while sleeping. I will dream that I "wake up" and in the dream I will get out of bed and begin my morning routine. Then I will "wake up" again, and realize I had been dreaming about it, I’ll begin my morning routine, and then, I’ll "wake up" againe. I’m sure you can see they cycle I’m getting at here.. I keep dreaming about waking up, and each time, I’m convinced that this time I’m really awake. I’ve gone through probably a dozen or more of these cycles before I do actually wake up for real. Since this is my first post on this group, I’ll share a bit of background for anyone interested. Prior to my problems, I was a truck driver, worked nights and hauled gasoline. Last May I began feeling pretty tired, and I’d often get light headed. Finally one night I could not stay awake for anything. I almost ran a car off the road, and at that point finally decided it’d be better to just park the truck, regardless of what my boss would say. The next day I went to my GP, and he diagnosed me as having insomnia (was only able to sleep hour and a half to 2 hours at a time mostly), and gave me Trazodone (which didn’t work) and then Ambien (which also didn’t work). One day while over at my father’s house, I had a "seizure." Reported that to my GP, and he referred me to a neurologist. A couple of months (and thousands of dollars worth of tests, including 1 sleep study that showed no apnea and "normal" daytime sleep) later that neurologist referred me to a 2nd one. 2 more sleep studies later, and still no diagnosis (other then Apnea, which I think is more of a result of weight gain after not being able to do anything for so long).) My latest sleep study did not show any REM periods during the MSLT, but the results were still quite abnormal. During the night I had slept (with mask) at an efficiency of about 86%, with no apnea events or drop in pulse-ox. However, even though I had slept well the night before, I averaged less then 30 seconds to fall asleep during the MSLT. Doctor still wasn’t sure what was going on, diagnosed me as "idiopathic hypersomnia" and referred me to a 3rd neurologist. He also gave me a script for 200mg Provigil to try while waiting for next appt. Well, I finally got to that appointment with the 3rd neurologist. He said he thought it was (forget name) which was very similiar to narcolepsy, but without some of the additional effects, such as cataplexy. When I mentioned I did have cataplexy, he looked rather surprised, and asked me to describe what happened (apparently the 2nd neurologist never even bothered noting it on my charts, even though I tried to talk to him about it multiple times) My father also happened to be in the office (since I can’t drive) and he described what happened when I had an "attack". So, now my diagnosis has been changed to "probable narcolepsy" plus apnea. He upped my Provigil dosage to 400mg, but even though it has helped some, it’s still not to the point where I can finally get a job. So now it looks like when I call in next week to check in with the nurse, I’ll be getting a script for Ritalin.
Response:
I,m new I can,tsleep.I suffer from post tramtic stress disorder. Do to many health issues.I,m loanely my name julie
Response:
> I’ve got a question about dreams, and if what I’ve been experiencing is at > all common with narcolepsy and/or apnea.
if you have a form of narcolepsy, that would explain the dreaming issues you mentioned, one of the major aspects of narcolepsy is disordered REM sleep, sometimes REM seems to occur when someone is basically awake, at the beginning and/or end of the sleep cycle. > GP, and he referred me to a neurologist. A couple of months (and thousands > of dollars worth of tests, including 1 sleep study that showed no apnea
and -SNIP- > for so long).) My latest sleep study did not show any REM periods during > the MSLT, but the results were still quite abnormal. During the night I had > slept (with mask) at an efficiency of about 86%, with no apnea events or > drop in pulse-ox. However, even though I had slept well the night before,
I I suspect that you may have had apnea all along, but the first study didn’t pick it up – it seems that for some of us, sleep studies aren’t a definate way of determining whether or not we have apnea (although it may be rare for a sleep study not to pick it up on one occassion but to do so on another). I have had three sleep studies, 2 showed apnea, but the most recent one didn’t, I know I still have apnea though, despite what the most recent study showed. If you do have some form of atypical (is that the word?) narcolepsy, then you should find that the medication helps Please let us know how you go. Also, if you’re having any probs adjusting to CPAP – let us know and we’ll do what we can to help you through it….. try and be specific about any problems you’re having as it helps us know better how we might help. — Beth in Australia =================== FAQ for alt.support.sleep-disorder can be found here http://www.anchorweb.com.au/sleepdisorders this site is a work in progress – feel free to submit info/articles
