Narcolepsy

The problems of narcolepsy are --

main characteristic of narcolepsy is overwhelming excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), even after adequate nighttime sleep. A person with narcolepsy is likely to become drowsy or to fall asleep, often at inappropriate times and places. Daytime sleep attacks may occur with or without warning and may be irresistible. These attacks can occur repeatedly in a single day. Drowsiness may persist for prolonged periods of time. In addition, nighttime sleep may be fragmented with frequent wakenings.

Three other classic symptoms of narcolepsy, which may not occur in all patients, are:

Cataplexy: sudden episodes of loss of muscle function, ranging from slight weakness (such as limpness at the neck or knees, sagging facial muscles, or inability to speak clearly) to complete body collapse. Attacks may be triggered by sudden emotional reactions such as laughter, anger, surprise, or fear, and may last from a few seconds to several minutes. The person remains conscious throughout the episode.
A narcoleptic teenager after an attack of CataplexySleep paralysis: temporary inability to talk or move when falling asleep or waking up. It may last a few seconds to minutes.
Hypnagogic hallucinations: vivid, often frightening, dream-like experiences that occur while dozing, falling asleep and/or while awakening.
Daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and hypnagogic hallucinations also occur in people who do not have narcolepsy, more frequently in people who are suffering from extreme lack of sleep.

In most cases, the first symptom of narcolepsy to appear is excessive and overwhelming daytime sleepiness. The other symptoms may begin alone or in combination months or years after the onset of the daytime sleep attacks. There are wide variations in the development, severity, and order of appearance of cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and hypnagogic hallucinations in individuals. Only about 20 to 25 percent of people with narcolepsy experience all four symptoms. The excessive daytime sleepiness generally persists throughout life, but sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations may not.

The symptoms of narcolepsy, especially the excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy, often become severe enough to cause serious disruptions in a person's social, personal, and professional lives and severely limit activities.

As far as I can see the remedy Physostigma is the closest to matching the condition .

Alloxan from O. Julians work mentions it but the conditions of that are not a matc h for your condition.

Brittany, Please describe more about your symptoms. The diagnosis of narcolepsy isn't helpful homeopathically. Describe the overpowering sleepiness as it affects you...besides when driving.

I am very interested in this subject as my husband's family has some sort of sleep disorder with overpowering daytime sleepiness but it doesn't fit the medical description of narcolepsy.

Have you had an overnight sleep study?

ruth

You can try NUX MOSCHATA 30 c ,5 drops thrice daily for a week and post the result,it is not difficult to cure but needs time since removal of causation is essential.
sajjad.

Walkin, Have you had results with the Physostigma? I had heard of Nux Mosh. and Opium for narcolepsy but not Physostigma.

I looked it up in my book and it does seem to fit the sleepiness but not other things like chronic constipation. Do you think it would still work on alleviating the overpowering daytime sleepiness?

How can I go about getting more information on this? I would be most grateful for your help as my 16 year old daughter is failing two classes because she can't stay awake. And as I said earlier, it is some sort of genetic sleeping disorder because it affects my husband and his father and his father's siblings as well.
Thank you, Ruth

Dear Speedylittleme,
How interesting that you did go into the REM sleep very rapidly. Yes, that is an indication of narcolepsy from what I have read.

My husband and daughter both have overpowering sleepines but their sleep studies did not show them going quickly into REM sleep. That is why I can't say they are true narcoleptics.

However, overpowering sleepiness is quite a problem no matter what you call it. There are remedies though. Nux Moschata is the main remedy but it has to fit your symptoms or it won't work.

Would you mind telling me what your experience with Ritalin was? It would be a last resort but I may have to put my daughter on some drug to keep her awake or she will flunk out of school.

Thanks,
Ruth

Brittany,
My daughter is 16 1/2 but she is 5'7" and overweight as well so as far that goes, I would think she's closer to adult.

My husband has taken Ritalin before but he also said he didn't notice much improvement. I know my father-in-law has a prescription for it but only takes it when he has to drive long distances.

Neither of them has had too much to say about Ritalin when I've asked, but like I said, I almost feel like we have to try something or my daughter will flunk out.

My husband copes with his sleepiness without drugs but he has the kind of job where he's up and moving around all the time. That's what seems to be the problem -- sitting. Of course there's not much you can do about that in school.

Thanks for sharing your story.

I do believe in homeopathy and I believe there is a remedy but so far we haven't found the right one.

I would encourage you to pursue it though. I'm not giving up.

Ruth

Oh, because Ritalin is given to children who are hyperactive and it slows them down?

You may have a point there but I really don't think it would affect her that way because obviously her symptoms are the opposite of hyperactivity.

My honey has both narcolepsy and ADHD, for which he has been taking adderol. Recently he found he can often avoid taking any by the right combination of coffee. It took some experimenting to find what worked for him.

I'm not a homeopath, but have been trying to read a lot. I think he may be Phosphorus constitutionally.

Daisy, What do you mean by the right combination of coffee? Drinking coffee keeps him awake? What kind of sleepiness does he have?

My husband could drink a whole pot of coffee and fall right back asleep.

Ruth, sorry to not reply sooner.

Honey says to avoid arabica bean content, because it tends to come at the expense of the amount of caffeine.

I found this on google which might explain it: "A coffee can in the supermarket often contains a blend of Arabica and robusta beans while most coffee houses sell only arabica beans. Arabica beans are usually flavour rich, while robusta beans have more caffeine, less flavour and are cheaper to produce."

So, I guess he is trying to increase his caffeine load. There should be other ways to do it besides coffee, but it does seem to have helped him immensely.

Generally AVOID pharmaceutical drugs - they suppress and depress.

Walkin, Generally avoid pharmaceutical drugs??????????? GENERALLY AVOID PHARMACEUTICAL DRUGS???????????? My 16 year old daughter has had virtually no pharmaceutical drugs in her entire lifetime and no immunizations and has had nothing but homeopathy and I've taken her to four professional homeopaths in her lifetime and am currently consulting with one over the internet and still no one has come up with a remedy for her abnormal daytime sleepiness.

Thanks for the advice. It was really helpful.

Ruth45

I am new to homeopathy. My wife has narcolepsy, and has for about five years. It is becoming apparent that she is getting worse, and the prescriptions are getting stronger, so I am eagerly seeking alternative treatments.

Initally, it took about two years to get the correct diagnosis. After two sleep studies with different physicians, both have said she has narcolepsy.

She suffers extreme daytime sleepiness, even though she can sleep as much as 18 hours a night (when not medicated), as well as cataplexy, hallucinations, sleep walking, and vivid/disturbing dreams.

Her cataplexy is rare, and in random (not associated with emotional change).

Since Ritalin and Provigil have not helped alertness, and sleep aids have not helped quality of sleep, she now takes Amphetamines in daytime (just changed presciprtion from Aderall to DextroAmphetamine), and GHB (Sodium Oxybate, trade name Xyrem) for nighttime.

She seems better with medication, but still is not normal. And neither of us likes the idea of taking amphetamines and date-rape drugs indefinitely.

She also has two seemingly unrelated health problems: cold hands and feet, and dietary intolerance of dairy and wheat.

I mention the cold hands and feet because they are always cold, profoundly cold, in any weather, yet she does not feel cold.

And the food sensitivity is unusual. I say sensitivity because she has tested negative for food allergies. If she eats dairy or wheat, about 12 hours later she gets extreme gastric distress, gas, bloating, diarreah, occasionally vomiting. She then gets whole body soreness, and retains a great deal of water in all her tissues for about 48 hours.

The diet can be controlled; the sleep disorder, however, is often debilitating, so it is our primary area of concern.

Any thoughts on where I can find additional material on homeopathy and narcolepsy?

Ruth
YES AVOID!!!!!!

Find a homeopath who has a knowledge of Miasmatics

I was diagnosed with narcolepsy about 12 years ago. My doctor prescribed Ritalin for me. I took it for years, but never noticed any consistent results. I took myself off of it about 5 years ago and managed to gain 60 pounds over the first 4 years that I was off Ritalin, without any change in my diet or activity level. I have since been told that Ritalin is a drug that settles in your fat cells, and causes them to expand when you stop taking it. Has anyone else heard this? Is there a way to get the Ritalin out of my (many)fat cells? Is there an effective way to treat narcolpesy, I will not go back on Ritalin or any other drug. Any input will be appreciated.