Keeping sane!
I set this blog up a few days ago, and true to form it’s taken me a while to get back. Why? Because I can’t stay awake. The medication I have been given isn’t working and it will be a while before I can do anything about it. However, in the meantime, it’s good to know that what I experience is also experienced by others. It helps me cope, knowing that I am not mad! I belong to a forum which is for folk with narcolepsy. It is run by a site which specialises in sleep disorders called http://www.sleepnet.com/ It is a big site covering all the major sleep disorders, such as Sleep Apnea, Insomnia, Narcolepsy, Restless Legs Syndrome, sleeplesssness in children and infants and sleep deprivation. I had been diagnosed with sleep apnea, and was looking forward to being re-energised after a few nights with a C-PAP machine (Continuous positive airway pressure). Unfortunately it didn’t help with the sleepiness but it did stop the apneas, so I am still using it, but that left me wondering what else was going on. It was by accident that one day I stumbled across a description of Narcolepsy on the Sleepnet site and investigated further. Suddenly, reading everyone elses’ accounts of their experiences, the jigsaw pieces began to fit. After a while I plucked up the courage and asked to see my consultant again, but although he sent me for another sleep study, he was at pains to tell me that he did not think it was narcolepsy. However, by now I was utterly convinced and I have recently been diagnosed with narcolepsy. Although my current treatment is not working, I am hopeful that by trial and error, I will eventually find something that will relieve this perpetual sleepiness.
For more information on sleep disorders visit http://www.sleepnet.com/.
