Just call me Jeff

Jeff Wiggle that is... if you're unfamiliar with the Wiggles, Jeff Wiggle is famous for always falling asleep and making the kids laugh when they have to wake him up. He falls asleep anywhere, anytime, doing anything and the kids all count to three and scream "wake up Jeff".

So I had my sleep study last night and today. I got there at 8pm and they hooked me up to about 15 electrodes on my head, 4 on my face, two on my chest, two on my legs and two belts around my chest and waist. I was a sight for sore eyes. I got to hang out and watch TV for awhile to relax and then about 10pm he came in to tuck me in. :) He hooked all my gear up to a computer type thing and he went back to the control room. There's a video recorder and sound recorder in the room (I thought the whole time...what if I fart in my sleep??!!) There's also a speaker where they can talk to you from the control room. He had me lay on my back and asked me to move my eyes different direction, breathe and hold my breathe at times and make a snoring sound all to check that everything was hooked up correctly. He had me try a c pap machine in case my problem were to be sleep apnea. If they discovered this then they would wake me up and hook that up. Then I was to sleep. I'm a side sleeper and he had me sleep on my back - I thought never! Yeah, well apparently people with possible sleep disorders can fall asleep in any position, and I did. I don't remember much other then tossing and turning a couple times and him telling me to go ahead and sleep on my side a few hours in (they only needed me on my back for a couple hours).

The next thing I knew he was waking me up just short of 7am. So not sleep apnea I asked? He said I had some mild snoring and sleep disruption, but the amount that any normal adult would have - but that it may lead to sleep apnea in my future. So I needed to stay all day for the nap study. I was allowed to get dressed and they took the stuff of my waist, chest and legs and just left the stuff on my head, face and heart monitor part. I had breakfast and hung out and had a nap at 9am, 11am, 1pm, and 3pm. They gave me lunch too and other then that I just hung out and watched TV, colored a bit. They give you 20 minutes to fall asleep and if you don't they come in and get you up. If you do, they give you 15 minutes to sleep. I fell asleep within 5-10 minutes for every nap!! At one point I asked what he was finding out so far, and he said, well - you're tired! I was scheduled for another nap at 5pm but since I slept for all the others they were able to send me home.

So what does this mean? I need to talk to the dr to get final results but the tech basically said it's narcolepsy and started giving me information on it and how they treat it, etc. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/narcolepsy/narcolepsy.htm He summarized it as your brain stops creating the cells you need to coordinate sleep and how much you need, when to sleep etc. Since those cells are not there your body wants to sleep all the time. These cells cannot be replaced and all they can do is help me stay awake and sleep deeper at night. There is actually not very much they know about Narcolepsy still. He said the dr will call tomorrow or Wednesday and set up an appointment to talk about the medication I will need - which if you remember right is my choice of legalized speed or legalized date rape drug....hmmm..which shall I choose?

I was feeling ok at first. I kinda have been preparing myself for it. But then on the way home I started thinking about the scary drugs and what this could mean for my future. It can get worse over time and make people unable to work or drive due to sleepiness. There's a secondary thing called cataplexy that can go along with it that causes brief paralysis, weakness or falling down when an extreme emotion happens. So I'm trying not to get too far ahead of myself, but if you know anything about me, it's that I'm an obsessive over-thinker, worrier and planner, so the first thing I want is all the information I can get on it. It is a good feeling to know there is a reason for how I feel and that people can no longer just think I'm lazy or whatever. There is a reason I am tired and find some days hard to even function. So one day at a time, if that's even possible for an overly anxious person like myself. I'll keep you updated

On a brighter note, Dad is starting to feel much better from the radiology and the trip is being planned!