Is Narcolepsy Just Funny or a Life-threatening Sleep Disorder?
A lot of people will be familiar at least with the concept of Narcolepsy since it has often been referred to for comical effect in films and stories. The commonly portrayed image is that of an individual in mid-conversation who suddenly drops to the ground and goes from a state of alertness to a state of complete sleep. The person concerned then awakens not realizing that he or she has been asleep and continues on talking.
Not surprisingly, narcolepsy is not quite as it is shown in the films. Although in a few very rare instances of narcolepsy people do fall asleep with no warning whatsoever, the majority of sufferers have difficulties with overwhelming tiredness throughout the day and sometimes are forced to give in to the desire for a nap.
Like many other sleep disorders there are varying degrees of narcolepsy. For instance, some people might merely have a problem with getting very sleepy during the day while other people might have a wide variety of issues which all point to narcolepsy.
One example of narcolepsy is falling asleep while you are engaged in conversation or working and not even appearing asleep to others around you. Although others might think that your mind is merely wandering or you might start to believe that you are suffering from memory problems because you do not remember what people tell you, the simple truth is that you are actually sleeping during your interactions. You simply do not look as if you are asleep because your eyes remain open and the people around you are unable to tell that you are asleep.
Other characteristics of the rarer types of narcolepsy include paralysis and hallucinations. Having hallucinations on waking can be an indication of narcolepsy but it is certainly not an absolute indicator although people with severe narcolepsy could well experience scary and dramatic hallucinations because of this rare sleep disorder. Sleep paralysis is in fact reasonably common and our bodies are to all intent and purpose ‘paralyzed’ while we sleep so that we are unable to act out our dreams. However for individuals with narcolepsy the paralysis extends beyond the normal sleep paralysis and a narcoleptic individual might be totally paralyzed upon waking up but be aware of the situation and thus understandably very frightened.
Of course there is medication that is designed to assist people who have varying degrees of narcolepsy and medication is normally fairly effective in assisting people to stay awake during daylight hours and then to enjoy a full night’s sleep.
A few people find a problem with medication because the stimulant effect designed to keep them awake during the day makes them feel jittery or nervous. In reality it is a trade-off for a few narcoleptics who must either continue to have erratic sleep or solve their sleeping problems and put up with the side-effects of the medication.
Some narcoleptics have no choice however because for them the impulse to sleep during the day is so strong that they wind up falling asleep while driving or at other clearly dangerous times. In these rare instances medication is quite literally a life-saver.
Help-Me-To-Sleep.com provides information on a range of sleep disorders including narcalepsy and looks at such things as narcolepsy symptoms, narcolepsy treatment and narcolepsy medication.
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- Narcolepsy Symptoms - How This Dangerous Sleep Disorder Can Wreck Your Life
- Narcolepsy: A Funny Disorder That’s No Laughing Matter
- Night Terror: Non- Rapid Eye Movement Sleep, Parasomnia, Sleep Disorder, Slow- Wave Sleep, Hallucination, Narcolepsy, Etiology
- Sleep or Die: Sleeping Disorders That Can Cost your Life