Coping with Phase Shifts & Narcolepsy

QUESTION. What is the Wakeup Diet solution for waking up swiftly?

ANSWER. Every morning, get the right start. At the first ring of the alarm clock, pop out of bed. Don't ever let yourself doze off.

Before breakfast, exercise vigorously. This means pushups, situps, and stretches. Do a lot of them. Get the blood moving! Never skip a day. Track your progress in a diary. By the way, if music or TV helps, then switch it on. Just don't get distracted. You're not there for the TV. You're there for you!

If it's cool outside, dial down the heat and open the window. Going out to get the paper helps, too, especially on those brisk spring and fall days.

If you still don't feel awake, do those exercises in the basement. Start by taking off your shoes or slippers. Walk around your exercise area on that cold tile or cement floor. If your feet could talk, they'd thank you! And the soothing coolness will soon help your whole body to feel more energized.

QUESTION. What is your solution to reading problems during fatigue?

ANSWER. Read while exercising on a recumbent, stationary bike. That works!

If you don't have a recumbent bike, read while standing. If you're still sleepy or experiencing aches, put a gel cold pack on the back of your neck. An ice pack will also work. (Place the pack on the back of the neck, right where the head meets the neck. This is the accupressure point for narcolepsy.) The cold pack reduces dizziness, headache and swelling. These symptoms typically accompany cataplexy, narcolepsy, jet lag or other phasal disorders. When the bag warms to room temperature, refresh with another cold pack.

Here are some other reading-while-tired pointers...

• Get involved with the reading material. Take notes.

• Periodically study the notes.

• As you review them, annotate the notes.

• Read the conclusion first.

• Find a summary and read that.

• If the material includes questions that test comprehension, read them first. Then actively seek answers in the text.

• Speed read, skim or scan over general or redundant material.

• Skip the captions and sidebars. Or when you're really tired, read them and skip the text.

QUESTION. What is the Wakeup Diet solution for excessive daytime sleepiness?

ANSWER. The idea is to maintain an even level of alertness. The Wakeup Diet spreads this alertness across the entire day. During the workday, the diet permits only one meal. Ideally, the dieter takes this meal at a late lunchtime. Between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. is fine, with 2 p.m. being ideal. The portion size is 70 to 120 calories, and food content is mainly protein. For this protein source, we recommend a soy, mushroom or bean burger. The ingredients must have as little grain and glycemic starch as possible. Vegan burgers tend to be the best for this purpose, but variety is important, too. See Boca Original Vegan meatless burgers.

Eat the burger plain and without a bun. Thaw, but don't heat the burger. Heating can raise your body temperature. Raising the body temperature can lead to drowsiness. With the burger, drink only water.

The burgers that we've listed tend to cause only a brief impact on wakefulness. A small amount of protein can satisfy for a long period. Further, this small protein meal tends to suppress hunger for many hours.

QUESTION. What is your solution to the problem of hypnagogic dreams and hallucinations?

ANSWER. Hypnagogic dreams and hallucinations occur when your phasal problem is out of control. Phase-shifted sleep is inefficient and unrestful. The Wakeup Diet quenches hypnagogics and hallucinations by exhausting you before bedtime.

Sleep must come from exhaustion, and not from phasal anomalies. Situations that produce phasal anomalies include stress, a plane or car trip, PMS, etc.

In the Wakeup Diet, sustained, sweat-producing exercise produces exhaustion. We follow the exercise with a warm shower and a meal with plenty of starchy carbohydrates. Quite naturally, a very deep, satisfying sleep follows.

Attempts to "fight" sleep attacks will increase chances for hypnagogics. If you normally experience hypnagogic effects, (lifelike dreams, night terrors, or hallucinations), fighting tends to worsen them. Besides, fighting is a tactic and not a strategy. Prevention beats reaction. If you must fight a problem, then the problem has already developed. Fighting hypnagogics is like running from a dog. Expect him to follow you.

The Wakeup Diet doesn't fight the problem. In fact, a fight is a violation of the Stability Principle.™ Instead, the Wakeup Diet turns that fierce "dog" into a lapdog. Rapid onset of restful sleep eliminates the states of dissociative, altered consciousness that promote hypnagogics. You relax naturally and sleep restfully.

QUESTION. My child is already experiencing hypnagogic hallucinations. How should I tell her to cope?

ANSWER. Of course, start her on the Wakeup Diet as soon as possible. Until then, tell her this: People with narcolepsy often seem to have more control over their dreams than normal people do. Likewise, if you know the secret, hallucinations are under your control, too.

The secret is that your own brain created these dreams and hallucinations. As long as they can torment you, your mind is active. While your mind is active, you can use it to alter your visions.

Start by denying the tormenting vision. You may not be able to speak a word, but you can think. Order the misbehaving vision to stop. Tell him that you can see his underwear. In fact, you really can see that underwear! Just take a look. Visions wear the most ridiculous things. Do you see the polka dots, wild stripes and asparagus sprigs? Pink and purple and green! Tell the vision that he looks completely silly. Tell him that he should be ashamed.

Naughty. Now tell the vision that he's naughty. He must vanish, or you'll punish him. Mean what you say. Refuse to take "no" for an answer. Remember, he is your vision. You can change him in whatever way you wish. If the vision persists, summon the Vision Police. Or start melting the vision, just like candle wax. Watch as he slowly vanishes. Replace him with drifting clouds, a clear, babbling brook, or slowly falling snow.

QUESTION. I'm a college student. I have to take a morning exam. Should I adjust the diet?

ANSWER. Yes. Whether you have narcolepsy or are just staying up late to cram, this should help: Eat a light breakfast. The breakfast must only include a lean protein source and water. Keep the portion size small. About 100 calories should do the job. Until after the exam, keep off dairy products, fats and starches. No milk, juice, toast, jam, cereal or coffee. You may drink plain tap or bottled water.

If another exam follows the first one, fast until afterward. With the protein at breakfast, you can go a long time before hunger sets in again.

If you have exams all day, just eat light protein snacks. No carbohydrates: Not even a cracker! After your last exam, exercise heavily, producing sweat. Then save the carbohydrates and fats for your last meal of the day. Expect the exercise and meal to exhaust you. You should sleep excellently.

Here are some suggested protein sources...

QUESTION. What do people with narcolepsy see as their greatest loss?

ANSWER. Misunderstandings that they could have cleared up. Disappointing people who can't understand. Abuse from predators. Lost opportunities and lost friends. Not being able to help every time.

In our phase-shifted world, people everywhere share these frustrations. In their hearts, they wish that they could feel better, more confident, or more energetic. Then they feel that they could consistently deliver on life's promises. We all strive for excellence. Yet excellence is very rare and very dear.

QUESTION. What encourages a person with narcolepsy to cope, rather than to give in?

ANSWER. The narcolepsy itself. It tasks you. It steels you. It inspires you.

You must never fight narcolepsy, because it is your body. You must instead work with it. The goal is maximizing your performance within your limits.

Everyone has limits. Knowing how to grow within them is a requirement of lifetime achievement.

QUESTION. What are your dreams for the future?

ANSWER. A cure for narcolepsy, of course. Until then, better diet foods and other improvements. Twenty years ago, you couldn't buy soyburgers in the store. (Some burgers included soy content, but I don't remember any "100 percent soy" burgers.) How did we get along without soy burgers!

Today, I'm waiting for nonfat, Greek-style soy yogurt to become available in supermarkets. Right now, the soy yogurts in stores are all flavored. Some of these yogurts are excellent tasting. Yet due to their sugar or artificial sweetener content, these flavored soy yogurts are off the diet. The sugar in flavored yogurts often tops 25 grams, the same amount as in some soda pops. (That is, those drinks that haven't switched to the equally bad corn sweeteners.) A nighttime, Greek yogurt snack is a fabulous sleep promoter. A soy version would be even better.

I hope that our program will benefit people with narcolepsy. I hope that we can help millions of others who suffer from phasal disorders.

We live in a 24/7 society. So many of us depend on on junk food and sleep deprivation. Those who live this way aren't performing as well as they could. Worse, they may be endangering their health. Due to phase shifts, these people will make more than the usual number of errors and have a higher than usual number of accidents. These errors and accidents could also endanger others. The Wakeup Diet and exercise program can help them to live better, fuller, more satisfying lives.

QUESTION. How do narcoleptic individuals react to the Wakeup Diet?

ANSWER. Reactions run the gamut. Many Narcolepsy Network members that we've spoken with seem enthusiastic. Other people are casually interested. A few seem either reluctant or even hostile. My response is this...

• I don't expect the Wakeup Diet to serve everybody. Yet for some sufferers, the medications are ineffective, impractical, too expensive or inappropriate. For these people, the Wakeup Diet lights a candle. My supporters understand the value that the Wakeup Diet offers. Remember, this program is a free service.

• Casual interest might be due to a lack of self-confidence. Also, narcoleptics avoid strong emotions, because even emotions can sometimes cause cataplexy attacks. A secondary aspect of narcolepsy medication is the placebo effect. The placebo effect promises to achieve what the individual lacks confidence to undertake. How many narcoleptics habitually continue with medications even after the treatment stops working? The placebo effect might be the reason. Plus, medications produce side effects, some of them serious. See Wakeup Diet Links. The Wakeup Diet has none of these shortcomings. Yet to triumph over narcolepsy, people must trust and depend on their own abilities. The foundation of anyone's personal prosperity is self-reliance. Starting and succeeding with the Wakeup Diet requires resources that many people have, though they might not even realize.

• I understand even the reluctance and hostility. People rely on the devil they know: For narcolepsy, that means prescription drugs. Yet medicine, both legitimate and patent, has over-promised. In the world of sleep disorders, every five years brings a new "wonder drug." Each new preparation allegedly improves on the now-admitted shortcomings of its predecessors. I remember several of these "miracle" treatments. But the potions don't live up to the promises.

• Reluctant people must consider this fact: The Wakeup Diet works today. Venture nothing, and you gain nothing. Medication isn't the only way. Try the Wakeup Diet™!

• The Wakeup Diet isn't just a program for narcoleptics. The Wakeup Diet can help many types of people: Shift workers, for example. Also those with jet lag, PMS, or other problems that induce phasal disorders. Twice a year, Daylight Savings Time throws everyone a phase shift. On the next day, workplace errors and traffic accidents dramatically increase. See... Daylight Savings Time.

• To start the Wakeup Diet, you must lay down your skepticism one more time. Only this time, don't trust me. Trust yourself. Because this time, you're in charge of your health, your improvement and your achievement. No doctor or pill will do the job for you. I've made some suggestions. Now I'm handing over the controls to you. Make the effort. And from your success, take satisfaction, pride and a renewed life.

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