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A few questions.

Posted by Sleepy Airman on April 29, 2002 at 19:48:31:

OK. I was just recently diagnosed with Narcolepsy. I went through my second sleep lab and my first MSLT for them to figure this out. In the meantime I have wrecked my car and received lots of bad paperwork from the military due to my "Failure to go" (being late) waaayyyyy too many times. If there is anybody who has more information on their experiences with having Narcolepsy and being active duty, I would really like to hear about it. Now I have a few questions in general. One of the sleep results they listed says "Occasional problems with PACs, but no more signifigant dysrhythmias were noted" I have no clue what that means, so if somebody does I would really like to know. they have me on Provigil for EDS which seems to help but it also seems like the longer I am taking it the quicker it wears off. They increased my dosage and it worked well again for about a week and again it seems to be wearing off sooner the longer I am on it. Is this normal? I also get really bad headaches, to the point of not even being able to concentrate. Also wondering if this is normal as well.

Ok so there are my main questions. Now I have some other stuff. As I read through these forums and look up information on the internet, I think back to some of the answers I gave to the questions asked when I was in my Sleep Study, and wonder if I am experiencing some of these other symptoms, but just didn't realize their signifigance. I count myself fortunate for the time being that although I have this, I can still function fairly normal in comparison to what other people are dealing with. So on with the stuff that I am wondering if am just being paranoid or if it is stuff I should be bringing up to the doctors. I have dreams quite often, and many times they are nightmares that even though I know I am dreaming, it feels like I can't get out of it. Then when I do, I find that my face is wet from tears or have woken my husband up by screaming. I also dream of falling as I am falling asleep.....not quite completly out but definitely not fully consious. Then its like I hit the bottom of whatever it is and I jerk. Then for a moment or 2 I feel like there is something really heavy on me, as if I can't move....but I don't remember if I can or not. My heart races really fast and then thats about it. I also tend to do things and not remember it. Like I can get in my car to go to work......then when I get there....I don't even remember getting in the car. Or I can be driving home or something and its like a bell goes off and I snap back to reality, and realize I passed my turn 10 miles back. I do things like get up to go to the bathroom and get there....but not remember walking there. So, I don't know if I am just making something of nothing.....or if this stuff I though was normal really isn't. Well I hope somebody has some answers........the military isn't good for much more than trying to get me to explain everything to them on a topic thats just as new to me as it is to them. If someone can help me get these answers I would greatly appreciate it.

I feel so trapped by this. I'm 20 years old (soon to be 21) and its like......the rest of my life is this.......depending on medication to make me feel awake and get me through the day......just hope and pray that I don't develope more symptoms or the ones I have dont intensify. It has already affected me incredibly in the military.....which I am in the process of trying to get it all straightend out.....but I'm trying to educate people who don't understand and refuse to acknowledge that this is a real problem. I recently failed a test that I am required to pass for my career field. Thanx to my wonderful hour and a half nap in the middle of it. (This was before I found out about the Narcolepsy). Yet even after I find out and let them know......they continue my 10 hour days (instead of 8 hours)....no lunch.....3 hours of study a day thing until May 14th when I retest. They don't understand that reading boring material for 3 hours puts me to sleep like a baby in a rocking chair. Or that I can't concentrate on the material enough to absorb what I am reading regardless of how many times I read it. I don't know. Maybe I just need to vent as badly as I need answers. Sorry to go on and on about this. Thanx for reading.

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