How Can Narcolepsy Affect A Person’s Daily Activities?

By Author: Isabella Whitmore
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Maintaining a good sleep-wake cycle is important to function well during the day. Having sufficient sleep at night helps the body recharge and keep up with the energy needed during waking hours. However, this is difficult for people with narcolepsy. The disease causes them to feel very sleepy during the day. Even if they sleep 8-hours the night before.

This affects their concentration and alertness during the day. It also influences their work and how they keep up with their daily activities. Moreover, excessive sleepiness is not the only symptom that narcoleptics suffer from. They may also experience loss of muscle control, hallucinations, sleep paralysis, fragmented sleep at night, and automatic behavior.

Loss of muscle control or cataplexy is one of the most common symptoms of narcolepsy. Although it does not occur in people with Type 1 Narcolepsy. It is triggered by strong emotions such as excitement, anger, or stress. People with this symptom may feel weakness and loss of voluntary muscle control. Either partly or all at once. For instance, unable to move an arm, head falling to the side, or suddenly falling ...
... to the ground and unable to move.

Cataplexy may occur weeks or years after the onset of excessive daytime sleepiness. Some may only experience one or two attacks in a lifetime.
Some may have multiple attacks in a day. A cataplexy episode usually lasts from just a few seconds up to two minutes. However, in rare severe cases, it can last up to 30 minutes. The patient is fully awake during a cataplexy attack, a characteristic that distinguishes this affliction from fainting and seizure episodes.

Sleep paralysis is another common sign of Narcolepsy. It is often described by patients as an inability to move or speak while falling asleep or waking up. Hallucinations are also a usual sign of narcolepsy that occurs at the onset of sleep or upon waking up. It is a visual or auditory perception of something that is not real.

Many narcoleptics struggle from fragmented sleep or insomnia at night. Despite being sleepy during the day, patients may find themselves tossing and turning around at night. Their sleep can be disturbed by vivid dreaming, sleep apnea, and periodic leg movements.

People with narcolepsy may also experience automatic behavior. It’s an auxiliary symptom that is manifested by very brief sleep episodes. The patient automatically continues the activity during the attack without conscious awareness of the surroundings. They also cannot recall their actions during the episode.

Automatic behavior attacks can lead to impaired performance at work. Storing items in a bizarre location and forgetting about it. Or causing a dangerous situation, for example, experiencing an attack while the patient is driving. Narcoleptics usually feel refreshed after an episode of automatic behavior. Similar to waking up from a good sleep.

Unfortunately, there is no direct cure for narcolepsy. The good thing is there are treatments to help patients manage the symptoms. Modafinil is the usual first medication prescribed by doctors. This is because it has fewer adverse effects and is less addictive than older central nervous system stimulants. Modafinil is effective for most patients in reducing daytime sleepiness.

Other prescribed medications for the sleep disorder are Amphetamine-like stimulus, antidepressants, and sodium oxybate. Treatments also involve taking short daytime naps, developing good sleeping habits at night to prevent insomnia, avoiding caffeinated foods and drinks before bedtime, regular exercise, and avoiding heavy meals before sleeping.

This article is written by Isabella Whitmore. She likes to share helpful tips about health, home, and lifestyle. Isabella works at https://electrickettlesplus.com, an appliance website that offers premium quality electric kettles.