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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Sleep Sci 2018; 11(04): 215-216
DOI: 10.5935/1984-0063.20180035
CASE REPORT

Oral L-Carnitine used to treat narcoleptic type 1 patient during pregnancy - A case report

Felipe Barros
1   UNIFESP, Neurologia e Neurocirurgia - São Paulo - São Paulo - Brazil.
,
Ana Carolina Rodrigues Aguilar
2   UNIFESP, Psicobiologia - São Paulo - São Paulo - Brazil.
,
Sergio Tufik
1   UNIFESP, Neurologia e Neurocirurgia - São Paulo - São Paulo - Brazil.
,
Fernando Morgadinho Coelho
1   UNIFESP, Neurologia e Neurocirurgia - São Paulo - São Paulo - Brazil.
2   UNIFESP, Psicobiologia - São Paulo - São Paulo - Brazil.
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Narcolepsy type 1 is a sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), sleep fragmentation, hypnagogic hallucinations, sleep paralysis, and cataplexy. Stimulant medications such as modafinil and amphetamines are the first-line medications for treating sleepiness. However, the management of narcolepsy during special circumstances of life such as pregnancy is complex. MMDM is a 34-year-old female with Narcolepsy type 1 treated with modafinil (400mg/d) and citalopram (20mg/d). Before she become pregnant, modafinil and citalopram were replaced for L-Carnitine 510mg/d with good outcome. She underwent an usual pregnancy and was submitted to a term cesarean delivery without child-birth complications. This is the first description of oral L-Carnitine such an alternative to treatment narcolepsy type 1 during pregnancy. Treat these patients is not easy but care narcolepsy pregnant is a challenging even bigger. In a disease without many treatment options, L-Carnitine can be used to treat daytime sleepiness during pregnancy in narcolepsy.

Narcolepsy - Pregnancy - L-Carnitine


Publication History

Received: 29 May 2018

Accepted: 28 September 2018

Article published online:
16 October 2023

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