REQUEST A REPRESENTATIVE Identifying Patients
Switch to and start on LUMRYZ.
Patients were compensated by Avadel Pharmaceuticals to share their stories. Individual results may vary.
Meet Wendy
living with
NT1, switched to LUMRYZ
Wendy’s treatment journey
Wendy's first cataplexy attack
"I was laughing and jumping on the bed, and then dropped to the floor. After I could move again, I told my mother. She thought I was making it up."
Wendy is told her symptoms are psychosomatic
"I spent a week in the hospital after a cataplexy attack and was told nothing was wrong with me. I thought everybody was right and I knew nothing."
Wendy is diagnosed with narcolepsy
"After 25 years and so many misdiagnoses, I was told I had narcolepsy and was put on a stimulant to treat my EDS."
Wendy struggles to find the right treatment regimen
"Every 6 months we would raise the dose or switch to another stimulant. They helped me stay awake—but staying awake meant being in a fog all the time. And I was still having symptoms of cataplexy."
Wendy starts researching oxybate therapies
Do you have patients like Wendy who may benefit from switching to—or starting with—once-at-bedtime LUMRYZ?
WENDY TODAY
Since starting once-at-bedtime LUMRYZ, I feel less sleepy and more awake during the day. I can watch movies with my husband and paint without falling asleep and getting paint all over my clothes.
NT1, narcolepsy type 1; NT2, narcolepsy type 2.
Meet Katie
living with
NT2, switched to LUMRYZ
A typical day on twice-nightly oxybates
"I had to start crunching numbers, which is not a game you want to play at very early hours."
"I didn’t tell my doctor about my challenges because I felt ashamed. I thought I was the only one who struggled with twice-nightly dosing. I was scared I would lose access to my treatment if I complained."
How are you maintaining an open dialogue with patients about the potential challenges with taking middle-of-the-night dosing?
KATIE TODAY
Once-at-bedtime LUMRYZ for me means I go to sleep and the only thing I have to think of is what I’m going to be doing the next day. I’m not falling asleep in the morning, so I like to make myself breakfast and drive to class.
Meet Tyler
living
with NT1, switched to LUMRYZ
Growing up with narcolepsy
"I was constantly sleepy, and 2 minutes into a basketball game my legs would start feeling like jelly. It was frustrating, because I had been planning to go to college on a sports scholarship."
"My mom mentioned I would nap while my friends played soccer outside, and that led my doctor to recommend a sleep study."
Do you have patients like Tyler who may have family members who are impacted by their current treatment regimen?
TYLER TODAY
Since taking once-at-bedtime LUMRYZ, I feel awake when I spend time with
friends and do my homework. My cataplexy attacks have also mitigated, so I’m not focused on my
cataplexy
when I play pick-up games of soccer or basketball.
Once-at-bedtime dosing for me means not relying on someone else to help me wake up in
the
middle of the night to take a second dose—now I have a roommate, and I’m not worried about
waking
them up every night.
NT1, narcolepsy type 1; NT2, narcolepsy type 2.
How might once-at-bedtime LUMRYZ make an impact for patients in your practice?
Patients experiencing inadequate treatment response on their current medication may be appropriate to switch to a single-dose sodium oxybate with daytime improvement in EDS and cataplexy.1-3
Currently taking twice-nightly sodium oxybate
Consider asking patients:
Select the nearest equivalent dose of LUMRYZ1
- For example, 7.5 g of LUMRYZ is approximately 2 doses of 3.75 g twice-nightly sodium oxybate
What would have helped me is being asked something like: ‘Some
people may struggle with twice-nightly
dosing, is this a challenge for you?’
—Katie, NT2
Oxybate-naïve or previous sodium oxybate history
Consider asking patients:
Titrate gradually based on efficacy and tolerability1
- Increase from recommended starting dose of 4.5 g by 1.5 g per night at weekly intervals based on efficacy and tolerability
- The recommended dosage range is 6 g to 9 g per night. Doses higher than 9 g per night have not been studied and should not ordinarily be administered
If I had known about sodium oxybate when I was diagnosed, I would have wanted to discuss it as an option
with
my sleep specialist.
—Wendy, NT1
Watch to hear more from Wendy, Katie, and Tyler about their experiences with LUMRYZ
References:
- References: 1. LUMRYZ™ (sodium oxybate for extended-release oral suspension). Prescribing Information. Chesterfield, MO: Avadel Pharmaceuticals. 2. Kushida CA, Shapiro CM, Roth T, et al. Once-nightly sodium oxybate (FT218) demonstrated improvement of symptoms in a phase 3 randomized clinical trial in patients with narcolepsy. Sleep. 2022;45(6):1-11. 3. Thakrar C, Patel K, D’ancona G, et al. Effectiveness and side-effect profile of stimulant therapy as monotherapy and in combination in the central hypersomnias in clinical practice. J Sleep Res. 2018;27(4):e12627. doi:10.1111/jsr.12627