I've had horrible fatigue for over two years now. I've had the million dollar workup- so far it's not shown anything conclusive. A few months ago, my Doctor started me on provigil, because I finally told him I was afraid my constant need for sleep would cause an accident at work. At that point, I had stopped driving. I HATE not driving!!!
I finally had a sleep study D/T RLS, which I've had my whole life with no real problems. My results were not what I expected::
Under recommendations it states that 1. I don't have sleep apnea (I knew that), and the 2. Although the pt has RLS and PLMS, the arousal associated with these do not likely explain EDS- given a short overall sleep and REM latency, consider narcolepsy clinically. I had 156 arousals, 110 spontaneous, the rest due to limb movement. I also spent most of my sleep time in sleep stages 1 and 2, whith REM episodes scattered randomly. I had no time in stage 3, and when I had REM sleep it was from wake to REM with no progression through the other cycles. I had two episodes of central sleep apnea, and my sats dropped to 83%, but otherwide my HR was 35-75, with avaerage O2 sats of 97% and above. While I'm awake, my HR stays in the 90's, but can go as high as 140 with exertion, but echo and 72hr holter were normal.
Ironically- the neurologist's nurse called this afternoon to tell me I don't need RLS medicine, to increase my provigil, and that the neuro will talk about my sleep study at my follow-up appointment, which is a month from now. This sleep study was done with my taking provigil daily.... I learned the hard way that waiting to take it until I was so sleepy I couldn't function doesn't work.
I am the primary bread winner in my household. I have a teenager and a special needs child. I have a job I love. I am NOT crazy. I have a month until I see my neuro- but does this sound like narcolepsy?? My need for sleep has taken over my life, and it *****. I am determined to overcome this!