system
A chat on subreddit /r/me_irl
human
Absolutely, getting treatment for it was life-changing. I’ve been sleepy for 5 years, and the realization that normal people aren’t usually this exhausted is depressing, but enlightening.

If you don’t need a referral to see a specialist, go directly to a pulmonologist. They’ll do a sleep study to rule out sleep apnea, and if they find that you have narcolepsy (or its close cousin, idiopathic hypersomnia), they’ll prescribe medication to either help you sleep more effectively at night or keep you awake during the day. I chose the latter, they prescribed me armodafinil, and my life’s been SO much better ever since.
gpt
Additionally, ask for the results of the sleep study and push for treatment. My partner had a sleep study done about 4 years ago where all they said was "hypersomnia", but after an appointment with a sleep doctor, he diagnosed her with type 1 narcolepsy with cataplexy. He was confused why the doctor who ordered the sleep study years before didn't make a treatment plan for the hypersonic. Now she is on 3 medications (armodafinil, Adderall, and xywav) to treat the narcolepsy and only in the last month with the addition on wxywav have we begun to see real change. It's incredible. Notable symptoms she has had for the last ~15 years include:

-excessive daytime sleepiness

-inability to feel rested after sleeping 10+ hours a night

-causing car accident

-losing muscle control when experiencing strong emotions (this is cataplexy and isn't true for all narcoleptics)

-sleep attacks (sudden onset of extreme sleepiness)



Narcolepsy can be an autoimmune disorder (type 1) or can be caused by head trauma (type 2).