Sleep Disorder/Maybe Narcolepsy

United States
March 9, 2009 4:25pm CST
Ok, I have been having problems with a sleep disorder. I started out falling asleep at work. I would keep track when I would wake up and I was waking up every 7 to 10 minutes. I ended up having 3 sleep studies and one MSLT study. The only problem is that the doctor did not have me stop taking my meds before the sleep studies or the MSLT so I do wonder if the results came back accurate. I only had REM sleep in one of the overnight studies and that was toward the early moring. I do think maybe one of the meds, Tizanidine, might have had to do with stopping the rapid eye movement that you would see to notice the REM sleep. I do know that I was dreaming in the first sleep study and heard my husband call from far way to "wake up" and I sat straight up. I have cataplexy which I am told only happens with Narcolepsy. So far my diagnosis is upper airway breathing disorder and hypersomnia but with the way things are I realy thing it is Narcolepsy because I have automatic behavior am working and I don't even know that I am sleeping and working at the same time. I also find out that I am driving down the road and don't know how I ended up where I am or I am missing amounts of time in my drive. I have fallen asleep during phone conversations a couple of times unfortunately with my mother-in-law. I have now lost my job, stopped driving and it is very disruptive to my life. I might also add that it does not go well with OCD either as it messes up all of one's routines. Does anyone else have any experiences with sleep disorders? I do take Provigil but now have no insurance so when that runs out will have to find a generic alternative, not that it is working anyway. Does anyone take any generic meds that work? What are your experiences with sleep studies, did you stop taking meds first?
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