Narcolepsy Sleeping Disorder Symptoms and Treatments
Posted: Monday, September 22, 2008
by Moses Chia
Narcolepsy is characterized by feeling tired during the day and suddenly falling asleep during everyday activities that one should be awake for. This serious sleep condition is often misdiagnosed. Others may think that the above symptoms are related to laziness or poor sleeping habits, but to the one suffering from it, the symptoms are very real and frightening. This condition is also potentially very dangerous.
Despite having a good rest at night, intense fatigue and dozing off during the day are signs of this issue. People who suffer from narcolepsy have difficulty focusing on daily tasks due to a constant feeling of being tired. Such an illness is difficult to cope with, but it is even scarier when one considers the fact that the individual might sleep suddenly in the midst of operating machinery or activities that need full concentration.
This can be very serious and dangerous because it happens with no prior warning. The person has no time to stop doing what they are doing to get prepared. There is no time to remove yourself from a potentially dangerous situation and find a safe place to lie down. It can occur at any instant and so it is life-threatening if you are engaged in activities such as driving or operating heavy machinery.
During these attacks, a person might sleep for just a few minutes or up to a half hour. This pattern can repeat itself several times during the course of a day. There is often certain automatic responses that go along with this condition, such as continuing to perform the task they were working on before they fell asleep. Individuals who have this condition might not even recall falling asleep after they wake up.
Cataplexy is another problem 75% of sufferers face when they have narcolepsy. This condition involves an inability to control muscles. It could be anything from trouble speaking to a loss of all muscle control. Some will experience this symptom more often than others. Some report rare instances, while others experience it every day. It has been suggested that there is some link between narcolepsy and swings in moods and emotions such as uncontrollable euphoria or anger.
Narcolepsy can also show up in the form of paralysis, such as can be seen during REM sleep. However, paralysis in such situations occurs when the individual is beginning to fall asleep or is awakening. What is scary about this is that the individual is conscience that it is happening but is powerless to stop it or do anything.
A common sign of narcolepsy is hypnagogic hallucinations. The individual experiences very real images when he is in a state of half-consciousness. 25% to 50% of those with this condition tend to have such symptoms.
There is still much to learn about what actually causes narcolepsy, but it is believed that genetics plays a role. Low levels of a chemical called hypocretin (chemical responsible for controlling sleep awakening) are also thought to be a cause.
--------
Moses Wright is a health conscious webmaster. He wants to help more people learn about sleeping well and Creating a Better Sleep Environment at his site.
This Article has been viewed 144 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.