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[N50+]

I am curious to hear from folks who have been able to continue to take Xyrem for 6 months or longer. What experiences have you had, good or bad? How long have you been taking it? What kind of side effects did you experience, if any? Did any side effects go away or get worse? Did you do anything special to mitigate side effects?
I took Xyrem for about 6 months and stopped due to severe anxiety but I am wondering now if the anxiety may have had another cause. I felt the best I think I ever had while I was taking Xyrem until the anxiety trumped it. My wife, on the other hand, absolutely hated me taking Xyrem as she said I would jump around, twitch, holler, have bad dreams and gasp for air as if it were my last breath. I know nothing of this of course because I was deeply asleep.
I am currently on Ritalin which definitely keeps me up but doesn't address the underlying sleep deprivation issue so while I am awake, I am still thoroughly exhausted. Anxiety is also seeming to become an issue again.
BTW, I have N w/out C, dx in Oct 2011 at age 53.

[tdmom]

My son (17) has been on Xyrem for 11 months. He did great on it until we weaned off the Prozac (he was on for Cataplexy and the Xyrem covered that) and then he started with anxiety. We lowered the dose and the anxiety got better so we slowly increased it. The anxiety has returned so we had to lower it again. I am not sure he is on the optimal dose for him so he has an appointment to see if we can restart the Prozac. I spoke with the Stanford Narcolepsy Center and they said they sometimes have to start either Prozac or lexapro for the anxiety so people can be on their optimal dose of Xyrem. He is so much better on it then off that for him I think this is a better way to go.

I am curious to hear from folks who have been able to continue to take Xyrem for 6 months or longer. What experiences have you had, good or bad? How long have you been taking it? What kind of side effects did you experience, if any? Did any side effects go away or get worse? Did you do anything special to mitigate side effects?
I took Xyrem for about 6 months and stopped due to severe anxiety but I am wondering now if the anxiety may have had another cause. I felt the best I think I ever had while I was taking Xyrem until the anxiety trumped it. My wife, on the other hand, absolutely hated me taking Xyrem as she said I would jump around, twitch, holler, have bad dreams and gasp for air as if it were my last breath. I know nothing of this of course because I was deeply asleep.
I am currently on Ritalin which definitely keeps me up but doesn't address the underlying sleep deprivation issue so while I am awake, I am still thoroughly exhausted. Anxiety is also seeming to become an issue again.
BTW, I have N w/out C, dx in Oct 2011 at age 53.