Narcolepsy - A Sleep Disorder
Narcolepsy is a quite rare sleep disorder, which causes sufferers to fall asleep at any moment of the day whether they are weary or not. Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder, meaning that the brain sends orders to the body that it is exhausted and ought to go to sleep right away and the body obeys no matter what it is doing.
Bouts of narcolepsy most often occur while the sufferer is doing something quiet, like watching TV or reading, yet it can also occur whilst eating or driving, which is of course extremely dangerous. Some Individuals fall asleep in the middle of a conversation or at work in the middle of a piece or work.
As with a number of other disorders like restless leg syndrome and sleep apnoea and even snoring, it is not usually the sufferer that is first aware that he or she has a problem. Very frequently a spouse or colleague is the first to alert them to their condition and frequently it take quite a time before they will believe it and even longer before they do anything about it.
There are five indications of narcolepsy, but not all sufferers will experience all five of them: daytime drowsiness, broken sleep patterns (a kind of insomnia), sleep paralysis, hypnagogic hallucinations and cataplexy. If you have any of these symptoms, you should have yourself checked out, in case you also fall asleep at the wheel or when carrying out a dangerous manouevre at work.
The first and most obvious symptom is daytime drowsiness. Victims of narcolepsy might have the irresistible urge to go to sleep during the day five or six times or more. Narcoleptics call these 'sleep attacks' and say that they last for from five to ten minutes every.
Broken sleep patterns are not a ideal means by which to judge as many people suffer from insomnia for other reasons too.
About half the sufferers of narcolepsy experience sleep paralysis, which is when the sufferer can neither talk nor move for a number of minutes just before falling asleep and slightly after waking up. It can be very frightening for the narcoleptic and the family.
About the same percentage suffer from cataplexy, which is the loss of muscle control while awake. The bouts of cataplexy take place usually for brief periods of time during episodes of great emotion. For instance, whilst the sufferer is very angry, very glad or very emotional. Sometimes, the sufferer falls down and goes limp - it looks as if they have dropped asleep, but| they are totally awake and fully conscious.
A hypnagogic hallucination happens just before sleeping or and just after waking up and involves seeing incredibly realistic images or and hearing incredibly lifelike sounds.
These experiences are often accompanied by sleep paralysis and most people find them very alarming. Normally, the sufferer cannot distinguish between this hallucination and reality during a bout.
There are other symptoms which transpire occasionally such as migraine or headaches and 'automatic actions' which are not quite right, like putting books away in the fridge or writing off the edge of a page. Narcolepsy can be treated with pills.
Bouts of narcolepsy most often occur while the sufferer is doing something quiet, like watching TV or reading, yet it can also occur whilst eating or driving, which is of course extremely dangerous. Some Individuals fall asleep in the middle of a conversation or at work in the middle of a piece or work.
As with a number of other disorders like restless leg syndrome and sleep apnoea and even snoring, it is not usually the sufferer that is first aware that he or she has a problem. Very frequently a spouse or colleague is the first to alert them to their condition and frequently it take quite a time before they will believe it and even longer before they do anything about it.
There are five indications of narcolepsy, but not all sufferers will experience all five of them: daytime drowsiness, broken sleep patterns (a kind of insomnia), sleep paralysis, hypnagogic hallucinations and cataplexy. If you have any of these symptoms, you should have yourself checked out, in case you also fall asleep at the wheel or when carrying out a dangerous manouevre at work.
The first and most obvious symptom is daytime drowsiness. Victims of narcolepsy might have the irresistible urge to go to sleep during the day five or six times or more. Narcoleptics call these 'sleep attacks' and say that they last for from five to ten minutes every.
Broken sleep patterns are not a ideal means by which to judge as many people suffer from insomnia for other reasons too.
About half the sufferers of narcolepsy experience sleep paralysis, which is when the sufferer can neither talk nor move for a number of minutes just before falling asleep and slightly after waking up. It can be very frightening for the narcoleptic and the family.
About the same percentage suffer from cataplexy, which is the loss of muscle control while awake. The bouts of cataplexy take place usually for brief periods of time during episodes of great emotion. For instance, whilst the sufferer is very angry, very glad or very emotional. Sometimes, the sufferer falls down and goes limp - it looks as if they have dropped asleep, but| they are totally awake and fully conscious.
A hypnagogic hallucination happens just before sleeping or and just after waking up and involves seeing incredibly realistic images or and hearing incredibly lifelike sounds.
These experiences are often accompanied by sleep paralysis and most people find them very alarming. Normally, the sufferer cannot distinguish between this hallucination and reality during a bout.
There are other symptoms which transpire occasionally such as migraine or headaches and 'automatic actions' which are not quite right, like putting books away in the fridge or writing off the edge of a page. Narcolepsy can be treated with pills.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on numerous subjects, but is at present busy with wholesale first aid kits. If you have an interest in RC vehicles, please come over to our website now at First Aid Courses Online.
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