It seems like such a long time ago now, when it was only 6 years ago. I am taking a break from studying for my English Medieval Literature exam at the moment and I wanted to share my experience with Ritalin, one that started when I was in high school and which goes on still.
Namely, when I was a freshman in high school, I started noticing things that didn’t scare me at first. To begin with, I started having troubles sleeping. I would fall asleep and I would immediately start having dreams, vivid dreams that I simply couldn’t forget, even when I tried to. Also, I started waking up during the night and then having troubles falling back to sleep.
I thought that it might just be because I was nervous. But no, it was only the beginning.
After a week or so, I started feeling fatigued all the time. I would go to school in the morning and in my first class, I would already feel as if my head was going to drop at any moment now. I simply couldn’t help it but have naps during classes. It goes without saying that this got me in a lot of troubles, both at school and home. My parents thought that I was taking drugs or something, that I was depressed.
And then, one day, it all changed. We were having dinner at home and my parents were going at me for doing bad at school. I was so tired and so angry that they won’t believe me and suddenly, my head dropped. I was completely aware of everything that was going on, but for about ten seconds, I simply couldn’t lift my head. You can imagine how panicked my parents were and I have to tell you that I was the same.
We went straight to the doctor who sent us to an expert. I told him about my sleep problems and my tiredness. When he added two and two, he knew immediately what was wrong with me.
I was diagnosed with narcolepsy, complete with cataplexy (the loss of muscle tone and control that resulted in my head dropping). The doctor immediately prescribed Ritalin to me and told me that I should organize my time so that I have a nap or two during the day, short naps, no more than 20 minutes or so.
The Ritalin really helped me much. I could stay wide awake and I could follow the classes once again. I have had several cataplexy episodes and I also started taking Xyrem for cataplexy. In the last few years though, I haven’t had a single cataplexy attack and I am now only taking Ritalin for my narcolepsy, as I cannot imagine living without this medication that makes my narcolepsy manageable.