Excessive daytime sleepiness is just one of many Parkinson’s Disease (PD) symptoms that many people don’t associate with PD. But it was this symptom more than anything else that led to my early retirement.

Y’see, I was experiencing excessive daytime sleepiness at work – even on days that were preceded by a good night’s sleep. Increasingly, I found myself sneaking off to take a nap during the work day. I consulted my PD specialist, and he prescribed methylphenidate to fight the daytime sleepiness. It helped at first, but to me, this was the beginning of the end. I was of the opinion that, if you have to take an extra drug just to go to work…then maybe it’s time to stop going to work. During the summer of 2019, I initially spoke to my employer about the possibilities of either changing from full-time to part-time, or taking a “sabbatical” for a year or two (hoping for some major medical breakthrough to occur during that time). Ultimately, as the condition (and other symptoms) worsened, we arrived at the conclusion that I should file for long-term disability benefits.

I have now been effectively retired for about five years. I had always imagined that I would do more reading once I retired. I was wrong. The daytime sleepiness knocks me out every time I start reading. It doesn’t matter how much sleep I’ve been getting, how thrilling the book may be, or how wide awake I may feel when I start reading. I can read no more than about two pages, then my brain just shuts down.

And the condition has gotten even worse. It now resembles narcolepsy, in that I sometimes nod off with NO advance warning – no tiredness at all. Just straight from wide awake to asleep. This has happened a couple of times while I was driving, leading to some very scary moments. Unlike reading, though, I have so far been able to prevent these narcoleptic episodes with occasional use of methylphenidate and plenty of napping. Still, I’m teaching my dog to drive…just in case.