My First Experience with Xyrem...

I wanted to take some time to think about what I was going to post about my experience with Xyrem so I could give an accurate report on it. So here it goes..

I received the package of Xyrem from Fex-Ed on Friday afternoon (they ship it directly to you and you have to sign for it) and boy was I excited. I couldn't wait to take the medicine and see if it would actually help. As excited as I was though, I had and still do have some concerns. The medication knocks you out so it worried me that if something happened that I couldn't respond to it because of the medication. But Sean reassured me time and time again that he will take care of anything that could possibly happen, even if he has to drag me out of the apartment during a fire. I am so lucky to have him in my life, so reassuring about the things that make me nervous. I think I was mostly nervous about trying something new and losing control of the situation. I think it's normal hesitations but scary none the less.

So the night progresses, Sean and I hang out and we ended up going to Walmart late at night and didn't get back until around midnight. FIRST MISTAKE. So we hung out a little and got ready for bed and I took the Xyrem. Now I was curious as to how it was going to make me feel, expecting a wave of exhaustion, followed by unconsciousness, so I kind of just hung out waiting for it to start working. SECOND MISTAKE. So about twenty minutes or so after I took the medication, I was starting to feel something. A warm fuzzy feeling and wasn't able to talk as well as I usually do, but it felt nice. I started talking to Sean some more and not really trying too hard to fall asleep. THIRD MISTAKE. So when I finally realize the point of taking the medication is too sleep (who would have guessed) I tried to relax and go to bed. Well to say that didn't work would be an understatement. Every time I relaxed and tried to sleep, my body would jerk. Sean said that it's what I usually do, but I must have been much more aware of it because of the medication. On top of all that, I started feeling very anxious and felt like I couldn't breath (which was really only me panicking). So Sean tried probably everything he could possibly thing about in the whole world. He told me a story, and we turned the t.v. on, we talked and nothing got me to calm down. After two hours of anxiety it was time to take my second dose, and I'm sure you can imagine how excited I was for that. So I took my second dose, hoping it would just knock me out, and to say the least, it made it worse. The anxiety got the worst of me and I really went insane. Sean had to open a window to the 20 degree weather because I was so warm, and I wouldn't sit still and was freaking out. We called the Xyrem hotline who said that this was all normal and it's possible that I was just started on too low of a dose. After trying to sleep some more I finally took a Lorazepam, which did nothing. So finally at about 5am, mid-twitch, Sean said I fell asleep. I slept until noon. 

What would I do without Sean. Thank God I have such an amazing and supportive person in my life. I really don't know how I would have gotten through the night without him. He helped me get to the bathroom and held be when I was freaking out. He turned the T.V. on when he thought it would help and he brought the dogs up so I could pet them and calm down. He told me stories to get my mind off the medicine and held my had when I was trying to go to bed. He stayed up the entire night with me even though I know he had to study the next day. I couldn't be luckier to have such an incredible, amazing and kind person at my side. 

When I got up in the morning, I was not in the best of moods to say the least. I was upset that the previous night didn't go as well as I was hoping (and actually went poorly instead), I felt bad that Sean was up all night with me, and just overall frustrated. I called the doctor's office to talk about what happened and their return service had a Nurse Practitioner call me who had no clue about the Xyrem. But after considering everything, looking at a few online blogs about other people's experiences, and thinking about my pros and cons, I decided I had to take the medicine again but with some changes:

1. TAKE LORAZEPAM BEFORE GOING TO BED

- I took the medicine about an hour before going to sleep to hope that it would relax me a bit. 

2. GET READY FOR BED EARLIER.

- I got into bed at about 10pm. Much earlier than the night before.

3. CALM DOWN BEFORE BED.

- I read my kindle and pet the doggies before bed so I was much more calm. 

4. GO TO BED RIGHT AFTER TAKING THE MEDICINE.

- Right when I was ready to turn the lights off and go to bed, I took the medicine.

5. REMAIN CALM.

- I went to bed like any usual night and fell right to sleep.

So last night actually went well. I woke up normally around 4am and took my second dose and went right back to bed. So it was actually a success. This morning I woke up and I was tired but thats normal and I probably just need to increase the dose. But I had none of the symptoms from the night before so I really made a huge leap. Now it's just a matter of keeping it going.