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Re: Went to MD, he doesn't believe in N!

Posted by MD with N on December 02, 2000 at 00:35:27:

In Reply to: Went to MD, he doesn't believe in N! posted by ExhaustedMom on November 30, 2000 at 16:43:34:

Are you kidding? Did the MD really say he thinks narcolepsy is a non-entity, or did he say he thinks you don't have it. I believe you dude.

Tell that MD that I am an MD in internal medicine and I have had narcolepsy-cataplexy for 18 years. Tell him that narcolepsy is a frequent topic on all of the USLME exams (1,2 & 3) that I've taken, and it's on the American Board of Internal Medicine Licensing Exam. It IS a well-documented disorder with standard diagnostic criteria that can easily be measured in a certified sleep lab.

I don't know you, so I cannot give an opinion regarding your sleep problem, but that MD you're talking about is one of a dying breed of docs who apparently base their knowledge of medicine on his own patient population and not on the literature. For everyone else out there who is reading this, let me tell you something; there is this relatively new concept in medicine known as "Evidenced-Based Medicine". It is the future of allopathic (traditional) medicine. Basically, technology, patient demand for quality and ECONOMIC FACTORS are the driving force for this trend in medicine. That is, diagnosis and treatment of disease is based on documented (and carefully criticized) evidence of what works and what doesn't. Narcolepsy, as devastating a problem as it can be, IS easily and accurately diagnosed once it is suspected (and this is thankfully the result of evidence-based medicine).

I don't know how reassuring this sounds, but as a physician I have never met one who has doubted the existence of narcolepsy. Even though it is not really that common and alot of docs don't get to see it, MOST (99.9% OF US) KNOW WHAT IT IS!

Get a second opinion. If your insurance (that's another sucky topic I won't go into) doesn't cover a visit to a different doc it's worth paying for it yourself to find out if you have narcolepsy. That's what I did. One piece of advice, to get a sleep study, you need to get a referral to a neurologist or pulmonologist who subspecializes in sleep medicine (That's right, there is a required certification exam in sleep medicine that has to be taken even if you're already board-certified in neurology or a branch of internal medicine.

Sincerely,
MD with narcolepsy/cataplexy

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