Follow-Up: I too have been diagnosed with idiopathic primary nervous system hypersomnolence. After 3 years of tests and both behavioral and pharmacological treatment and two polysomnographies and MSLT's, hypersomnolence was the diagnosis. While Ritalin has been pretty effective over the past 2 years, I do think that better treatments are needed. Amphetamine-like stimulants, such as Ritalin, Dexedrine, and Cylert, have annoying side-effects. They also have problems with tolerance. Some of you may have heard about "just around the corner" drugs like modafinil (Provigil in the US), and I'm anxiously waiting to give them a try. I'm just getting tired of the ups and downs of taking Ritalin, the predictable highs and lows around the same time day after day, the anxiety build-ups, the appetite problems (don't know how many Indian buffets I've blown because I took my Ritalin just beforehand), and the little mini-crises that happen whenever my prescription is about to run out and my doctor is on vacation. Yeesh, I just read what I just typed and I guess it sounds rather negative. I'm actually doing alright, and things have gotten progressively better over the years. I'm just cautious about becoming content with "idiopathic hypersomnolence" as a diagnosis, and you should be too. After all, even in it's longest, most "medical" sounding form: "idiopathic primary nervous system hypersomnolence" It's still just a long way of literally saying: "we don't know why, but this person has a really sleepy brain" It's not really a very specific diagnosis, so much as a catch-all when all other diagnoses have been investigated. Once you get this diagnosis, it's not the end of the road, it's just the end of the currently available road maps. Until a cause is found, only the symptoms are treated, and whether you get diagnosed with hypersomnolence, CFS, or Martian Whooping Spores, going from one idiopathic diagnosis to another will have limited benefit. For example, my sleep doc suggests Ritalin, my general practitioner suggests exercise and vitamins, and if I saw an orthopedist then my unsupportive shoes could be to blame. They're all working from the symptoms to find a cause, and if they can't find one, they will all try to treat the symptoms as best as they know how. Of course, I'm not saying that seeing an OBGYN for sleep problems is just as good as seeing a sleep doc- sleep docs have more background in the problem area and keep up with current research. All I'm saying is that a diagnosis and some Ritalin is far from a "cure". I wish somebody would put together a website specifically for hypersomnolence and current research. That would help a lot :) Arg, enough of my ranting. Back to work... Chris Barron c_barron@yahoo.com ps- I'm not a doc, so don't take any of the above as being the absolute truth/fact. A lot of it is simply my subjective take on what I've managed to learn thus far, and boy, a lot of sleep stuff really is subjective.