Follow-Up: Dear B I have had narcolepsy for approx. 9yrs, but was only diagnosed almost a year ago. Prior to that I knew something was wrong with me, but as in most cases it remained incorrectly diagnosed. It was always "depression" and the treatment was also always the same, antidepressants. After a while real depression about my heath compounded my problems even greater. In addition to sleeping my life away,I had bouts of hypoglycemia, forgetfullness, and chronic lateness due to the fact that I had to drag myself out of bed every single morning, and that was on a good morning. My hobbies included and were limited to only one activity SLEEPING, which as you well know is in fact an activity. When I finally had my sleep study at the Sleep Disorders Center, I fell asleep in 7mins, and was in REM sleep 8mins later. The next day I dazzled them again when I fell asleep during all 5 of the 20min naps of the sleep latency test, and REM during 2 of them. It's one of the only extraordinary accomplishments of my life. WOW !! I have experienced many mornings in wich it has taken 2 or more hours to get myself out of bed. There have been times when I've slept through the alarm clock for well over 60mins, and @ one point, when the pharmacy was giving me the wrong prescription, I slept through the wake up calls of a coworker, who was trying to help me get up. The reasons I felt compelled to contact you many,the first being the term atypical. Following my atypical sleep disorder study, when I was told mine was the fastest onset of REM they had ever seen without cataplexy, I reacted to treatment atypically as well, and graduated to dexadrine, after only about 6mos, and much to Dr's chagrin my dosage started out and remains much higher than "recommended" I take from 70 to 100mgs a day. I am much more awake @ nighttime, like you my carcaydium rhythym is off. The medication definitly makes life alot better, I have also found that for me a hypoglycemic diet is a must. It's not easy and it certainly doesn't help matters that this effects every single aspect of my life, eduction and support are scarce, it is difficult for friends, family, and coworkers to accept, understand, and deal with, wich of course only compounds the problems. I personally felt so vindicated after my diagnosis, having lived so many years being told "we don't know, it must be depression, here take these antidepressants, go get some counseling, blah, blah, blah," that I decided I wont let this thing controll my life, it does dictate my existance quite a bit, but I fight it every day, and struggle to keep a reasonable definition of what success is. This is my first experience on the internet and there seems to be quite a bit of info availabe the recent increase of interest in the area of nueroloagical disorders is also very encouraging to me. By the way, my Mom has epilepsy so I know the impact it has on you'r life and activities. I recently started a new job, a total change in career, which Iam happy to say is a step up from my previous career field, my new job actually requires I get up and start work even earlier than before, and includes a varying work schedule at times. I like it alot and Iam very determined to succeed and excell at it. It is illeagal for an employer to discriminate against you on the basis of your narcolepsy, and I would encourage you to discuss the possibility of education with them, my last employer took this approach, and I was very fortunate, attitudes did change, when my coworkers learned they would have to stay awake 72 hrs to experience what narcolepsy is like, and how I feel every day. Iam in the National Guard and have been for over 6yrs, my new job is a full time federal position with the National Guard (the military is one of the areas you can be discriminated against based of physical disability, but since I was already enlisted I can remain enlisted unless I do become too disabled to perform my duties or be deployed.)and currently I am working on getting flight status as a flight medic. Contact me if you would like, in the mean time stay educated, try new things and give yourself a pat on the back. Best wishes, Shirlene