Posted by IsoM on December 9, 2002, at 17:51:32
In reply to sleeping my life away, posted by vickisnowwhite on December 7, 2002, at 9:03:49
As some of the other posters have already given good advice, I won't repeat everything that was said but I agree that you're probably on more meds then you may need & that they may contribute (though not 'cause') your sleepiness. You also need to know what your best time of day is. I could go for power walks first thing in the morning & head straight for bed afterwards. I'm not a morning person at all & all efforts to reset myself to be at my best in the morning ended in failure. A power walk in the late morning or early evening is better for me.
I'm not saying you have narcolepsy, but it's something to consider. Check out the symptoms of narcolepsy here:
http://www.sleepdisorderchannel.net/narcolepsy/
(make sure to read over each othe the pages from the links on the bottom of this page that cover Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, & Treatment.)If it sounds like what you have & you think you fit the criteria, see if you can print out some of the info to show your doctor. Many doctors have no idea of what true narcolepsy is - you may need to educate your doctor, which is why I suggest taking the info to him. I found that most think you have to keel over in a dead sleep to have it. The doctor I have now is intelligent & has another narcoleptic patient. He agreed with me that I fit the criteria very well.
I tried Provigil (Alertec, here in Canada) but while it helped me intitailly, it wasn't enough. I also have depression & take Celexa for it, but for the narcolepsy, Provigil & Dexedrine (a stimulant) are needed. Both Provigil & Dexedrine (almost any stimulant really) have antidepressant properties too. I still need a good 9 or more hours of sleep every night, but I no longer take long daytime naps. I, too, could take a couple of Wake-Up pills (caffeine tablets) & still sleep through its effects.
I hope you find the answer soon. I feel like I've lost a great chunk of my life from sleeping it away.
poster:IsoM
thread:130882
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021203/msgs/131141.html