I’m barking mad! You know the old saying, “Let sleeping dogs lie,” right? Well, I couldn’t help but think of the 200,000 Americans living and struggling with narcolepsy because they’re getting a bad rap and something needs to be done!
For starters, for people with narcolepsy, it’s difficult to get a good night’s sleep because the condition disrupts their sleep cycle, which can potentially cause huge issues. People are teased, ridiculed, and gossiped about behind their backs. They lose their jobs, the ability to drive, be an active parent in their child’s lives (in severe cases), and it sucks.
I saw a YouTube snippet from the TV show, The Doctors; they interviewed a sleep specialist, a neurologist about narcolepsy. I guess it was “okay” but I wanted more. It focused on the controversial narcolepsy drug Xyrem, that’s known on the “street” as a “date rape drug” – because it’s made of a derivative from a commonly abused street drug: GHB.
Xyrem’s reputation may be a marketing challenge for the pharmaceutical company, but what yanks my chain is that no one is talking about making drugs AFFORDABLE.
Sadly, only approximately 25% of people with narcolepsy receive treatment, which is outrageous. This is America! I’ve had many live and online discussions with people who have narcolepsy and the vast majority of them tell me they are afraid of the side effects of those drugs. So they choose to try making lifestyle adjustments. Some people are still able to carve out a decent life—especially if they have mild narcolepsy—and I get that. For the 1000s of others though, they are struggling physically, emotionally, cognitively—and financially!
EVERYONE deserves the right to get a good night’s sleep with REST! EVERYONE deserves the right to an effective treatment that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg—and your house!
Go ahead: WAKE THE SLEEPING DOG. Demand effective treatments with tolerable side effects! Let doctors and Big Pharma hear you roar! The narcolepsy community ABSOLUTELY deserves better!
