Managing Your Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that is characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). Patients may also have episodes of catalepsy (loss of muscle tone), episodes of sleep paralysis, hypnogogic hallucinations (dreams continuing after awakening. The hallucinations may be visual, auditory and visual), and automatic behavior (usually purposeless movements or speech). Not everyone with narcolepsy has all of these symptoms, which can make it difficult to diagnose. When all the signs and symptoms are present it is easy for the doctor to recognize this illness, but difficult when they aren't.

People that have narcolepsy frequently fall asleep up to hundreds of times a day. They are frequently fighting the urge to nod off to sleep. To combat the excessive sleepiness, patients have to regularly take scheduled naps during the times they feel most fatigued. The patient with narcolepsy may be treated with stimulants such as Ritalin, Adderall and Dexadrine to ward off the EDS. The antidepressant Modafinil was approved in 1999 to treat the catalepsy that is associated with the illness. These medicines used with a strategic plan to take naps during the day will help alleviate a lot of the symptoms. It is important to avoid all alcohol and caffeine prior to retiring to bed for the night.

The brain wave patterns in a patient with narcolepsy are different from a person without this disorder in that the normal sleep patterns are interrupted. Normal sleep patterns go from non-rapid eye movement (NREM) to rapid eye movement (REM) at regular intervals. In narcolepsy the stages of NREM and REM are disturbed and the patient does not get a normal night's sleep. The patient's brain is always trying to catch up on sleep during the day, which causes the patient to nod off for a few seconds very frequently. Some patients will fall asleep for more than a few seconds, they may fall asleep for several minutes, but it is more common that they just nod and awaken many times.