ritalin for narcolepsy

He takes Ritalin for the narcolepsy and clomipramine (generic for Anafranil) for the cataplexy. The Ritalin helps, but he can only take 3 pills a day (insurance won't approve more), and he really needs at least 2 more a day to stay awake and function. He has bad nightmares and yells out in his sleep when he does not have the clomipramine.

I am diagnosis with narcolepsy and have had symptoms for 5 years now. I have been taking 500 mg. of nuvigil for over 2 years. Plus, 60 mg of adderall a day. My symptoms have slowed down a little, but I have to take 2 naps a day and not drive anywhere. I have sleep studies twice a year and it seems to get worse each time. Its very aggravating to me! It seems like something would help. I see a team of specialists at Vanderbilt, but I need something else, but what? Anyone have any suggestions?

Has anyone ever been prescribed Ritalin for Migraines? What is the thought about this? I am looking for alternative approaches for my chronic migraines, usually 2 migraines per week, 1 of which is completely debilitating. I tried a 5mg dose of Ritalin (1x day) for a week and it was a migraine free week (despite high stress and sleep deprivation due to work).

Thanks for the great suggestion. We'll add the following to the sleep tracker: Symptoms: cataplexy, hypersomnia, sleep attack, hallucinations Treatments: Ritalin, Dextroamephetamine, Provigil Events: MSL and Sleep lab study Unfortunately scheduled nap times are a bit difficult to add at the moment. We'll keep this on the list for future enhancements. We'll let you know when these items are added to the tracker. Thanks again!

For the past 30 years (I'm 53), my doctor had been treating me for "excessive daytime sleepiness" that was so bad that it was ruining my life; after a 2 night sleep/daytime nap study at a major university, the results were still "disorder or excessive sleepiness" or "similar to sleep-attack narcolepsy, but not REM-onset". No drug other than the stimulant ritalin helped, so I took that for almost 30 years and all was well.

I was diagnosed with narcolepsy approx. 5 yrs. ago. I haven't gone for another sleep study since, nor has my doctor seem to ever remember that I have narcolepsy. I am his only patient with narcolepsy, and if I ever end up in his office, it seems like he always forgets that I have narcolepsy. I don't believe he has a good understanding of this. Any suggestions. I am in the process of trying to switch my doctor, but in the meanwhile, I have been more tired lately than usual.

I have tried everything possible for my narcolepsy---the ritalin patches, elixir ritalin.......etc, provigil, other meds....and of course xyrem. I take dextroamphetamine daily, even though it does litte...if anything......I have tried capsules and tablets...crushed them in applesauce, etc....everything my neurologist (who is the 'main doctor' for sleep problems in my area) has suggested.....I literally can't keep going like this......

I am a 74 year old Female and I am taking 20mg of Ritalin SR in the AM and 25mg of Imipram for the cataplexy in the PM. I get about 2 to 4 hrs sleep and the rest of the night I toss and turn. My Dr. told me she doesn't give meds for her patients to sleep. I am concerned about not sleeping and then taking Ritalin to keep me awake during the day.I feel my health will be affected. Is this the normal way to treat my condition?

How Does Ritalin Work? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4597399_ritalin-work_.

I found it worked much better than Ritalin although for people already addicted to Ritalin, Provigal will likely not work as well. Just give it some time and make other lifestyle adjustments and see how it works for you. After watching family deal with the issues and my fear of drugs causing other issues, I've decided not to take any meds and just deal with it through vitamins, diet and exercise.

Hi, I recently was diagnosed with Narcolepsy. Im 15 years old and for the past couple years Ive been struggling with falling asleep ALL the time. Ive gained quite a bit of weight, and thats basically ruined my life. I just started treatment about a week ago. I would take Ritalin LA first thing after breakfast, and then 3 more short acting 10ml doses throughout the day "as needed".

Emerging treatments being investigated for narcolepsy include hypocretin replacement, hypocretin gene therapy, stem cell transplant, skin temperature manipulation and immunotherapy, but further research is needed to confirm their effectiveness. So, discuss the various options with your doctor and hope you find a balance. Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

Modafinil is a drug for narcolepsy prescribed for MS fatigue. I am interested in knowing if you have narcolepsy or MS fatigue. Recently I have been experiencing extreme fatigue for which my neuro prescribed amantadine. It is working. The next step would be modafinil but I was told that many of their patients use Ritalin or adderall. Both are addictive so they start with the ones with least side effects first. So far amantadine has been helping get me through my day without crashing.

Hi, I recently was diagnosed with Narcolepsy. Im 15 years old and for the past couple years Ive been struggling with falling asleep ALL the time. Ive gained quite a bit of weight, and thats basically ruined my life. I just started treatment about a week ago. I would take Ritalin LA first thing after breakfast, and then 3 more short acting 10ml doses throughout the day "as needed".

I know that they give adderol and ritalin for fatigue and concentration,which by the way are both schedule II class drugs. although they are both very effective for fatigue brain fog due to tx.but they have a very high abuse potential and in texas,where I live an MD can have a class v through class III schedule license, but in order to write for class II substances he must apply and be granted a special license to write for class a II substance.

I was diagnosed with narcolepsy a few months ago. Since then, I have tried Provigil, which worked at first then seemed to make me even more tired! I was also tried on ritalin which did the same thing. Now I have been taking dextroamphetamine for about 2-1/2 months. At first it gave me incredible migraines and tension in my neck and shoulders. My doctor thinks that my body has adjusted to the medication because I no longer have these symptoms.

I was on Ritalin for 30 years. A new doctor took me off it and I was just like you for 4 months. I finally convinced him that I had Narcolepsy that was diagnosed 30 years ago. He put me on Nuvigil, since I cannot no longer taake amphedamines and it worked.

I have a long history of suffering from Major Depression, which I fully disclosed at my appointments and testing leading up to the prescription, because I do take medication for depression and have for a number of years. Well, not even 3 days into taking Ritalin (I recall it was a smallish dose) and I went full blown, off the charts Manic. It is rare, but some people have a pre-disposition to bipolar disorder/manic depression, and somehow the Ritalin triggered this in me.

t change the meds so I called my neurologist because I was afraid of continueing to take ritalin( a stimulant to keep me awake for Narcolepsy) with that level being so low. He agreed that I need an increase so he gave me a referral to the endo his wife sees. I got in 2 days later because of a cancellation. This doc was awesome at first and told me he treats on symptoms not labs.

I take Nuvigil every morning and Ritalin throughout the day when I get tired. The good thing about Nuvigil is it is long lasting unlike other stimulants. My sister (who also has narcolepsy) turned out to be allergic to Nuvigil so she just takes adderol all day and she is having a really hard time managing it. Probably the hardest thing about narcolepsy is getting other people to understand the condition. Most people will just think you are lazy and unmotivated.

Ritalin for narcolepsy

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