Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that affects the control of sleep and wakefulness. People with narcolepsy experience excessive daytime sleepiness and intermittent, uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep during the daytime. These sudden sleep attacks may occur during any type of activity at any time of the day. This factor makes it very dangerous and threatening to the patient’s life and wellbeing.

It is estimated that narcolepsy affects 1 in every 2000 Americans. Patients report other symptoms of mental cloudiness, a lack of energy and concentration, memory lapses, a depressed mood, and/or extreme exhaustion. Other symptoms may present such as Cataplexy or sudden loss of muscle tone and feeling weak all over, Hallucinations in wakefulness and sleep, Sleep Paralysis, which involve an inability to move or speak while falling asleep or waking up. You can see this set of symptomatic expression limits a persons activities and safety while trying to live a normal life.

What causes narcolepsy?
Medically the cause of narcolepsy is not known. Researchers have listed both genetic and epigenetic connections. It is thought that sometimes the bodies own immune system mistakenly attacks the brain cells involved in regulating the sleep-wake cycle. It is believed that narcolepsy is the result of these cells being involved.

Drugs such as NUVIGIL are used to improve wakefulness in patients with narcolepsy. It has not been considered a treatment for narcolepsy itself or its other symptoms or consequences but has been used to increase wakefulness.

In our normal sleep cycle, we initially enter superficial stages of sleep followed by deeper sleep stages and ultimately (after about 90 minutes) rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. For people having narcolepsy, REM sleep occurs almost immediately in the sleep cycle as well as periodically during the waking hours. It is in REM sleep that we can experience dreams and muscle paralysis, which explains some of the symptoms of narcolepsy.

Narcolepsy usually manifests between the ages of 15 and 25 but can present at any age.

Natural Treatment
This is a condition that I have seen personally in practice. Dr. Goodheart wrote papers on Narcolepsy and thought the place to start was digestion. He was especially mindful of Small Intestine function. Many people get sleepy after eating because of over eating, not digesting their food properly and having food sensitivities or allergies. With this insight I always tested for Total Enzymes for the digestion of proteins, carbohydrates and fats, Hypo D for HCL, Total Probiotics for proper bowel flora, Total Leaky Gut for the small intestine and L Glutamine Plus for the large bowel.

I have found heavy metals and toxic burden in every Narcolepsy patient treated. The use of Nutri-West’s Homeopath metals as they test positive, Total Chelate, Total Flax, Fish Oils, Total Greens and Total Systemic Detox are found to be very helpful.

It is important to consider Total Brain after doing a brain balance with the laser protocol, including cranial nerve evaluation and treatment. It can be very helpful to add the Eyelights, since the patient can continue this at home daily. This treatment and this overall protocol discussed have been very helpful in snoring and sleep apnea as well. As mentioned at the beginning of the article, an auto immune response is seen in some patients and we must consider Total CMO and the over all causes of our body attacking itself.

Under eating, testing for food sensitivities and allergies (A/SERT), eliminating or testing for gluten sensitivities, specific nutrition to assist the immune system in clearing infections such as Total Yeast, Total Multimune, Total Virx, Total Bac-T and Total Para should be considered and tested for.
As you can see, all SIX STEPS need evaluation and treatment in Narcolepsy and these other referenced conditions. Cranio-sacral treatment (especially the sagittal suture and treat the corpus callosum with cold laser), foot baths, subluxation correction, electromagnetic balancing, emotional stress reduction and major detoxification are all necessary considerations.

We cover all of this and more in the Nutri-West/Brimhall Seminars. We have now added Functional Diagnostic Testing to our seminars, which are a great help to evaluate the TOTAL PERSON. Blood testing, Salivary Evaluation and Hair Analysis are often necessary to look at the picture the body is painting, especially when there are major complications and web-like interactions.

We look forward to seeing you soon,

John W. Brimhall, BA, BS, DC, FIAMA, DIBAK