Posted by Sleepy Sarah on July 09, 2008 at 08:21:39:Hello everyone!
I've just discovered what I consider to be a whole new world. I'm a 32-yr-old married mother of two. I work in the education business; going from teaching to an instructional leadership position at a campus to the same thing at the district level to a campus administrator. I have received both my bachelor's and master's degrees. But, as we all have experienced...I've been tired all along the way.
I've been struggling for quite a while now with this fatigue. My step mom reminds me that I used to tell her that the best present she could ever give me was some quiet time to nap. The worst of the fatigue started about 5 years ago. I would sleep a full 8 hours a night and still wake up tired. I would tell my friends and family that it was like I just laid down with my eyes closed. I had THE most vivid dreams that seemed to last all night long. And just forget about the daytime...if I wasn't moving and being active at work, I would get severely sleepy. I often told my colleagues that I would be able to sleep in a corner on the floor if given the opportunity. They would just laugh and say, "wow, you must really be tired!"
I had had a few health issues through the years: asthma, allergies, and IBS. I often went to the doctor and would tell him/her that I was always tired. He/she would invariably tell me that is was allergies, or stress, or the fact that I had a baby, or that I was a busy mom. It was ALWAYS something else.
My cousin has worked in a sleep lab for quite some time now. I had joked with my husband for a couple of years that I should give him a call and see what he thought about my fatigue and sleep issues. We would just laugh about it and go on with whatever we were doing. A few weeks ago, I decided to make the call.
The reason that I made the decision to call was that in February of this year, we found out that my husband and his National Guard unit were being deployed to Iraq this summer. That was really the last straw for me. I was going to have to do this (raising my kids, working, doing the normal routine of life) on my own for a year; and being so dependent on him to help and pick up whatever I slacked on was not going to be able to happen any longer.
My cousin was surprised to hear from me. I explained to him what my symptoms were and that I had been noticing them for a while. He scheduled me for an appointment the next day. I saw the doctor and as you all know, had to fill out the questionnaires and forms. He was concerned about some of the things I was saying. In hindsight, now I know why. He scheduled me for a sleep study and an MSLT two days from then. I went forward with it (heck, is it uncomfortable--or WHAT??) and got the results three days after that.
The doctor sat down with me and explained that I "slept" all night, but he could tell it was not a restful sleep. Then he got to the MSLT. I napped 5 out of 5 times. My time to fall asleep ranged from 3.5 to 1.5 minutes. I hit REM in 2 of the naps, and would have in a 3rd nap if someone hadn't knocked on the door and woken me up. He explained to me that it was narcolepsy. Immediately, I thought of everything you see on TV and hear in jokes. He clarified that that's not always the case. He prescribed me 100 mg of Provigil daily and told me to up the dose in 100 mg increments each week if there was no improvement. He also sent me for the narcolepsy profile blood test. I left his office, got in my car, called my mom and started to cry. I finally had an answer!!
The Provigil has been working, but I just am wary about taking meds. I guess I need to get over it, because I just need to accept that I have this condition that makes it necessary for me to take them. It doesn't make me different, and I'm still the same person inside. But, on the outside I'm better--more awake, alert, not wanting to sleep after a few minutes of activities. And, I feel more confident. I don't second guess myself and feel like I'm crazy for feeling so tired.
Thankfully, there are places like this for us. That's why I called it a whole new world. Thank you to each of you that posts--whether you know it or not, you are helping to educate me about this condition, helping me make decisions about my health care and helping me feel not-so-strange.
I hope you all don't mind me asking a few questions here and there--because I'll have them, that's for sure. Again, thanks for being courageous enough to share your stories. It helps a newbie like me tremendously.
Have a great day!
:)
- Re: My Whole New World!! (long post) julieme 09:13 8/17/08 (0)