Narco-sleepy

This is what my good buddy has always called it. Narco-sleepy, and my narco-sleepy pills.

I have narcolepsy. I've started reading other blogs on this topic and I now say with confidence that mine is a low-grade narcolepsy. As I get to know these many ways of sharing information, I'll have to link them - they are quite an insight to the disorder, if you care to read about it.

So I offer some insight. I nap really really well. Seriously. When I first took my sleep test, I fell asleep at every opportunity. 3 times, spaced 2 hours apart and starting at 9 am, they had me lay down to see if I would fall asleep. The human body should take +/- 20 minutes to fall asleep from a fully awake state. You shouldn't readily fall asleep after 9 or 10 in the morning if you had a good night of sleep. Ready for this? I averaged around 7 minutes to fall asleep and hit REM sleep all 3 times. That, too, shouldn't happen in a 20 minute nap. Lets have fun with this.

I have acute awareness in my dreams. If woken during a dream, I can often go back to sleep and finish the dream. Like stepping back into a pool I just climbed out of, or backing into a cave I just emerged from. The corollary to that is that I have fallen asleep with something going on around me and that experience translated to a dream. I awoke from the dream believing what is still going on around me went like it did in my dream. That can be... awkward. Funny, too! Hopefully...

I recently switched medication. I was taking Concerta for many years. I firmly believe Concerta is evil. For some people. Okay, it's not evil - but if you're taking it and you are great at being a jerk I strongly suggest you switch meds. This is the part of the show where I take a moment to that God for blessing me with an infinitely patient wife. I'll save the stories for another day; suffice it to say, I had mood swings. I'm finding lately that I supress the need for naps too well. Think of it like this: you get a little crabby when you didn't sleep well or you're tired, right? Imagine if you're tired often, and for no reason. I would get irritable for no reason and have a medication to amplify it. It's like a joy parade, and I firebombed it. :-)

So the new medication is much nicer. It really makes for poor writing, actually. I'm reaching a crossroad, though. I'm taking a short nap before dinner more often than not lately. The natural reaction is that I should up the dosage so I stay awake through the evening and I don't have to pass on enjoying my children and wife. I'm considering embracing the naps, though. Sometimes they're 20 minutes, sometimes 45. Occasionally, after 10 minutes I'm right as rain. I'm considering embrcing the naps.

Hi. My name is Chris, and I need a nap. Thanks for listening.