Posted by tired and sleepy on October 31, 2009 at 19:19:38:In Reply to: Story/Vent - Feedback Appreciated posted by yurgh on October 31, 2009 at 04:07:16:
Yurgh,
It is a good thing that you are not just trusting your doctors. I would be willing to bet almost anything that you have narcolepsy. I cannot believe that your Dr's have not followed up with a sleep study. If your current Dr. is not willing to refer you to a sleep specialist, get a new Dr. You certainly need both sleep studies performed to get a diagnosis.
If you do get a diagnosis of narcolepsy, they will probably start you out on provigil or ritalin. Hopefully they will help, but DO NOT settle for only feeling slightly better. If you are like me, you may never feel 100% (like I did in high school), but with the right meds and dosage, you should feel substantially better.
I was diagnosed with narcolepsy almost 11 years ago. Since then, I have been on every type of medication available. None of the treatments are perfect, but I could not function at all without them.
The most important thing is finding the right Dr. And if you are diagnosed with narcolepsy, be sure that your wife and family get good information so they can be supportive. There is nothing more annoying to me than people telling me stuff like "You just need to exercise early in the morning, and you won't be sleepy," or "You need to stop eating white bread and you won't be sleepy." I think you get my point. Good luck!