dayDream For Narcolepsy On Sunday

Michele McDonald hosts "dayDream" a benefit for the Narcolepsy Network.

On Sunday The Independent Newspaper and Hampton Daze will serve as a media sponsor for an event benefiting the Narcolepsy Network. The event, titled “dayDream,” will be an afternoon cocktail party at Edgewater Restaurant in Hampton Bays.

The party starts at 1 PM and goes until 4 PM. It includes an open bar, gift bags, silent auction, and hors d’oeuvres.

Michele McDonald is hosting the event. McDonald suffers from narcolepsy, a sleep disorder involving irregular patterns in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep and significant disruptions of the normal sleep/wake cycle. She is looking to raise money and bring awareness to the disorder.

Narcolepsy affects an estimated one in every 2000 people in the United States. That’s 200,000 Americans and approximately three million people worldwide. It is estimated that only 25 percent of people who have narcolepsy have been diagnosed and are receiving treatment.

Symptoms of narcolepsy include excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep attacks, cataplexy, sleep paralysis, hallucinations, and disrupted nighttime sleep.

Narcolepsy can be difficult to diagnose because some of its symptoms, such as fatigue, are common to many conditions. The average time between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis is seven years. The most common misdiagnosis is depression.

McDonald described her experience discovering she had narcolepsy. “For the last several years I have not been feeling well. My energy was very low, I was always tired, and I felt lethargic. It was extremely difficult for me to concentrate.”

Narcolepsy started to affect her personal relationships. One day she had plans to meet a friend for an event. “I was up, showered, full face of make up, dressed to go . . . and all of a sudden I couldn’t keep my eyes open, my head was super heavy, and I needed to lay down and give in to my body’s need for sleep.”

Canceling plans became a regular occurrence and she knew she had to do something about it. “I finally agreed to my physician’s request and went for the sleep study test. The test showed that I have narcolepsy. My body lacks the brain chemical hypocrites, a neurotransmitter that regulates sleep/wake cycles, blood pressure, metabolism, and appetite.”

Today McDonald manages her narcolepsy by regulating her sleep cycles with scheduled naps, following a healthy diet, exercising, and lots of coffee.

Narcolepsy Network is a nonprofit national patient support organization. It is dedicated to increasing early diagnosis of narcolepsy, advocating for and supporting persons with narcolepsy and their families, and promoting critical research for treatment and a cure.

For more information on the Narcolepsy Network visit www.narcolepsynetwork.org. Tickets to the event are $40. CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS.