Narcolepsy, Periodic Limb Movement Disorder and Modafinil

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I've moved all of my blogging activity to The Lucid Blog.
You can visit my new home at:
www.thelucidblog.com

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If you've been reading my blog for a while, you may recall some earlier posts that mentioned by ongoing efforts to battle a sleep disorder.

You can read the earlier posts at:

http://www.thenettle.com/blog/2005/06/sleep-tight.html

http://www.thenettle.com/blog/2005/06/two-nights-in-sleep-laboratory.html

http://www.thenettle.com/blog/2006/09/marketing-techniques-in-food-allergies.html

The latest development is that my sleep doctor at the sleep clinic in Middlesbrough gave up on finding a solution and transferred me to a new doctor who had recently moved to the sleep clinic from another hospital. Apparently, this new doctor is very good at diagnosing sleep disorders.

I had my first meeting with the new doc on Monday and after reviewing my history, he came to the conclusion that the limb movement during sleep was something of a red herrring - in which case I may not have Periodic Limb Movement Disorder after all.

To my surprise he said it was more likely I had a form of Narcolepsy.

This surprised me because I associate that affliction with falling asleep unexpectedly. I may feel like doing that a lot of the time, but I've never actually done it.

Obviously not a typical case of Narcolepsy then. After doing my own research I was interested to discover that this typical view of Narcolepsy (as usually presented in movies) - that of falling asleep unexpectedly - is just one symptom. According to Wikipedia, only 20-25% of Narcolepts have ALL the symptoms.

Apparently, while most people take at least an hour to go into REM sleep, Narcolepsy sufferers go into REM sleep within minutes. And then out of it again. And then in it again.

This results in a lot of memorable dreams, insufficient deep sleep, fragmented sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness.

These symptoms at least, are very familiar to me. I can begin dreaming almost as soon as my eyes close and many nights seem to be an endless succession of exhausting dreams and nightmares.

There's no cure for Narcolepsy, just management, and my doctor recommended a drug called Modafinil.

It works on the brain to keep you sharp and alert and so counteracts the sleepiness and sluggishness that comes with the illness.

The really cool things about Modafinil is that, although it acts like a stimulant or an Amphetamine, there are no dependency issues and there is no "crash" after the drug wears off.

Sounds a little too good to be true, right?

The catch is that the drug is extremely expensive. My local GP who, thankfully, prescribed the drug without complaint, pointed out that the months supply she prescribed would cost £120. I dutifully paid my £6.65 prescription contribution and left the pharmacy with the vague impression that I had just mugged my chemist.

Do a Google search for Modafinil and you'll find some interesting articles about it. Apparently some people pay a lot of money to use it recreationally. Want to party all night and still get up for work/school the next day with no ill effects? Well that's how some are using it.

Sounds pretty unhealthy to me, but it gives you an idea of the potency of Modafinil.

Yesterday was my first full day on Modafinil (one in the morning, one at noon).

The sensation was very strange as I felt tired on some level, but I still felt extremely alert and ready for anything. I actually cruised through what was a very busy day.

There was no instant buzz as you might experience with drinking strong coffee - the effect seemed to creep up on me slowly - but the effects lasted all day and into the evening.

I'll have a better idea of Modafinil's efficacy after a couple of weeks, but my first impression is that these are going to be very helpful.

One interesting side-effect is that I found myself talking a lot more than usual. A lot more. I'm not a 'chatty' person by nature, but yesterday I couldn't seem to shut it off. I finished up with a sore throat from speaking equipment that isn't used to such a workout.

The less wanted side-effect is that it took me a while to fall asleep after going to bed. I don't know if this is the result of a busy day, or an effect of the drug, but I'll see how it goes.

Anyway, I hope you found this moderately interesting. I'll post again in a week or two and let you know how it's going.