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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Suffered Narcolepsy With Cataplexy. On Aderall. Still Have Sleep Apnea. Why?

Hi, I am 69 years old and have had Narcolepsy/with Cataplexy for 35 years. I have always been under a Doctors care and very careful not to abuse or take any other medications with the generec Adderall XR. I have not increased my dosage. I understand the reason for a new prescription each month, however, should I see a Dr. each month. I m on Medicare and have never had to do this before. I had a Dr. appointment every 6 months to review my Narcolepsy. I have never had a problem other that most Sleep Abnea Drs. don t unerstand Narcolepsy. Thanks Pat
Fri, 18 Jan 2013
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Neurologist,  's  Response
Hello,
Thanks for posting this question in HCM
First of all let me tell you that a given medical problem can be due to various causes and the main aim of the treating doctor is to find out the cause and deal it accordingly rather than simple assumption.
Back to your question, you are 69 and you have narcolepsy and sleep apnea. I want to stress that in old age, one can also have coexistent sleep apnea which may not be related to narcolepsy at all. So my sincere advise to you will be to get back to your sleep medicine consultant and get a repeat polysomnography which will tell us if you have obstructive sleep apnea in addition to narcolepsy. If it is so, you will certainly benefit with CPAP machine . Once aging, i advise you to repeat the PSG study. The other options for narcolepsy are modafinil.
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Suffered Narcolepsy With Cataplexy. On Aderall. Still Have Sleep Apnea. Why?

Hello, Thanks for posting this question in HCM First of all let me tell you that a given medical problem can be due to various causes and the main aim of the treating doctor is to find out the cause and deal it accordingly rather than simple assumption. Back to your question, you are 69 and you have narcolepsy and sleep apnea. I want to stress that in old age, one can also have coexistent sleep apnea which may not be related to narcolepsy at all. So my sincere advise to you will be to get back to your sleep medicine consultant and get a repeat polysomnography which will tell us if you have obstructive sleep apnea in addition to narcolepsy. If it is so, you will certainly benefit with CPAP machine . Once aging, i advise you to repeat the PSG study. The other options for narcolepsy are modafinil.