Narcolepsy
Gayle's Own Story
Narcolepsy
(nar'ko-lep"se) recurrent uncontrollable desire for sleep. Narcolep'tic.adj
Sometime in 1977
I stood there
in his office, looking at an obese, man, setting behind his desk hoping
that he would have some answers for me. He was my neurologist. I had
just finished a battery of test, hoping to find out what was wrong
with me. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was confirmed,
yes, I have Narcolepsy. He pulled a pill bottle out of his drawer
and said, "Here, take these and let me know how they work for
you." I didn't attempt to reach for them so he got up out of
his chair and came over to me, and made sure it tood them. I was still in shock.
He was irritated, and said,
"I don't
know what is the matter with you, Everyone has something wrong with
them!!!"
I looked up at him and thought. "I haven't taken
a drugs, an aspirin, a soda, junk food, sugar or anything that I thought
would harm my body since I was 22, I am now 29. I thought, "I have 4 children under
the age of 11 to support, and you want me just to take some pills
that you know nothing about, and let you know how they work!!?"
I had hoped for more of an answer. Something that would help me understand
this disorder. What I got was more uncertaintenty.
Narcolepsy (nar'ko-lep"se).
That is what I had. A recurrent uncontrollable desire for sleep. Narcolep'tic.adj
That was me.
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I didn't know
how to "fix or cure it" Yet, for the past 7 years I had
cured or recovered from many physical illnesses, and disorders.
At
one time I was very ill, but once I learn about nutrition, food, sugar,
vitamins etc. I was able to turn my health around. I was considered
a "health nut" to all my friends. I delegated myself as
my own family doctor. I took charge of my health and the health of
my children. But here I am, single mother, no support from the dads,
parents etc. and all I knew was, I couldn't be sick. Who was going to take care of us?
I knew it would
be only a matter of time and I would have a serious car accident,
burn down the house by leaving the stove on, or not be awake if something
tragic happened to my kids. With Narcolepsy, you fall asleep and you don't even know you are out.
I couldn't stay awake long enough to go
through a day, let alone an hour. I was already having serious problems
at HP where I worked in production. I would get lost walking to or
from the bathroom.
Fall asleep at my desk, waking up only to find
I have nearly caused an accident. I could only drive for about 1/2
minute and I would be asleep. Many times I found my self-waking up,
just in time to keep from running into a ditch or hitting another
car.
My kids would get up in the morning to get ready for school and
before I knew it I was waking up from a deep sleep. I would be terrorized,
I didn't know how long I had been asleep, or where the kids were,
or had I have left something cooking on the stove
. My god, anything
could have happened.
I tried to get
help from SSI. But I couldn't stay awake in there office long enough
to fill out the forms, and I couldn't remember my appointments or
what documents to bring to my appointments. I finally had to quit
HP.
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I didn't know about disability. I didn't want anyone to know I
had a problem so I said I had a better job, and quit. I was on ADC
in between jobs. A lady in the employment office was so kind, she
knew how much I wanted to work, she did everything she could to help
me find a job.
I would find work, and I would be ok for the 1st few
days. Because it was new it would work out. As soon as the job became
a routine, I would start falling asleep again. I didn't take the drugs
the doctor had given me.
The day he gave them to me I took them to
a friend who was a DA at the sheriffs department. He taught
me how use Medical Reference Dictionary. He said, "if the information
is written with regular print and the article is short, the item is
somewhat safe.
However, if it is written in bold, or large print it
is not as safe. When we looked up this drug, it had two pages of bold
large print that said, "Warning, this drug is dangerous. Warning:
Do not administer without medical supervision at all times. Warning
this drug depletes bone marrow, warning."
The DA then said, "I am sure this is the same drug that killed
my brother-in-law, last month."
I didn't know
what to do. I began to contemplate finding homes for my children.
How was I going to be able to take care of them? Sharee was 5, Shane
was 6, Brion was 9 and Kari 11.
I believe God
helps all whom ask. And I knew, "if I could stayl alive long enough, I would find a cure".
In 1980 I had met a man, got engaged and went
with him Tahoe California from Boise Idaho.
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Together we tried to find
doctors that might help. No luck. But I didn't have to worry about
supporting my kids. He had a plumbing company in Tahoe and he began
to teach me that trade.
I would go to work with him, and learn what
I could. But more days than not, I would find myself waking up in
the seat of the truck, or underneath a house, (yes, I crawled houses
with him), or not make it out of our house on days I was going to
work with him. I didn't have the stress of being a single mother any
more, but that didn't change my condition.
I still couldn't drive,
read, or set sill for more than a few moments without going into a
deep sleep.
For those of us
who have narcolopsy, when we fall asleep, we skip the first 2 stages
of sleep and go deep into the 3rd stage. It isn't restful. I felt
detached from my body. I had to teach my kids how to bring me back
from this "place" that I would go.
They would quietly talk
to me, look for a movement of my finger. This was the only way I could
communicate. I didn't know where I was, but I knew I wasn't completely
in my body like most people. So waking up was very difficult. The
kids would look for a movement from my hand or finger, ask if I wanted
to wake up, and then stay with me and gently talk to me until I could
"come back". It was a very scary thing.
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Because if someone
didn't come and help me wake up, I couldn't. It was very difficult.
So being married and not having as much stress in my life helped,
but it didn't cure the Narcolepsy.
Then in 1982,
a friend of mine sent me a "colon cleansing product" She
didn't know I had narcolopsy. Her husband was an Iridologist and Nature
Sunshine Herbs. I took them; they were awful.
A few months later our
family drove to Seattle where my friend and her husband were and they
taught me how to use the products. He did an iris reading for me,
and then we returned home.
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I didn't have to worry about working and
was fascinated with Iridology so I sent away for the correspondence
course. During the time I was still taking this colon-cleaning product.
I wasn't sure if I would be able to get though the course, because
it was so difficult for me to stay awake while reading. But an amazing
thing happened.
What was suppose to be a year course, I finished in
6 weeks. I wasn't falling asleep. I was having problems with my marriage,
and took the kids on a trip to Vernal UT. I drove 12 hrs. at a time,
and only stopped because I was "tired". I didn't fall asleep.
Not one time.
I went to see a girlfriend and from there drove to Boise
Idaho, to visit family and friends. I then learned about a wonderful
product called Barley Green. After a few days there I drove 10 hrs.
back to Tahoe. I was about 85% to 90% cured from Narcolopsy.
During
the time I was taking the correspondence course, I learned about cleaning
the colon with water. I bought a home style system, called a colema
board. It was wonderful. Colon Cleansing saved my life.
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Why do I think
colon cleansing save my life? Let me ask you. If you only had a bowel
movement once in 10 days, how sick do you think you would be? Since
childhood when my mother questioned doctors about this condition of
constipation they said, "That is normal for her."
Do the math. In one day - 3
meals in, 1 meal out in 10 days? If you, or any one you know
has Narcolopsy share this testimony with them. This disorder nearly
took my life. Today I have 10 grand children and a wonderful life.
InternalAwareness.com
GayleMarie Bradshaw
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