Being sleepy in the morning or afternoon is normal after a night of partying, or after several nights of sleeping late to finish a school project. But when you find yourself sluggish for no apparent reason, and when you fall asleep anytime during the day, then you may have narcolepsy. This is a chronic brain disorder wherein a patient goes through periods of extreme drowsiness in the day. Worse, a narcoleptic individual may suddenly fall asleep for a few seconds to several minutes.

Symptoms

People with narcolepsy are not asleep most of the day. They are just prone to being drowsy during the day. They experience this uncontrollable urge to sleep. Likewise, they suffer from poor sleep at night, usually waking up in the middle of the night and going through other sleep disorders.

Narcolepsy also has other symptoms like sleep paralysis, or a phenomenon in which a person is temporarily paralyzed either when falling asleep or waking up. Hallucination is another symptom, although somewhat less common.

Who Gets it?

Narcolepsy affects both genders. The symptoms often manifest during childhood and adolescence, although there are cases when adults suddenly become narcoleptic. This is a life-long condition that affects one in every 3,000 Americans.

Narcolepsy may sound uncomplicated as compared to other diseases and conditions. But it can greatly hamper a person’s ability to carry out his day-to-day activities. Can you imagine how dangerous it would be for ‘sleep attacks’ to happen to a person who’s driving a car on the way to work? Or how fatal it would be for a person operating machines to suddenly fall asleep while in the middle of his work?

Narcolepsy can also ruin your professional and social relationships. Can you visualize how funny it would be for your officemate to suddenly doze off in the middle of a meeting? People with narcolepsy also suffer from low sexual drive.

Causes

There are several causes of narcolepsy. Scientists have found out that people with narcolepsy lack the neurotransmitter called hypocretin that allows us to be awake.  Thus the lack of this neurotransmitter in the body prompts narcoleptic people to easily fall asleep even in the middle of the day.

Unlike most ailments, genetics does not play a role in narcolepsy. However, in extremely rare cases, the disorder is due to a genetic defect that hampers the production of the hypocretin molecules which stimulates arousal and promotes sleep.

Treatment

How would you know that you have narcolepsy and not just a period of fatigue and sleepiness?  Your doctor may ask you to record the times of sleep during a period of one to two weeks. You will also go through extensive clinical examination and your medical history will be reviewed to determine if you have narcolepsy.

Prescription drugs may also be given to you by your physician for you to control and prevent sleep attacks.  Vyvanse is one prescription medication for narcolepsy. It stimulates the central nervous system. Another drug that may be given to you is Adderall.