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Neurology (Expert Forum)
'Mimicing' Narcolepsy ?
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'Mimicing' Narcolepsy ?
by Alinar, Jan 11, 2003 12:00AM
I'm 25
On strong emotions,my muscles become weak,particularly when I am laughing(I could fall). When I sleep,many times,I feel heat on my head and vibration,then after,I feel paralysed and hallucinate. I am also sleepy everywhere. As well I am very sensitive to light. I also have memory problems. I searched and researched,studying from psychotical cases to other psychiatrical problems,or others,to come up with the conclusion that nothing describe what I have, until recently, where my night schedules were disturbed,I started to have exaggerated paralysis problem, then I decided to search about sleep paralysis, and tried to find out what could create it,I found the word narcolepsy in one of those sites, then I searched for that word, all what I knew I had for years was there as symptoms. While because of my disturbed sleep schedules my nights were very disturbed as well, and my discovery(Narcolepsy),I finally decided to consult my GP,to my surprise, he said he do not believe that it may be narcolepsy, he thought that those things are new. He asked me questions,while it was evident that he was thinking that depression, panic or obsessive problems may explain..I know it’s not this. The question is, could there be any other conditions that may mimic all the symptoms of narcolepsy, more particularly, cataplexy,and this,when those symptoms were sure there, even before I even knew a disease such a disease existed. I decided to visit forums and write to narcolepsics my exact symptoms,and the answers they give was that it exactly matches with what they experience.
On strong emotions,my muscles become weak,particularly when I am laughing(I could fall). When I sleep,many times,I feel heat on my head and vibration,then after,I feel paralysed and hallucinate. I am also sleepy everywhere. As well I am very sensitive to light. I also have memory problems. I searched and researched,studying from psychotical cases to other psychiatrical problems,or others,to come up with the conclusion that nothing describe what I have, until recently, where my night schedules were disturbed,I started to have exaggerated paralysis problem, then I decided to search about sleep paralysis, and tried to find out what could create it,I found the word narcolepsy in one of those sites, then I searched for that word, all what I knew I had for years was there as symptoms. While because of my disturbed sleep schedules my nights were very disturbed as well, and my discovery(Narcolepsy),I finally decided to consult my GP,to my surprise, he said he do not believe that it may be narcolepsy, he thought that those things are new. He asked me questions,while it was evident that he was thinking that depression, panic or obsessive problems may explain..I know it’s not this. The question is, could there be any other conditions that may mimic all the symptoms of narcolepsy, more particularly, cataplexy,and this,when those symptoms were sure there, even before I even knew a disease such a disease existed. I decided to visit forums and write to narcolepsics my exact symptoms,and the answers they give was that it exactly matches with what they experience.
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-Neuro-M.D.-JT, Jan 12, 2003 12:00AM
Narcolepsy is characterized by 4 things:
1.Excessive daytime sleepiness
2.Sleep paralysis-brief paralysis while falling asleep and less commonly on waking
3.Cataplexy-temporary paralysis during emotional states such as laughter
4.Hypnagogic hallucinations: visual, auditory, feelings that parts of your body are abnormal - growing/shrinking/etc..., and sense of motion while you're falling asleep
I'm not sure what your GP meant, but all of these things have been known to be associated with narcolepsy since the late 1800s and early 1900s. You of course don't have to have all 4 clinical manifestations, but if there is a strong clinical suspicion then you should definitely undergo a sleep study to further evaluate whether or not you really have this. There are specific things they look for on the sleep-EEG to make the diagnosis. This is an important diagnose to make so that you can get the appropriate treatment.I don't know of any other disease, except perhaps other forms of narcolepsy, sleep disorders that causes this constellation of symptoms. But please keep in mind I have not personally examined you nor have I reviewed your clinical history in detail to give an accurate medical opinion.
Get a sleep study, and if your GP is reluctant to do so, get a neurologist to help you. GOod luck.
1.Excessive daytime sleepiness
2.Sleep paralysis-brief paralysis while falling asleep and less commonly on waking
3.Cataplexy-temporary paralysis during emotional states such as laughter
4.Hypnagogic hallucinations: visual, auditory, feelings that parts of your body are abnormal - growing/shrinking/etc..., and sense of motion while you're falling asleep
I'm not sure what your GP meant, but all of these things have been known to be associated with narcolepsy since the late 1800s and early 1900s. You of course don't have to have all 4 clinical manifestations, but if there is a strong clinical suspicion then you should definitely undergo a sleep study to further evaluate whether or not you really have this. There are specific things they look for on the sleep-EEG to make the diagnosis. This is an important diagnose to make so that you can get the appropriate treatment.I don't know of any other disease, except perhaps other forms of narcolepsy, sleep disorders that causes this constellation of symptoms. But please keep in mind I have not personally examined you nor have I reviewed your clinical history in detail to give an accurate medical opinion.
Get a sleep study, and if your GP is reluctant to do so, get a neurologist to help you. GOod luck.
In your position I, too, would be very curious about a link with autoimmune disorders. I have not seen anything about that. Have you looked at PubMed, NIH's Library of Medicine? If you can stand to wade through a lot of very technical and confusing language, there is awesome information there. Also, may I suggest Sleepnet? There is a forum there specifically tailored for narcolepsy patients. I'll try to put some live links below here for you.
http://www.sleepnet.com/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?SUBMIT=y
Good luck! Remember there is treatment no matter what your condition and you just need to get a diagnosis so you can start feeling better.