Narcolepsy

[Lon More]

I'm 54, ATC Supervisor and just had my licence understandably suspended as i tend to doze off for a couple of minutes.

Has anyone any experience of this?

[2IC]

Lon More I suspect the silence is the answer to your last question. I wish I could provide more than sympathetic support. No doubt you are well informed about it, using google etc. You have my best wishes.

[Nineiron]

I assume this is not to be confused with 'micro-napping', something which I and many of my colleagues who fly night freight often experience. A change of activity, suck a sweet, get out of the seat for a bit etc. often does the trick. My sympathy is with you over this as you do not have the luxury of CRM.
A couple of minutes is a relatively long time though. At which point is this considered narcolepsy? Are those of us who constantly learn tricks to fight sleep deprivation, at risk of this developing?

[Flyin'Dutch']

Lon More,

Sorry to read that.

I have no direct experience with this problem but know that most patients that do will be referred on for further investigation and treatment. Take it that you have been referred for this?

FD

[Northern Chique]

Narcolepsy by itself is as I understand it, unusual as a stand-alone diagnosis and is one of those terms that seems to be used here a fair bit to cover a host of conditions.

Usually they give you a cause, reason or course of investigation to follow. If you havent been given a course of action, heres something to think about.
One very common reason for multiple involuntary micro naps is sleep apnoea. This can be a very dangerous disorder in severe cases and very common in snorers although non-snorers can develop it also. It is surprisingly common in males over approx 40, (I will have to look up the exact stats on it).
During the night (or day if shift working), a person may stop breathing if the aorway is abstructed and the person will automatically stir if the oxygen levels fall or CO2 levels become too high within the blood stream. This in turn will disrupt the sleep pattern.

Some people stop breathing hundreds of times per night. They literally dont get effective sleep. In turn, their body takes any way of recovery it can and will turn off periodically, ie the sleep 1-5 mins you speak of.

First, get to a referal centre to make sure you dont have a sleep disorder such as sleep apnoea. A common treatment for sleep anpnoea is positive pressure breathing apparratus. Its called CPAP. If you get proper sleep, your brain does a whole lot better on a continuous oxygen supply and you dont get the tell tale sleep periods during work, driving, or other higher risk activity. Make no mistake, this condition does kill people, both by stressing the heart muscle, starving brain tissue and going to sleep in traffic.

The second possible cause is a form of epilepsy. It manifests itself by blackout periods, where a person will be not rousable or very hard to rouse, and may appear groggy. Some complete sentences they started prior to blacking out. Either is not a good senario.

Best idea, a full investigation. The cure may be a few days away and you may have your body back to normal in a short space of time.

[Lon More]

Thanks for all the info.

I have had an elevated blood sugar count for some time, kept under control by diet, but I understand that there may be some links.

I worked possibly the worst combination of shifts for most of the last 35 years ( Afternoon, Day, Morning - followed by night on the same day, or Day the following day - then two days off) and presumably this did not help. I've been home for a couple of weeks now so am still adjusting to the regularity.

Anyway, off to the docs. on Friday.