I recently got diagnosed with severe narcolepsy with

My questions have to do with taking a blow to the head about 8 months ago and how all these symptoms that followed could be related. I am very concerned now because I hadn't considered it and when my nurse heard my speech, she asked if I had taken blow (see my previous conversations above). I started to have s shortness of breath in december that just came out of nowhere. lungs are fine. My doctors were not aware of the blow I took because at the time it happened, it was my first day on the job and I didn't want to make waves,, although an incident report was done. And then as months went by I just forgot and didn't put 2 and 2 together. I have a lot of short term memory loss that he attributed to the narcolepsy but I stutter now or repeat myself constantly trying to get out even the simplest of sentences, I can't seem to remember how to spell, and when I speak I close my eyes now. I find it easier. But I am also just short of breath, for no reason. It's not all the time but it's not from any excursion. It does happen a lot when I am talking. I also recently lost my voice. Completely. For 3 weeks. I have a titanium rod in my throat for a thryoidectomy 14 years ago but never had a problem. All of a sudden I lose my voice and now it's not quite back. Just all these really weird things. This hit was a really bad blow, directly to the top, slight back of my head. Heavy object falling from high up with high velocity. Everyone around me told me I had a concussion but I ignored I them because it was my first day. I was scared. But all this neurological stuff now has me very worried. It's not about money, I'm talking about my health here. I'm covered on long term disability even if it's not WC so I just want my self back. I also lost my taste, weird, but things taste really different. I noticed it especially with ginger ale and beer and carbonated stuff.

yes, a couple weeks ago, Showed 7 non specific lesions and decreased volume of the cerebellum but this was done without them knowing about the blow to the head! I haven't explained that to my nuero because it was just brought to my attention by my xyrem nurse that the bad narcolepsy symtoms could have been caused by a blow to the head and it hit me. I see him on thurday but I called and told his nurse. Everyone around me told me they thought I had a concussion but I was stupid. I didn't listen.

I have to go pick up my daughter, I will be back in about 20 minutes just in case I don't respond to you right away.

ok so I guess my question is this. Prior to July I was pretty normal. Other than EDS. That was it. And synthroid for no thyroid. I was treated for fibromyalgia because they couldn't figure out the EDS. So I've probably had the narcolepsy for years. And yes, head trauma can trigger narcolepsy. It can destroy the 70,000 neurons that are associated with it and also if the hypothalamus was damaged, could be a cause for the hypocretin loss also. But that's just a hypothesis. But I was otherwise pretty happy, extremely excited about my new job and never had any issues with my mental faculties or critical thinking or memory or speech, etc.

Within one month of receiving a very bad blow to the head that I knew I should have gone to the hospital for but was to afraid to make waves at my new job, the following symptoms began and have gotten progressively worse, to the point that I could no longer function and had to go out on disability (from a 6 figure job that I loved):

1.Whenever I got in my car, no matter what time of day, my eyes would roll into the back of my head. I just could not keep them open. It was a physical force. And it was sheer will that I stayed awake. Most of the time. I fell asleep at red lights. I went into a dream making a right hand turn once and my body "Snapped" out of it. It scared the hell out of me. I am now on Nuvygil so that's better and doesn't happen anymore. But I was falling asleep any time I was in a seated position. I would go into REM while I was awake. Literally. I would be talking and next thing I knew my eyes would be closed and I would be dreaming, but I would still be talking to them, only my speech would be slurred and I was "talking" what I was dreaming. Imagine doing that during a meeting?

I fell asleep everywhere, all the time. I went into rem sleep instantly. I would dream instantly. I would do things and have no memory of it later (automatic behaviors) and I also could swear I did something that I didn't actually do, like file a report . My dreams so vivid and often about work, to me they were real

2. Major hypnagogic hallucinations

3. Sleep paralysis

4. Urination hesitation (all of a sudden, found I just couldn't pee. It would take so long to finally happen that often I would fall asleep. But I had to push it out, this was constant)

5. Cataplexy

6. Started to have trouble with my eyes. When I look to the side my eyes won't stay focused on what I'm trying to see. They kind of move this fluttery movement. My eyes often blur or go unfocused. Some of that is the cataplexy. But the blurriness isn't and I had lasik and I have perfect vision. I also started to feel as if I had pressure behind them and that has gotten worse. MRI showed no sinus issues. ENT concurred. (R/O MGravis also)

7. Speech, and this is killing me. I used to be a phenomenal speaker. I am a very bright person. I make a lot of money and can talk to anyone and smooze with the best of them. Suddenly, I can no longer speak. I can't get a sentence out with out stammering. I repeat the first few words I say over and over again before trying to finish the sentence and by then I am stuttering and actually mixing up words! And I can't "find"words. Simple words. Ever. It's driving me crazy. It's like there's a black hole in my memory, sucking words out of it. I will say a sentence like this: "I was, I was, I was trying on the, uh, the the I was trying the uh, you know, come on um oh god, what the heck, I can't think of the word, you know what I'm trying to say!" and it's so frustrating! When all I was trying to say was "I was trying on the dress". But it's constant. I am appalled by it. I even made up some bogus brain disease story to my boss about why I was doing it. I hate it. And now I am having trouble spelling. This is just so opposite of who I am! I was known as the spelling nazi to my friends! And the weirdest thing is I noticed that I started to have phone conversations with my eyes completely closed. I don't know why. But I just can no longer speak. It's like I'm tongue tied all the time.

8. I now have anxiety(?) where I never did before. Ever. I literally shake. All the time. I can barely put my eyeliner on now. Even though I was happy at work, my admin asst remembers me being at her desk and my body was literally shaking. I have always had stressful jobs. Never had an issue with this. Ever.

9. Tinnitus. Got that in January, the day the worst migraine of my life began. That migraine lasted for over a month and was the final straw for me and my doc and I agreed to go out on disability.

10. My adrenals are producing barely any cortisol. (spit study done by cryex labs in late august)

11. Shortness of breath. Feel like I just can't get enough air. More marked when I talk. Sometimes I have to stop and catch it. Lungs are fine. Blood work fine.

12. Drastic change in taste. Very strange.

13. Loss of appetite. Complete. I don't want to open my mouth, I don't really smile even. Not because I'm not happy but because it feels weird.

14. I got complete laryngitis for 3 weeks for no reason a month ago. Now my voice is not the same and is actually getting worse. I have a titanium rod in one vocal chord that is paralyzed from a thyroidectomy 14 years ago but they it checked 2 weeks ago, found it ok. But now it's getting worse. It's as if I'm slowly losing my voice now. When I speak now even a little loudly, it goes into this raspy wisp or it just goes away. Nothing. As if the muscles don't work. So I have to get it checked again.

15. Memory loss. This has been a big complaint for months. And it's scary. I swear sometimes I feel like I was losing my mind. I told people at work I had brain problems that affected my memory and to bare with me! That's how bad it got! (of course I was hiding most of this because I was terrified of losing my job). I can't remember events. And it's not like things are foggy. It's like they vanished. But it's not everything. And it's not all the time. But I really struggled at my job, I had to take copious notes and constantly refer back to them. I just couldn't retain the things I was learning. And that's not the person I am!! It's like there's a black hole in my brain where conversations and events and everyday occurrences go in dribs and drabs and I just can't reach them. One day I was trying to remember if I had given my daughter a bath the night before and it wasn't like the normal oh I can't remember what I did last night kind of thing. I tried all night long to desperately recall the events of the prior evening. And the the 2 hours between dinner and bedtime were gone. Just absolutely vanished. And it was a very very weird feeling. I remember crying (and I never cry). My husband was shocked. He said "What's wrong babe" and I told him how I felt like I was losing my mind. How it wasn't the normal 'can't remember' something. It was as if those 2 hours were wiped off the earth for me. That's how it feels. And my husband agrees that it seems to be progressing. I can't even remember if I have taken my meds now in the afternoon or evening. I feel that way all the time about my memory and have been complaining about it to my doctors but of course, they didn't know about the blow to the head. I never told them.

I have been practicing martial arts for a year now, my Sensei noticed that I couldn't remember my kenpo techniques and was really struggling and since I was one of his "stars", he was starting to get concerned. He called my husband and asked if I was ok. He also told him that I was having a lot of trouble balancing now. That I seemed to be "off-Kilter" all the time, like I had vertigo or something. And that's true, I always kind of veer to the left a little and if I were to get pulled over and asked to "walk the line" I would be arrested for DUI and blow 0.0. Needless to say, I have had to quit that now.

16. For the first time in my life my blood pressure is bordering on high 123/80. For my entire life it's always been like 95/60. or lower. Docs often would say if I didn't see you breathing I would think you were dead.

17. Shortly after the blow, I awoke with my neck so messed up I couldn't turn it for days. Took my massage therapist months to fix. I still can't move it right. Because the blow came down directly from above at high velocity, it may have hurt my neck too? I don't know. But It's been messed up since then and I have been getting it worked on since September.

18. Loss of libido. Complete. Just stopped. Have not had sex with my husband since our trip to Cancun last september. (thank God I have a loving partner who understands his wife is sick)

In the span of 8 months I went from a smart, normal, relatively healthy (43, 5'3 125 lbs. good shape) with a great life, to all that. Right after that blow to the head.

And I never even told them about the blow to the head because I didn't think about it till my xyrem nurse asked me if I had ever taken a hit. And it was a really bad one. I remember being very nauseous and dizzy after (I went black but not out cold) but I kept working, just ignored it. I was very afraid to make waves, it's complicated. First day on the job, intimidating situation, male coworker's negligence, I didn't want to look like a drama queen. there were 2 enormous lumps on top and a small laceration in between them. That night I put ice on it. Had to for a week. I remember my husband waking me up all night because he was afraid I would die in my sleep. That's how bad it was. Those bumps stayed for about 3 weeks. I had a very bad headache for days and neck ache but I was stupid, played tough and kept working. In hindsight of course, I should have gone. They should have insisted. Especially with concussions in the news all the time. But I didn't.

So I got the official narcolepsy w/cataplexy I think in January. Maybe end of december. I can't remember.

So after all that, do you think that this could be some form of TBI?

This is not about money. If I were after money, I would have claimed something a long time ago. This is about getting the right treatment. I am so concerned that I may have done some serious damage by not seeking medical attention back then and by not telling my neuro about it till now (I see him on thursday again). I will pay more if I have to get a more thorough answer or to have a neurologist answer. That's fine. Whatever. I just want to know if this sounds like damage from TBI. And let me be very clear: all of the symptoms I just wrote I have been telling my doctors about since last August. And have been getting various test, etc done with only the narcolepsy, MRI with lesions and low cortisol coming back. So it's not like I just thought about that blow to the head and then read about TBI and thought I had the symptoms. They are all well documented. But I never told my doctors about that blow, so they weren't looking for it. And now I'm thinking all this can't be a coincidence. I just realized it myself only a week ago. I haven't even had a chance to talk to my doc yet, although I did call the office and let his nurse know. And I'm scared.