Narcolepsy?

[mauveb]

For starters, it's not easy talking about this stuff, it doesn't feel proper to me to air these things - though i have an even harder time talking to doctors about it.

A little background info: I gave up smoking weed for the third time (in the last 10 years) over a month ago, for two reasons: my boyfriend, and panic attacks.

Well, my boyfriend is happy, but the panic attacks have gotten worse. They've been particularly bad these past 3 years, and have been unable to work the last 1 1/2.

Aside from this, after cutting off cannabis i've seen a return of events/symptoms I previously experienced before smoking weed, and after the last two times i quit. These include weird, vivid/surreal and recurring dreams, the feeling of days passing within 1 night, loss of appetite, insomnia, waking up disoriented, confused and more tired than when i went to bed, hard time staying awake during the day, hearing and seeing things that aren't there/happening (phone ringing, the cat, stranger at the door, misreading words, etc.), sleepwalking (trying to drink a bottle of rubbing alcohol, moving things, etc.), and weird dreams during short naps (which are becoming more frequent), night sweats (lake on my side of the bed) and day shivers.

For a long time i thought many of these symptoms were the result/prelude of panic attacks. Ive been to several different doctors over the years, and they gave me Effexor, though this didn't help with the panic attacks and the dreams just got weirder and more vivid. I thought cutting weed out might settle the panic attacks once and for all, though that's not happening, and as i said, the other symptoms are coming back. I've grown exasperated with the medical profession as a result.

So in looking up the nature of recurring and vivid dreams, as well as some of the other things i was feeling upon waking up, i was lead to a page on narcolepsy. I think this might be it, though being as tired as i frequently am, i always have this afterthought that it might just be in my head. Im hoping to find people with experience who can tell me if its worth consulting, and with what kind of professional - i hate bouncing between different doctors' offices, and they're a source of anxiety too :S I also can't talk to family about it, though they know about the panic attacks, im an uncle and kept the weed thing quiet.

Thanks for taking the time to read this,
~M

 

[medic1]

Hi there .
Firstly it does not sound like Narcolepsy , this condition makes you fall into a very deep sleep at the bat of an eye , one moment you
could be talking to a friend and having a coffee then you just slump into what appears to be a very deep sleep .

Instead of going from Dr to Dr , perhaps you may find it more helpful to see a Psychologist , many studies have shown that the long-term use of Cannabis can and does lead to many of the signs and symptoms that you have described .

If you have seen a Dr and they have carried out Bloods , ect , and there is no indication of a Physiological abnormality then perhaps
it would be helpful for you to try other routes .
I wish you luck on finding out what may be causing you to feel this way .

 

[Benvolio]

Your symptoms sound more likely to result from poor sleep, and frequently waking up. Ordinarily the only dreams we remember are those immediately prior to waking. I suggest you try sleep aids, first one of the over the counter ones or a prescription if you prefer. Hopefully better sleep at night will help. Try not to use an alarm clock, since they often wake us in the middle of dreams. When we wake gradually our dreams are partly or entirely forgotten.

 

[mauveb]

Falling asleep randomly is something that happened in high school, these days i just feel extremely fatigued at certain parts of the day, though not much at night. And it doesn't seem to really matter if i sleep ten or five hours a night, i always wake up feeling more tired than the night before. As for the weed, one of the reasons i hate going to the doctor is they always pin it on that, even though, this has been going on long before i ever started, and persisted a year after I quit (last time). I used weed because A) it made me hungry, B) it let me sleep without all the intense dreams.

Blood test never turned up anything unusual, and psychologists/psychiatrist were generally a waste of time and money, and hard to come by a good one in Canada. I also have a cousin who was diagnosed as epileptic, she had a habit of passing out like that.

If the solution is really to go back to the doctor and get back on the merry-go-round of pills with more side-affects than benefits, then i'll have to consider if giving up weed is really worth it, i was more functional with it than on anything else.

 

[Yngbldhwk]

Mauveb: You probably need to see a neurologist and have a sleep study and an EEG done. Do your muscles ever suddenly become slack when you're experiencing a strong emotion (e.g., anger, laughter)? Also, how old are you?

 

[Benvolio]

I suggest you look up the symptoms of sleep apnea on the Internet. Wikipedia has a good discussion. In many respects your problem is similar And, as you know, you cannot assume that all your problems result from a single cause.

 

[medic1]

I suggest you look up the symptoms of sleep apnea on the Internet. Wikipedia has a good discussion. In many respects your problem is similar And, as you know, you cannot assume that all your problems result from a single cause.

^^^
A good idea , though this mainly seems to affect people who are overweight and/or smokers and heavy drinkers , yngbldhwk also
raised some good points .
That is why i said if the Dr has carried out tests and can find nothing wrong then it is always a good idea to explore all avenues .

I know here in Scotland sleep-study examination , usually 24hrs and EEGs can be carried out on the NHS without cost to the patient
things like MRIs , EEGs , ECGs , LFTs ,can be carried out quite quickly .
Though there are very few dedicated sleep-study centres in the UK so the wait for these here can be very long .
Mauveb , epilepsy is really something different your cousin was more than likely having a gran-mal (a full on epileptic fit) plus there are petit-mals which usualy manifest themselves as something very much like a daydreaming episode where the person just seems to be staring into space .

If you are managing 10hrs sleep at times and 5-7 at others but are still waking up feeling fatigued and remembering very vivid dreams
then a sleeping trace may help provide answers .
Again i wish you luck in getting to the root of your problems .

 

[mauveb]

Mauveb: You probably need to see a neurologist and have a sleep study and an EEG done. Do your muscles ever suddenly become slack when you're experiencing a strong emotion (e.g., anger, laughter)? Also, how old are you?

anxiety, frustration, not sure about laughter, other people's laughter (sudden or loud) yeah. Though I usually attributed that to panic attacks, the usual sequence is: weakness in the legs, difficulty breathing (sinking/crushing feeling the chest) and the need to lie down. I pass out after particularly nasty attacks, which i can deal with at home, but last time this happened in public i awoke to EMTs, which is why i avoid going out if i don't have to. (150$+ for ambulances, can't afford many trips like that).

I checked out sleep apnea, and while i don't usually wake up with headaches, i do wake up extremely dizzy most mornings :/ So i try not to get out of bed too fast.

 

[medic1]

anxiety, frustration, not sure about laughter, other people's laughter (sudden or loud) yeah. Though I usually attributed that to panic attacks, the usual sequence is: weakness in the legs, difficulty breathing (sinking/crushing feeling the chest) and the need to lie down. I pass out after particularly nasty attacks, which i can deal with at home, but last time this happened in public i awoke to EMTs, which is why i avoid going out if i don't have to. (150$+ for ambulances, can't afford many trips like that).

I checked out sleep apnea, and while i don't usually wake up with headaches, i do wake up extremely dizzy most mornings :/ So i try not to get out of bed too fast.

mauveb , how is your blood-pressure ? Do you have any underlying illness that you are being treated for ?
After reading your last post i thought of your BP.

Also and i will more than likely get flack for this , BUT , if you having a spliff does seem to help you in coping then have one .
The medicinal effects are being up-graded on an almost weekly basis .

As before wishing you luck in getting some sort of resolution to this . Adam .