Posted 04 December 2010 - 10:54 AM
Hi Mark,
I live in Etobicoke and have been experiencing excessive tiredness for about 2 years now. I am able to fight the sleep, but I had a hard time concentrating and having enough energy to do anything, eventually my home, work, and school work/life were suffering.
I spoke to my doctor about a year ago with regards to feeling sleepy all the time here is what happened for me,
1) doctor asked me about feeling depressed (a common effect of depression) I didn't feel depressed, just tired
2) full set of blood and urine tests to check thyroid, anemia (low iron) and other conditions that can cause sleepiness. (tests all came back normal
3) initial sleep study at a sleep lab (overnight study to determine sleep patterns and stages of sleep being entered, 7pm-7am) you will also complete a standard "sleepiness questionnaire" to determine your level of sleepiness. you will also need to keep a sleep log for 2 weeks prior to the sleep study to track amount/quality of sleep, mood, energy levels, exercise levels, alcohol consumption, etc. The sleep study took quite a while to get an appointment, but once you've been referred to the sleep clinic you can request to be contacted in case of a cancellation, but make sure to have started your sleep log in case this occurs.
4)follow up with sleep specialist once the sleep study results were back (about 4 weeks) The specialist asked a lot of questions, they will likely ask you about strange and vivid dreams, previous head trauma, being paralyzed upon waking or falling asleep-temporarily, partial paralysis or loss of strength in situations where your emotions are present(laughing,crying,etc.)(my face muscles become very stiff when I get emotional, but more serious paralysis is common) The specialist then scheduled me for another overnight sleep study followed by a sleep latency test (for the following day). I was also told that I get too much REM sleep, more than a normal person's range anyway.
5)Sleep study #2 and next day sleep latency test were completed. the overnight sleep study was identical to the first one and used to confirm your quality of sleep as a benchmark for the latency test. The sleep latency test consisted of (5) 20-minute naps every 2 hours beginning 2 hours after waking up. after 20 minutes they get you up regardless of if you are sleeping or not.
6)follow up #2 with sleep specialist, to go over the results. For my situation, I was confirmed to have a good amount/quality of sleep the night before (benchmark to ensure enough sleep prior to the sleep latency test). of the 5 naps, I fell asleep every time with an average of just around 10 minutes (which is the borderline number that they look for. The most interesting thing was that I entered REM sleep 3 of the 5 naps which was a big sign of something going on. you shouldn't hit REM sleep until 70-80 minutes into your sleep cycle, this also accounts for the increased amount of REM sleep confirmed by the overnight studies.
The sleep specialist has not officially labeled it Narcolepsy, but I am being treated for it, I think he just wants to make sure things are similar on my follow up (after 6 months).
I was put on medication for a week and then went back for a medication follow up. I was good for about a month, then the medication didn't seem to be as effective so I made another appointment. I was prescribed another medication to try, I did this for 2 weeks and didn't have a good reaction to the drug, so I was instructed to go back to the first medication. So far, the first medication (dexadrine) seems to be working alright, I just have to make sure to get lots of rest and nap when possible.
As you can see, this process is extremely long, but it's worth it to figure out what is really going on. the tests done will help to diagnose the problem, I wouldn't go in to your doctor telling them you have Narcolepsy, because from what I've read, the drug seekers seem to be out for these types of drugs and it probably won't look to good if that is your doctors perception. If your issue is genuine (and I'm sure it is) hang in there and make sure you get all of the necessary tests done.
Hope this info helps, feel free to post back with any questions.
Take care sleepyheads!
Jon
I'm well aware of my quirky habits. 
