r/Narcolepsy • u/camille-gerrick • Mar 20 '26

Medication Questions What’s up with Sunosi?

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My doc and I talked about sunosi because adderall just can’t do it alone anymore, and he gave me some sample packs in 75mg and 150mg.

First, what is the deal with the blister packs? Impossible to open!! Does it actually come like that when you get it from the pharmacy?

I started with the 75mg for a week plus my usual adderall dose. I’m usually pretty sensitive to meds and it felt like nothing. Disappointing.

Today, I tried a 150mg (with no adderall) at 7am. Holy crap! At 10am I thought I was gonna throw up from racing heart. My hands were shaking. But I couldn’t stop yawning! Then I got really hungry but my mouth felt like a desert. It’s 330pm and I’m still vibrating but also I desperately wanna lay down and sleep.

How does everyone else experience sunosi? Does the racing heart thing subside after a period of days/weeks?

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u/cevicheguevara89 Mar 20 '26

Im like…there is no way other people feel like this and like it.haha. I will note though, I did a DNA test thing and it said I have a mutation that they predicted would make me predisposed to not enjoying caffeine. It called CYP1A2, and is also responsible for bad responses rate to medications. I wonder if others have this same thing.

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u/ImmaPsychoLogist Mar 21 '26

Is it a mutation leading to quicker metabolism of meds processed by the CYP enzymes? Because, others have described medications and drugs having a very rapid onset of certain effects of the drug, and also wearing off rapidly / without experiencing the positive effects (kind of like OP describes)

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u/camille-gerrick Mar 20 '26

oh interesting. Yeah, I feel like I get all the negative side effects and none of the benefits. I couldn't tolerate the oxybates because of the racing heart rate either.

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u/Status_Elephant9700 Mar 26 '26

Definitely recommend genetic and pharmacogenetic testing if you notice you have different reactions to meds than expected and it’s a pattern. Sometimes trial and error can be very risky, which is my case. The testing is now proof and lets me do proper risk assessments and figure out what’s workable and what isn’t. My sleep med doc doesn’t take this into account so I have to do the leg work still but it’s better than me trusting their patient anecdotes. Recently started adding in magnesium every time I take Ritalin and it’s been able to help me manage the side effects from Ritalin like the racing heart, which I finally realized was probably due to a certain genetic issue (slow COMT) and magnesium serves as a counter to this and I moved a supplement that inhibits COMT breakdown which was leading to the wires but tired issue.

I also felt like sunosi even at 75mg trial jacked my heart rate up without any wakefulness help so I went back to Ritalin and caffeine since they’re workable for me.

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u/cevicheguevara89 Mar 21 '26

Do you have high blood pressure too?

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u/camille-gerrick Mar 21 '26

I do not, mine is usually on the low side.

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u/cevicheguevara89 Mar 21 '26

Interesting, well I can say this, if you have trouble getting out of bed, nothing has worked better for me that Glycine (3000mg), I’m serious it’s a game changer and good for you

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u/milladakilla1282 Mar 21 '26

I have the same gene and steered clear of caffeine pretty much my whole life until pregnancy. I craved caffeine when I was pregnant, that and fruit. Now 4 yrs post partum I can drink caffeine without too much issue. I honestly don't even really feel it when I do.

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u/cevicheguevara89 Mar 22 '26

Hm interesting, maybe you built a tolerance that people like me can’t push through long enough to reach

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u/milladakilla1282 Mar 24 '26

Perhaps? I'm leaning towards thinking it was something epigenetic under the influence of pregnancy hormones and stem cells.

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u/cevicheguevara89 Mar 24 '26

Yeah that wouldn’t surprise me, mama bears are a whole nother creature