Antinarcoleptic Drugs: Managing Narcolepsy Symptoms
Narcolepsy is the condition for which the medications sold in this section were initially developed. It is a condition of unknown etiology, i.e. doctors still do not know what causes it. Currently, it is believed to be a genetic condition caused by a certain gene mutation which causes the violation of the brain regulation of sleep-wake cycle. The symptoms and the main manifestation of the condition is unbearable daytime sleepiness and sudden collapses when a person can fall asleep even standing. The symptoms do not go away even if an affected individual sleeps for 8-10 hours at night, i.e. they are not caused by the insufficient night sleep. The condition can be accompanied also by such symptoms as night sleeplessness, hypnagogic hallucinations (hallucinations that occur either when falling asleep or waking up), and cataplexy (a sudden stiffness or paralysis of all muscles).
Condition statistics
— It usually starts to manifest in childhood or adolescence;
— The condition is predominant in men.
— In the developed countries the number of people with narcolepsy is around 20-40 individuals per 100,000.
Therapeutic aid for the condition
Unfortunately, to date, the condition cannot be completely cured as there is no a single specific reason for its development discovered and understood. However, the medications such as wakefulness-promoting anti-narcoleptic substances Modafinil and Armodafinil are successfully used to manage the sleepiness. These medications help the individuals who suffer from the condition lead a normal life if the pills are taken daily.
The current anti-narcoleptic medications guarantee:
— 8-12 hours without sleepiness attacks during the day;
— No side effects;
— Proven lack of damage to the body even in the lifetime use of the medications.
These medications are classified as analeptics, i.e. the medications that render potent stimulating effect on the respiratory and vasomotor centers of the medulla oblongata.
The diagnosis of the condition is based on the symptoms reported by a patient.
The precise diagnosis is easily made if a condition is manifested in:
— Excessive daytime sleepiness
— Sudden muscle weakness (cataplexy).
If only sleepiness is present, the condition can be misinterpreted as another mental or physiological malaise. In order to make a precise diagnosis, it is advisable to undergo three major tests - polysomnogram, the multiple sleep latency test, and application of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Unfortunately, these methods of diagnosis are not available everywhere and only a sleep specialist can identify the condition correctly.
Nevertheless, even if you don’t have a precise diagnosis but suffer from unbearable sluggishness during the day even having enough night sleep, you can buy anti-narcoleptic medicines and start taking them as indicated in the label as they are very safe and are contraindicated only in personal intolerance of the substance or pregnancy. However, if you are not diagnosed with narcolepsy or cannot get the help of a specialist in this area but suffer from sleepiness, you should at least undergo a differential diagnosis, i.e. exclude with your neurologist, therapist, or other healthcare provider other conditions and diseases that can result in this symptom not to neglect and overlook them when you start taking the wakefulness-promoting pills.
Shift work sleep disorder: causes, manifestation, and therapy
This condition is a type of circadian rhythm disorder, i.e. a disorder in which an individual:
— Has a violated sleep-wake cycle;
— Finds it difficult to stay awake during the regularly required hours for work;
— Cannot fall asleep and get enough rest after a shift.
However, work shift differs and sometimes people need to stay awake and alert during the night instead of the daytime. In this case, even if they don’t have any violation of the sleep-wake cycle they suffer from sleepiness during the shift and then cannot fall asleep or get a qualitative sleep during the day.
Therapeutic aid for the condition
Fortunately, such medications as Modafinil, Armodafinil and other medicines with the same active substances are able to solve this problem. Of course, they cannot fully change your sleep cycle but they can help you stay awake, focused, and productive during your working hours. However, in this condition, you don’t need to take the pills in the morning every day as in narcolepsy management. You need to take the daily dosage one hour before the shift start.
Besides, if you work at the night time, you need to get qualitative sleep during the day with the minimum sunlight penetrating the room as darkness during the sleep is required for the production of the crucial hormone melatonin. But since the complete deprivation of the daylight is also harmful, you also need to spend as much time outdoors during the day as possible when you are not working and do not need to sleep during the day.
Diagnosis
The diagnosis of the condition is made easily based on the symptoms such as sleepiness during the working hours, chronic fatigue, reduction of mind acuity, inability to concentrate, lowering of cognitive functions, and so on. Even if you don’t have the precise diagnosis but suffer from these symptoms, you can buy anti-narcoleptic drugs and take them one hour before the shift in the regular recommended daily dosage which is 200 mg for Modafinil-based medicines and 150 mg for Armodafinil-based medicines. These are the safest options so you don’t need to look for alternatives. If you want to save on the pills and the visits to your doctor for refill prescriptions, you can order generic pills online from our med store.
Obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis and treatment
This condition doesn’t influence the sleep-wake cycle like the two previously discussed conditions. The daytime sleepiness that accompanies it is caused by the frequent interruptions of the night sleep due to the obstruction of the airways that interrupt or stop normal breathing for 20-40 seconds several times during the night. The obstruction of the airways happens namely in the lying position because of various reasons.
The risk factors include:
— Elderly age;
— Brain trauma;
— Weak muscle tone due to alcoholic beverages consumption;
— Intake of illicit drugs or muscle relaxants;
— Neurological conditions;
— Physiological conditions such as excessive tissue or fat surrounding the neck in excessive body weight;
— Deviated septum that prevents normal breathing, and others.
The condition is hard to diagnose at it as narcolepsy requires the tests performed at specialized laboratories where a patient has to sleep while being tested with polysomnogram. However, a doctor can suggest that a patient suffers from this condition based on the physical examination and the reported symptoms. The treatment of the condition comprises two aspects – the underlying cause of airways obstruction, for instance, treatment of obesity or surgery to fix the septum and so on, and the second aspect is to reduce somnolence during the day. The first aspect of treatment is in the competence of a specialist who treats the condition that caused apnea and the second one requires the use of anti-narcoleptic wakefulness-promoting medicines such as Modalert, Artvigil, and others that you can buy in this section of our online pharmacy. To cope with sleepiness, you can take a single pill a day every day in the morning even if you don’t have a prescription from your doctor as the medications are absolutely safe unless you are allergic to them.
Other uses of anti-narcoleptic medications
As you can already see from the previous paragraphs of this article, anti-narcoleptic drugs are not exclusively used for narcolepsy. They are proven to be absolutely safe even in a long-term use, they do not increase the blood pressure or irritate the stomach and nervous system like coffee does, these medicines do not cause dependence or any harm to the body organs and systems.
Moreover, they are promoting not only wakefulness but also mind acuity, the speed of thought, creativity, motivation, productivity, and even help to cope with depression which is why they are commonly used off-label, i.e. for the conditions and symptoms they are not yet officially approved.
These conditions include:
— Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder;
— Depression;
— Parkinson’s disease;
— In general, cognitive function enhancement or promotion of wakefulness in healthy individuals.
Although in some countries these wakefulness-promoting agents are sold with a prescription only, we offer you to purchase them over-the-counter and at attractive prices because we work directly with manufacturers and have fewer operating expenses than the regular drugstores.
Anti-narcoleptic medications that we offer
There are basically two medications that are the most effective and safe – Modafinil and Armodafinil. They are quite alike because the second one was developed on the basis of the first one with small improvements that allow taking smaller dosage and enjoy the effect for more hours. The other names of the medications you may know such as Nuvigil, Provigil, Artvigil, Waklert, Armod, and many others are simply the trade names registered for the same substances and formulas.
The manufacturers use the same formula and ingredients but are obliged to name their medicines differently not to violate the copyrights of other makers of the pills. But you can easily find the needed generic anti-narcoleptic drug if you look for the brand name plus the word “generic” before it. All pharmacists know the names of the active substances and will gladly help you and at our online pharmacy, you can find a detailed description with the ingredients information and the dosages for all medicines that we sell.