Although narcolepsy and epilepsy are not truly comparable illnesses, when evaluating
medical severity, the closest listing to equate narcolepsy with is Listing 11.02,
Epilepsy.
The severity of narcolepsy should be evaluated after a period of 3 months of prescribed
treatment. It is not necessary to obtain an electroencephalogram (EEG) in narcolepsy
cases. A routine EEG is usually normal, and when special attempts are made to obtain
abnormal rapid eye movement (REM) sleep patterns, they may or may not be present even
in true cases of narcolepsy. Also, narcolepsy is not usually treated with anticonvulsant
medication, but is most frequently treated by the use of drugs such as stimulants
and mood elevators for which there are no universal laboratory blood level determinations
available. Finally, it is important to obtain from an ongoing treatment source a description
of the medications used and the response to the medication, as well as an adequate
description of the claimant's alleged narcoleptic attacks and any other secondary
events such as cataplexy, hypnagogic hallucinations or sleep paralysis.