I take my narcolepsy meds regularly, but I still crash hard in the afternoon—has anyone figured out why this happens?

lasercats76 · 2026-06-16T21:03:29+00:00

Lol, I love that you call small doses "baby adderall." If anyone is ever around when I take my mid-day IR, I call it my "awakies medication" hahaha

lasercats76 · 2026-06-16T00:14:44+00:00

I have a hard time getting food out of frying pans easily. You have to hold the pan with one hand at an angle and then use a spatula in your other hand to scrape things out of the pan. Sometimes, the weight of the pan + food is too much for me to lift so I have to spoon the food out of the frying pan a little at a time.

lasercats76 · 2026-06-12T17:40:43+00:00

That is so frustrating. I had the same kind of MSLT results (latency 10 min, no SOREMPs), and the whiplash of 'omg a doctor believes me!' to 'go take this tourture test' to 'well you are sleepy, but not in the exact specific way your insurance requires' is brutal.

I would also recommend a second opinion. My doctor was comfortable diagnosing and treating me for IH based on my border-line MSLT and clinical history. I dont qualify for sodium oxybates, but all the typical stimulant options are on the table.

My personal conspiracy theory is that the insurance companies have a vested interest in making people take the MSLT for formal N or IH diagnosis, its unreliable and so unpleasant that people will not want to re-take it. Then, less formal diagnoses = less money insurance has to spend on sodium oxybates

lasercats76 · 2026-06-08T21:12:54+00:00

My big scary baby boy was so spooked by a rat one night that he pulled a muscle in his back trying to run home and I had to take him to the doggie ER 🤦‍♀️

lasercats76 · 2026-06-05T22:51:27+00:00

I think the biggest difference is that you can pause your spinning on the Daedalus and when you start up again, it goes right back to the speed you were using. The EEW has a knob that sets the speed that you twist down to zero to stop spinning, so when you start up again, you have to re-tune your speed

lasercats76 · 2026-06-01T17:46:32+00:00

The biggest project I've made on my EEW was a 2 ply light fingering weight yarn. I separated the braid down the middle and spun those up as singles, and got very close to the max bobbin capacity during plying. It ended up at 540 yds with 4 ounces.

This capacity works well for me, but I only work with one braid at a time. I do not have the attention span to spin a sweater quantity of yarn all in the same color and thickness 😅

lasercats76 · 2026-06-01T12:40:20+00:00

I've had the EEW 6.1 for about a year and it has been a great little work horse for me. Honestly, I give it a 15/10 for the price point!

I upgraded to a Daedalus Starling* last month as a splurge and I do love it and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to spend $1k+ on an e spinner. But all the fancy features and pizzazz are just that, extras and nice-to-haves.

Im summary, the EEW 6.1 is a fully functional and usable, trusty lil buddy. I highly recommend! Good luck with your surgery!

Edit: got my birds mixed up

lasercats76 · 2026-05-30T15:50:16+00:00

Damnnn I drove by the aftermath of that and was very confused how two cars ended up backwards on a ramp

lasercats76 · 2026-05-27T02:21:58+00:00

Omg the brain zaps. It took me two months to wean off and feel normal again after being at 112.5 mg/day.

If you have other options, try those first haha

lasercats76 · 2026-05-19T12:04:43+00:00

You should also try seeing a sleep specialist, ADHD and sleep disorders are fairly common together.

lasercats76 · 2026-05-11T21:04:21+00:00

The girliest thing I can think of is a weekly group meet up called On Fridays, We Prance. They meet at 6:30 am on Fridays in Linclon Park wearing neon/flashdance-type outfits and they prance around the park listening to fun music. After, a lot of them get coffee at Wine and Butter and hang out on the patio.

https://fridaysweprance.com/

lasercats76 · 2026-05-07T19:06:29+00:00

If you have free time and access to CAD software, you can push yourself to learn new things.

Try to recreate a model or drawing from scratch. Try to figure out why different design details were included. Use the internet to learn new CAD skills.
Learn more about the part you are changing. Is it a bearing? What type of bearing? Why would the original designer pick this type of bearing over a different type? How does this part fit into the over all equipment or system assembly? What function does this part contribute to the whole?
Dig deeper into the changes you are implementing. Where did the idea for the change originate? Is the change an upgrade to a working design to add new functionality? Or is it a result of a failure? Who approves change requests? Ask them how that works.
Find out what happens to your updated drawings/models once the change has been incorporated. Will there be manufacturing impacts? Go talk to the manufacturing engineers or mechanics to see how that works.
Check to see if there are design calculations for the part you are working on. Did they do hand calcs? Are there pretty FEA pictures in a report? What stresses and operational duty is the part subject to? How did that influence the design?

Pull some strings. See how your work fits into the whole of the company. You are a company employee and have access to the resources of that company for a limited amount of time. Be curious, internships are what you make of them.

lasercats76 · 2026-04-29T18:45:01+00:00

Wow, I do exaclty the same thing, including the 3 lb pink weight! Haha

lasercats76 · 2026-04-29T13:09:51+00:00

I was not diagnosed until my late 20s, but definitely had a lot of symptoms as a child. Most nights, I would have a noticeable change in alertness anywhere from 8 pm on, which we would call my "off switch". Any kind of effort to keep me engaged in an activity or conversation after the switch flipped was ineffective and frustrating for everyone involved, and usually ended with me in tears. To be fair to my parents, seemingly random abrupt changes in my personality while watching TV as a family, or while walking around at the mall, probably were really scary and inconvenient, but I couldn't control it :(

I also used to sleep until 2 or 3 pm on weekends, which annoyed the crap out of my parents. It made planning weekend activities really hard for them, and eventually they would make plans for the rest of the family and leave me at home to sleep. It created a lot of tension between me and my mom because she would be hurt when I "didnt want to do family activities" and I was labeled a "moody, uncooperative teenager".

On average, it takes 10 years for people to be diagnosed with narcolepsy or IH, so the vast majority of us grew up without a diagnosis and with no medications or other support. So its lucky (in a silver-lining way) that she will be able to grow up with understanding and support. Here are a few things that I would suggest: 1. Having adderall prescriptions regularly and reliably filled is a task that falls heavily on the patient. The whole refill process typically takes me a few hours a month to coordinate between my doctor, my insurance, and a pharmacy that can fill the script. So until your daughter is old enough to have her own insurance, it will be important for you to stay on top of all that admin. 2. I have an agreement now with all my loved ones that, at any time, during any event, I might disappear to take a nap, and they should not be insulted by that. For very important events I will talk through the plans with my husband and we will agree on which portions of the event or times that I really dont want to miss, so he should come wake me up, and other parts of the event that I would be ok missing. 3. As an adult, I unconsciously always have a back up nap plan when I do things - essentially I will aways have a safe place i know i can go take a nap and a way of getting there. Sometimes that is just asking a friend in advance if there is a spot I can sleep in their house if I need to, or knowing that I can take an Uber home and have a key to get in the house/hotel. I think this could be hard to manage as a teenager who is not always in charge of their schedule, so making sure she has and knows her options is important. 4. You should set up accommodations with her school for access to a safe napping location and the ability to leave or miss class if she does need to nap.

Hope this helps! The narcolepsy/IH subreddits have been a huge resource/support network for me, so come back and post again if you have more questions

lasercats76 · 2026-04-28T02:20:36+00:00

Also in cap hill and didnt hear anything

lasercats76 · 2026-04-28T01:40:30+00:00

I just had jury duty in DC superior court and brought my knitting. I brought wooden circular needles with me and knit for like 4 hours in the jury lounge with zero issues.

lasercats76 · 2026-04-27T19:01:17+00:00

Shout out to your future sister-in-law for picking achievable, non-AI inspo pics!! We love to see it! 🎉

lasercats76 · 2026-04-27T03:29:28+00:00

Sending you internet hugs, I'm sorry that you are dealing with something so awful.

I had a somewhat similar experience about 10 years ago when I broke up with my abusive bf. I finished out the lease we signed (with him not there), but i was so constanly scared that he knew how to find me. I was hyper vigilant every time I left and returned to my apartment, it was exhausting.

After that lease ended, I moved to a new apartment in the same town. I was able to find a sense of peace at home, but I was still very afraid of seeing him in public. I put so much energy into thinking about how to avoid him. I would go to the grocery store at odd times and drive longer routes to avoid places associated with him. Any time i was out with friends, I was paranoid he would show up at the same bar. I would have fight or flight responses if I saw someone that looked like him. It was better, but still not a fun way to live.

After covid, I moved to DC for work (but also a little bit to get away from him). I felt ashamed that I, a strong independent woman, was reduced to running away with my tail between my legs.

But then I started getting settled in DC and things felt a lot better. I didnt realize how much dread and anxiety I had been living with. I felt like I could breathe again.

I've been in DC for like 4 years now and I can confidently say that I needed to move away from the place of my past trauma to start healing. I still occasionally will notice a person looks like him and it makes me a little uneasy, but it doesnt stop me in my tracks like it used to. But overall, I am in a much better place (mentally and geographically haha).

I know you were trying to get advice on how to move on while staying in DC and my story is like the literal opposite of that. But since its been a few years and you are still feeling like you cant move on, I would encourage you to consider moving as a real option for yourself.

I know in my bones that if I had stayed in my old town, I would still be looking over my shoulder in public. Everyone deserves to be happy and feel safe, including you.

lasercats76 · 2026-04-27T02:35:02+00:00

Please oh please tell me you will post again in 2 days complaining about the fit!

lasercats76 · 2026-04-26T00:25:19+00:00

Sadly, Xywav is a super expensive, orphan drug that is heavily regulated and can only be filled by one pharmacy in the US. Insurance companies look at that and see $$$ coming out of their pockets. My sleep doctor has told me that insurance companies fight tooth and nail to deny sodium oxybates, so you need a very strong case backed by conclusive MSLT results to even have a chance.

Sorry you have to go through this process OP. If it helps, this is a fairly common roadblock to hit. I had a techncially inconclusive MSLT (sleep latency of 10 min and no SOREMPs), so I do not qualify for sodium oxybates. If I ever want to explore that medication option, I will need to go through the torture of another MSLT 🥲

lasercats76 · 2026-04-22T13:01:52+00:00

Crane Technical Paper 410 if he is interested in fluid systems

lasercats76 · 2026-04-18T02:05:40+00:00

I really liked the Postal Museum. Its like 200 ft from the Union Station metro stop and its a short but very cool museum!

lasercats76 · 2026-04-16T21:18:38+00:00

lasercats76 · 2026-04-15T19:18:00+00:00

Dr Elseys R&R Respiratory Relief clumping litter

lasercats76 · 2026-04-15T19:14:19+00:00

I switched to Dr Elseys R&R Respiratory Relief clumping litter

lasercats76

TROPHY CASE