Know how you can contact your provider if you have questions.Features of narcolepsy include daytime sleepiness, sleep attacks, cataplexy (in narcolepsy type 1), sleep paralysis, and sleep-related hallucinations. If you have a follow-up appointment, write down the date, time, and purpose for that visit. Know what to expect if you do not take the medicine or have the test or procedure.
Know why a test or procedure is recommended and what the results could mean. Also know what the side effects are.Īsk if your condition can be treated in other ways. Know why a new medicine or treatment is prescribed, and how it will help you. Also write down any new instructions your provider gives you. Know the reason for your visit and what you want to happen.īefore your visit, write down questions you want answered.īring someone with you to help you ask questions and remember what your provider tells you.Īt the visit, write down the name of a new diagnosis, and any new medicines, treatments, or tests. Tips to help you get the most from a visit to your healthcare provider: The goal of treatment of narcolepsy is to help you remain as alert as possible during the day. In addition to a complete medical history and physical exam, there are several lab tests to confirm the diagnosis. The main characteristic of narcolepsy is excessive and overwhelming daytime sleepiness, even after adequate nighttime sleep: Narcolepsy is a chronic, neurological sleep disorder with no known cause. Often the treatment regimen is modified as symptoms change. But excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy, the most disabling symptoms of the disorder, can be controlled in most patients with drug treatment. None of the currently available medications enable people with narcolepsy to consistently maintain a fully normal state of alertness. Improving the quality of nighttime sleep can combat excessive daytime sleepiness and help relieve persistent feelings of fatigue. Many people with narcolepsy take short, regularly scheduled naps at times when they tend to feel sleepiest. Drug therapy should be supplemented by behavioral strategies. Two classes of antidepressant drugs - tricyclic antidepressants and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors - have proved effective in controlling cataplexy in many patients. Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug called modafinil for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness. Two or three short naps during the day may help control sleepiness and maintain alertness. Antidepressants may help with muscle control. Central nervous system stimulants are usually prescribed for excessive sleepiness. Ideally, this can be done using a minimal amount of medicine. It's also important to reduce times when you lose muscle control. Your tolerance for specific medicines, procedures, or therapiesĮxpectations for the course of the disease Your age, overall health, and medical history Specific treatment will be determined by your healthcare provider based on: Narcolepsy is not definitively diagnosed in most patients until 10 to 15 years after the first symptoms appear. To test for a genetic mutation often found in people who tend to have narcolepsy. This test measures when you fall asleep and how quickly rapid eye movement (REM) sleep occurs. A sleep specialist will monitor you during an entire night of sleep. In addition to a complete medical history and physical exam, lab tests to confirm diagnosis and plan treatment may include: Many older patients find that some daytime symptoms decrease in severity after age 60. Whatever the age of onset, patients find that the symptoms tend to get worse over the two to three decades after the first symptoms appear. You may have other difficulties as you cope with this condition including:įeelings of intense fatigue and continual lack of energyĭifficulty in concentrating and memorizing Performing routine tasks without conscious awareness of doing so, and often without memory of it.ĭisrupted nighttime sleep and waking up often Vivid and often scary dreams and sounds reported when falling asleep.Īutomatic behavior.
Being unable to talk or move for about one minute when falling asleep or waking up. A sudden loss of muscle control ranging from slight weakness to total collapse. An overwhelming desire to sleep at inappropriate times.Ĭataplexy. Symptoms may include:Įxcessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). However, people may experience symptoms differently. The following are the most common symptoms of narcolepsy. It is caused by a deficiency in the production of a brain chemical that helps neurons talk to each other. It involves the body's central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord.