![]() ![]() ![]() In its severe form, cataplexy can cause weakness of the face, limbs, and trunk, leading an individual to slump to the ground, awake but unable to talk or move for up to one or two minutes. Cataplexy usually develops a few months after the onset of sleepiness, though sometimes the first episode of cataplexy will occur many years after sleepiness begins. Some people have only one or two episodes of cataplexy their whole lives in others, cataplexy can occur up to 20 times each day. The weakness typically builds up over several seconds and then lasts up to one or two minutes. This suggests that the sleepiness of narcolepsy is caused by a problem with the brain circuits that normally promote full alertness, rather than poor quality or insufficient sleep.Ībout half of all people with narcolepsy have cataplexy: episodes of muscle weakness that are usually triggered by strong emotions. Similarly, most individuals with narcolepsy find that a brief, 15- to 20-minute nap substantially improves their alertness for the next one to two hours. In contrast, people with narcolepsy usually feel alert upon waking but then feel sleepy throughout much of the day, even though they have had good quality, ample nighttime sleep. As a result, people with apnea often do not feel well rested when they wake, and are sleepy during the day. Many other sleep disorders, such as obstructive sleep apnea, result in both poor quality and insufficient nighttime sleep. School-age children may resume napping habits from a younger age, and the naps may be long and unrefreshing. The child may be irritable, hyperactive, or have trouble paying attention in school. In younger children, sleepiness may have a different appearance. Sometimes, people with narcolepsy can have “automatic behavior” in which they continue an activity, such as driving or taking notes in class, with little conscious awareness. This intense and persistent sleepiness often leads to inattention and drowsiness. Many people with narcolepsy report their sleepiness is similar to the feelings that others report after staying awake all night. In many, it is so intense that they frequently and unintentionally doze off while sitting in a class, riding in a car, or watching a movie. Other names for this disorder include excessive daytime sleepiness ( EDS), sleeping disease, paroxysmal sleep, and Gelineau syndrome.Everyone with narcolepsy has some daytime sleepiness, but the severity of sleepiness varies among individuals. Food and Drug Administration ( FDA) in 1998 approved Provigil ( modafinil), a non- amphetamine drug for treating the excessive sleepiness of narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is usually treated with a medication to improve alertness and an anti-depressant that helps control cataplexy. For example, a narcoleptic may fall asleep while driving. It is not a fatal disorder in itself but it can lead to fatalities. Still other persons with narcolepsy may experience severe sleepiness or have severe cataplexy (with one or more episodes of cataplexy per day). Other persons may have moderate sleepiness or infrequent cataplexy (less than one episode a day). Some persons with it have mild sleepiness or rare cataplexy (less than one episode per week). Symptoms most commonly appear in a person's teens and early twenties. It strikes males and females and all races. The disorder is often associated with cataplexy (a sudden loss of muscle tone and paralysis of voluntary muscles associated with a strong emotion), sleep paralysis (immobility of the body that occurs in the transition from sleep to wakefulness), what are called hypnagogic hallucinations (pre-sleep dreams) and automatic behaviors (such as doing something "automatically" and not remembering afterwards how one did it).ġ25,000 Americans are estimated to have narcolepsy. Hypnolepsy: A neurological disorder marked by a sudden recurrent uncontrollable compulsion to sleep.
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