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Not Officially Diagnosed Yet - Drove and Nearly Crashed

by Antonnette
(Jamaica)

I am sleepy almost 24x7s. I last drove around 2005/ 2006, and no longer have a car. My sleepiness has worsened since that car was sold. Also, cataplexy (only weakened knees - usually one knee) has increased since then, too.


The car was not sold due to drowsy driving (finances, needing repairs), but I almost had an accident one day after spending the weekend at a church program, where I did not get enough sleep on Saturday night, and left the program around mid-day Sunday.

I was going to go home and then go to a nearby funeral, but got sufficiently scared to avoid that funeral to prevent my own and my family's funerals: I was suddenly drifting across to the wrong side of the road, and my mother shouted my name, and then we miraculously ended up safe on the opposite soft shoulder after a car coming the other way just missed hitting my car.

I am yet to do a sleep study, but am 100% convinced from the cataplexy and worsening fatigue/ EDS that I am narcoleptic (also, hypnagogic/ dreamy phenomena, too). Is it safe to drive at all if I am diagnosed with narcolepsy? Can I drive once I am on medication that stops the drowsiness and cataplexy? I am on antidepressants (SSRIs) for depression/ bipolarity, and only have hypnagogic and cataplectic effects when my meds run low or run out, but drowsiness happens regardless of the presence or absence of the SSRI.

Will amphetamines/ stimulants make it safe for me to drive? Thanks.

< tonnette77@gmail.com - Please, please, please send response regarding safety if I take stimulants or other effective meds to stop the drowsiness. Thanks. >

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Welcome! This site is continuously being created by students of Dr. William C. Dement's Sleep And Dreams course at Stanford University.

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