By Erica Thomas, editor
CLAY — Exhaustion, fatigue and brain fog are symptoms many new moms experience. But for Bethany Stracener, things just didn’t seem right after finding out she was pregnant with her second child.
In 2015, Stracener realized she was feeling more tired than usual. She went to the doctor and was told her symptoms were normal.
“I would go to the doctor and tell him my symptoms and he told me that I was a mom and I was going to be tired because that’s how it is,” Stracener said.
After her son was born, the fatigue didn’t go away, it got worse. She was determined to find answers. Stracener said doctors continued to brush her off. Still, she felt her body had changed in a way she couldn’t understand.
“I knew that I was tired because I had kids and I just assumed that’s how moms feel,” Stracener said. “Like, they’re so sleepy they just want to cry. I would just have to get in the floor to play with my daughter because I knew I would fall asleep.”
Through her own research, she identified possible causes for her constant sleepiness. She found a new doctor and insisted all her vitamin levels be checked. Test after test showed no results.
Stracener became pregnant with her third child and put her search on hold. It wasn’t until six months after giving birth to her third child that she made the decision to resume her quest for answers and she found a doctor that was able to help.
She was given medication for post-partum depression and anxiety.
“I was somehow oblivious to the depression and anxiety I was experiencing,” she said. “I worked in the mental health field for several years, but this is the first time I was on this side of it.”
She was also tested and put on medication for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to no avail.
The brain fog continued.
“I was always so sleepy,” Stracener said. “I couldn’t think clearly.”
Stracener was referred to another physician, this time at the Sleep Disorders Center of Alabama. She was put through a sleep study and was told she had sleep apnea. Her doctor equipped her with a CPAP machine. After two months, she said she felt better but still did not feel like herself.
She was sent back for a multiple sleep latency test to see how long it took her to fall asleep and if she entered REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. The Sleep Disorders Center of Alabama performs MSLT by monitoring four to five scheduled naps in a day. In order for a patient to qualify for a diagnosis of narcolepsy, a patient must have an average sleep latency of eight minutes or less and must have two to four REM episodes during the scheduled naps.
Finally, Stracener had a diagnosis: narcolepsy.
While relieved to have the answer she had been seeking for years, Stracener was discouraged by the news she got next. Her nurse practitioner told her it is rare for treatments to get patients back to feeling normal again.
According to SleepFoundation.org, narcolepsy affects around 250,000 to 400,000 Americans and many of them go decades undiagnosed.
So, the fatigue, constant sleepiness and brain fog will always be a part of Stracener’s life. In fact, there is a chance her symptoms could progress. But she has decided to have a positive outlook on her diagnosis and rely on her faith in God to get her through the hard times.
“I was upset at first because my kids were young and I knew I needed to be at my best, but then I started looking at it another way,” Stracener said. “I read about people sleeping up to 18 hours a day…it was a blessing. Because if I wouldn’t have had to be awake, I would’ve just slept my life away for three years. You don’t even question it when you have kids.
“Also, having a helpful and encouraging husband has made all the difference.”
The Sleep Disorders Center of Alabama says narcolepsy is a lifelong neurological illness primarily characterized by sudden muscle weakness, persistent daytime sleepiness and/or vivid dreams. It can impact concentration and memory and can cause severe depression. There are many other symptoms including cataplexy, sleep paralysis and hallucinations.
Treatment is available. Learn more at www.sleepalabama.com.