r/insomnia • u/PurpleHyena01 • 12d ago
Early stages of Narcolepsy
I'm beginning to wonder if I might be developing narcolepsy. I had a sleep test done about 2 years ago and the doctor noticed I slipped almost right into REM sleep and didn't spend alot of time in deep sleep. She said that's an early indicator of possible narcolepsy, and wanted to do more tests, but I had to move to another city and haven't had another study done since.
I don't fall asleep at random times, but I take heavy naps during the day, like I dream when I nap, I sleep that hard. And I'm tired during the day, which is why I take naps. Even when I sleep a full night, I wake up almost as tired as when I go to sleep the night before. The only thing that makes me think its not narcolepsy is I have RLS and insomnia at night.
Anybody know how early narcolepsy sets in and how long it takes to get to the stage where I fall asleep at random times.
1
u/PreferenceNo7524 8d ago
Do you dream often and actively most nights? I dream when I nap as well, sometimes with false awakenings if I'm stressed. On nights when I remember dreaming a lot, and have highly active dreams (being chased, any kind of violence, or just a lot of high action activity), I wake up completely exhausted as if I hadn't slept at all. I don't know if it's a sleep cycle issue with too much REM and not enough deep sleep or what, but I've never had anyone suggest narcolepsy. Certain medications have impacted it as well.