Soma

Sorry for the "Brave New World" reference, but since the word also refers to sleep, I thought it was a good title for today's post.

If you have never read Huxley's novel, you may not know that "Soma" is the fictional drug that makes everything better with no side effects. 

Every time I talk about taking a nap or being tired, people ask me, "Doesn't your medicine work?" And every time I explain, "Yes, but it's not perfect. It doesn't cure Narcolepsy, it just helps a lot. Plus, I still get tired like everybody else." 

I am not sure why people expect me to be instantly "normal" as soon as I take a pill. No drug works perfectly. Even when I read BNW in high school, that was my first criticism of the book. No, I can't imagine a pill that fixes anything perfectly. That's part of the reason that most medicines need to be taken repeatedly.

Not to mention the fact that Narcolepsy and hypersomnia are not well-understood. Scientists don't even know what causes them - especially in my case, that's why my extreme sleepiness is called "idiopathic." Why do people expect that my life would be perfect with this pill?

I know this is probably not true, but sometimes I feel like people say things like that because they think it's not a real problem. Like they think its a made-up disorder or that I am just lazy. Perhaps the real answer is that they don't know how intense these disorders are. Maybe since they have never experienced it, they have no way to know exactly how strong the symptoms are.

In any case, the diagnoses, treatment, and continuous education on the subject have definitely changed my life for the better. I used to come home from work at 4:00pm, fall asleep, wake up around 8:00 or 10:00 for 2 hours, go back to sleep for the night, and have a great deal of trouble waking up for work before 6:30 am. Every single day was like this. Except the weekends, then I would replace working with more sleep. I knew I was sleeping my life away and there was nothing I could do about it. Now I sleep 8 or so hours per night, nap a few times a week for about 2 hours each, and otherwise actually live my life. This result is nothing shy of a miracle to me. 

So, I may not be cured, but at least I am better enough to actually be living my life! I can now have an active social life, the quality of my work is improving, and I can actually see the floor of my room. That's good enough for me!