International Sleep Expert...final hope? Or Not?

After the failed homeopathic experience, I decided to do some googleling myself, and I stumbled upon the website of Constantia Sleep Centre, located at Constantiaberg Hospital, only 20 minutes from me.  I was very excited and I sent them the following email:

Hi there

I suffer from terrible chronic

nightmares - up to 4 extremely

disturbing nightmares every night.  Vary rarely have a nightmare-free nights sleep.  Has been going on for around a year.  Is this something which you treat, and would I need to get referred to you or can I just come and see you direct.  Also, what are the costs involved?  I really hope you can help as I am at my whits end.

Thanks

Mel

I was very excited when I received an email back saying that the doctor wanted to see me when he was next in Cape Town, which was in 4 weeks time.  I spent those 4 weeks documenting my nightmares, my sleeping and waking patterns and any potential triggers.  When it was finally time to see the doctor, he saw me for less than 5 minutes and suggested I do a 24 hour sleep study, as he suspected I suffered from narcolepsy.  After doing some research on this condition I was very upset, as it said that 50% of sufferers will end up with dementia, a condition I fear more than cancer.  I was also more upset when it was discovered that my medical aid would not cover sleep studies of any kind and I had to ask my father to pay the R8000 cost of the test.

The actual test itself I found to be rather traumatic and although it may sound silly to some, I still get cold shivers when I think about it.  I had electrodes glued to my head, taped to my face and neck and even had to have two pushed up my nose.  The hospital ward itself was very depressing and it generally just wasn't a nice experience.

The next morning we were woken up at 6am and I was still really groggy and was looking forward to us being able to nap every 2 hours on the study.  However, getting through a whole day watching series on my computer and then being told to sleep again every 2 hours was horrible.  Once we had done the 4th sleep during the day I called the lady who was running the test and asked her if she could tell me anything about my readings on the test.  She told me that I had a 'great' sleep and everything looked normal.  I had one of the biggest breakdowns I think I've ever had, sobbing into the sheets to try stop anyone from hearing me crying.  I was absolutely shattered because I felt like well where to from here.  I know I can't keep living like this but where else can I now search for a solution.  I called my dad to tell him but I was crying so much I could hardly speak on the phone and I don't think he could hear anything I was saying.  

When they finally took the electrodes off my hair I left, got into my car and just started crying again.  If an international expert sleep doctor can't help me, then what the hell do I do now.  Continuing to live with this problem is not an option.