Narcolepsy And Pots

[houswoea]

I've noticed on a few signatures that some of us have both narcolepsy and some dysautonomia troubles. I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy because I was tired all the time. I did a sleep study, and that was the conclusion. Later, I got the POTS diagnosis and then I wasn't sure if that canceled out the narcolepsy or if they were both a factor?

Is there a connection between the two? It seems strange that both should occur at once! Especially if it's common or something... anyone else have both?

Thanks for feeding my curiosity.

Elizabeth

[firewatcher]

Many of us have sleep disorders along with our POTS dx. They can be caused by all the same chemicals and neurotransmitters that our systems are awash in due to the over-reaction of our sympathetic nervous system. Both can also be caused by problems with the same part of the brain. I have a circadian sleep disorder (a genetic, hypothalamic/pineal problem) but POTS makes getting to sleep much worse..... and the lack of sleep makes the POTS worse. If you have narcolepsy, you probably still have narcolepsy and POTS is just another condition you have along with it. Eventually I think they will find the brain center that is responsible for POTS is also the part in the sleep mechanism.