Yesterday [01.31.14] it was announced that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved a medication for the sleep disorder known as non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder.

Non-24-hour is a rare circadian rhythm disorder that is most often found in those who are completely blind and are unable to perceive light. Adhering to a 24 hour sleep/wake rhythm is heavily reliant on light receptors in the brain and eyes which then help to modulate hormones in the body.

If a person doesn't percieve light it is more difficult to adhere to a "normal" schedule of 24 hours.

It also does occur in sighted individuals. It is very very rare, but does happen- my last SO of several years was diagnosed with this and it is very difficult to deal with.

Individuals tend to have a sleep/wake rhythm that is up to two or more hours off from the normal 24, which means they continually fall farther and farther behind a normal daily schedule. This leads to constant sleep deprevation and exhaustion, cognitive problems, mood instability, difficulties maintaining general health and regular responsiblities in work and school as well as stable relationships.

Until now there has been no affective FDA approved treatment for it. [and honestly? there wasn't much that worked or helped even a little beyond a couple days. My ex ran through everything that could possibly help for almost the entirety of our relationship. Nothing worked]

FDA Okays Hetlioz (Tasimelteon) for Sleep Disorder in Blind

Hetlioz is a stupid name. I'm just going to get that out there.

But, ok... this is really really exciting.
This disorder can be so debilitating and NO ONE understands it. I feel that in my personal experience and exposure to numerous 'invisible' disabilities it is one of the most poorly understood and the people who experience it get treated so poorly and are so invalidated for their experiences.

And there has been very little they can do to "fix" what has been going wrong.

Hetlioz seems rather promising.
However: it was pushed through review on high priority, it has interactions with cyp1a2 inhibitors and cyp3a4 inducers....

which means you run into caffeine, grapefruit, and some other common medication and food issues for interactions.

The interaction severity can vary though and really, if I were in this position I would probably just eat bread and water to be able to live a relatively normal schedule.

So, I don't know. YAY!
This has potential to help so many people!

[jordan23]

Good news!!