6 replies to this topic

[Katshart]

My 16 year old has Narcolepsy w/Cateplexy. Last night his girl friend of almost a year broke up with him and it was the worse night ever. He cried all night long and of course had several cataplexy attacks. He thinks his life is over since she was his only friend. He is having problems at school with his cateplexy and is being bullied bc of it. I had to sleep with him last night to make sure he didnt hurt himself. I know everyone gets over being dumped and it is really hard but with his cateplexy and depression it is manifested times 10. Can someone give me advise on how to help him through this short of going to the hospital? I have taken off work today to care for him and not sure where to turn.

[ohiolor]

Oh, Katshart...I'm sorry I didn't see your posting earlier today...I am sooo sorry that your son (and you) are dealing with this. At 16 a relationship breakup is hard enough, but I'm sure adding in the N and C makes it that much worse. What a great mom you are staying home with him to help him out....wish I had some magic cure for him...or even some suggestions for getting thru it all...just know that you have someone out there sending you and your son positive healing energy.

Keeping you both in my thoughts,

Lorrie

[keean]

Aww, that's so horrible! Kids are so cruel. Since he doesn't seem to have social support at school, maybe homeschooling him for a year or so would be better for him? Another thing you might look into is many school districts have high schools for kids with problems fitting in to mainstream school. The class sizes are usually much smaller and it's easier for them to get help and form friendships. Might be worth looking into. I sure hope it gets better for him, narcolepsy and cataplexy are hard enough without social troubles too

BTW, N/C and depression are disabilities that make the school and school district legally obligated to provide any services he needs to safely get through the day and get an education. Maybe you could advocate for an aide for him at school to protect and assist him. Obviously none of this is going to help how he feels about losing his GF, but it can help support him through school days and that might help him get through it without something bad happening.

[TiredAgain]

Sorry to hear this about your son. The good news is that he is letting you know how bad he's feeling, a lot of teens hide their feelings. If he isn't already seeing a therapist now is the time to get him to one. The break up is just one of the many things he is feeling depressed about. Your doing the right thing by staying with him, but it's going to take some time to get him over this and if your in a situation like me, single mom and sole supporter, you'll need to get back to work. So please get him some outside help asap, he has a lot on his plate with N & C and just being a teenager. Good Luck

[Katshart]

Thanks everyone for all your support!
We saw a Narcolepsy specialist in Dallas on Thursday. After showing her a video I took of my son during an attack, she said it is not cateplexy but an actual seizure. She wants him to have and EEG monitor and video camera for a week at home to catch to attack and record his brain waves. She wants to determine if it's epilepsy or Pseudo-seizures. This is so tough on top of the major depression he is going through. He is not eating and he is sleeping all the time. He wants to give up and doesnt want to work with the specialist. But, I have explained to him that his goal is to do everything it takes to find out what this is and to find the right treatment so he can get his quality of life back and possibly his gf. He has agreed and last night he started feeling better. Will keep you posted. My lesson out of this is even though a neurologist thinks you have narcolepsy/cataplexy, seek out a narcolepsy specialist that deals with on a daily basis. It was well worth the 2 hour appointment with her. We learned a lot and are ready to move forward.

[keean]

I'm glad you found someone to help you and your son. I did finally see your other posting and it doesn't sound like the cataplexy I experience at all. I drop and can't move for several seconds, but I *am* awake and alert during that. If your son is not awake and alert and his body is going stiff and eyes rolling back and so on, it does sound more like a seizure than cataplexy. Why it happens in response to emotion I don't know, but there are many different types of epilepsy so it wouldn't surprise me at all if it could happen. Good luck to you.

[flutterbye_xo]

My 16 year old has Narcolepsy w/Cateplexy. Last night his girl friend of almost a year broke up with him and it was the worse night ever. He cried all night long and of course had several cataplexy attacks. He thinks his life is over since she was his only friend. He is having problems at school with his cateplexy and is being bullied bc of it. I had to sleep with him last night to make sure he didnt hurt himself. I know everyone gets over being dumped and it is really hard but with his cateplexy and depression it is manifested times 10. Can someone give me advise on how to help him through this short of going to the hospital? I have taken off work today to care for him and not sure where to turn.

When I was younger (not much younger than I am now :/) I went through many breakups similar to this. Looking back I think they were worse because of narcolepsy I just didn't know it then and cataplexy hadn't developed. I was very depressed at times. It is very hard and I think it will be very hard for him but he will learn and be much smarter going forward. I was. The big thing that I learned through breakups was loving myself and that I will always have myself no matter what. This took time. Also doing things I loved (reading) for me helped me love myself. Anything you can do to boost that self-esteem might help. I didn't listen to my mom at that age but I knew from what she said that if there was one person in the world that would be there no matter what happened it was her hands-down. That helped me. Good luck!