If left undiagnosed or untreated, narcolepsy can interfere with psychological, social, and cognitive function and development and can inhibit academic, work, and social activities. Narcolepsy is a lifelong problem, but it does not usually worsen as the person ages.
Narcolepsy does not cause serious or long-term physical health problems, but it can have a significant impact on daily life and be difficult to cope with emotionally. In an attempt to avoid attacks, some people may become emotionally withdrawn and socially isolated. Find out more about the symptoms of narcolepsy.
Possible triggers
A number of factors may increase a person's risk of narcolepsy or cause an autoimmune problem. These include: an inherited genetic fault. hormonal changes, including those that take place during puberty or the menopause.
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. Many older patients find that some daytime symptoms decrease in severity after age 60.
Dr. Mignot, whose research is funded in part by Wake Up Narcolepsy, discusses Autosomal Dominant Cerebellar Ataxia, Deafness and Narcolepsy, or ADCA-DN. This terrible disease is characterized by narcolepsy evolving into neuropsychiatric problems and dementia.
Narcolepsy is not considered a disability under the NDIS, nor is it considered eligible for the disability support pension (DSP).
People with narcolepsy may feel rested after waking, but then feel very sleepy throughout much of the day. Many individuals with narcolepsy also experience uneven and interrupted sleep that can involve waking up frequently during the night. Narcolepsy can greatly affect daily activities.
Narcolepsy persists throughout life but does not affect life expectancy. Narcolepsy reflects, in part, abnormalities in the timing and control of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Many symptoms resemble what happens during REM sleep.
Narcolepsy can be associated also with less conspicuous problems, including introversion, sorrowfulness, feelings of inferiority, impaired affectivity modulation, emotional lability, irritability, aggressiveness, and poor attention that some authors have defined as the “narcoleptic personality” (4).
You need to be medically able to drive, which includes being able to stay awake. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the government agency that oversees highway safety, says that people with narcolepsy should only drive if they're on a treatment that helps them stay awake.
People with narcolepsy find it hard to stay awake for long periods of time. They fall asleep suddenly. This can cause serious problems in their daily routine. Sometimes narcolepsy also causes a sudden loss of muscle tone, known as cataplexy (KAT-uh-plek-see).
For instance, some people with narcolepsy might fall asleep for 10 to 20 minutes several times every day, whether they want to or not. Others with this condition have more control over their naps and can choose when and where they will sleep, such as during lunch breaks.
People with narcolepsy also have higher rates of diabetes, obesity, depression and other sleep disorders, all of which can contribute to a greater risk of cardiovascular disease. Narcolepsy has been found to significantly drive up the risk of stroke.
Narcolepsy is characterized by uncontrollable excessive daytime sleepiness, paroxysmal cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and hallucinations. It is often misdiagnosed as psychiatric disorders such as depression and schizophrenia, resulting from the overlap in symptoms and a lack of understanding of narcolepsy.
Functional imaging studies and VBM analysis of brain MRI showed abnormalities in the hypothalamus-thalamus-orbitofrontal pathway, revealing altered hypocretin pathways in narcolepsy. These distinct morphometric changes could account for deficits in wake-sleep control, attention, and memory seen in this disease.
2011;14[4]:478-479). An association between obesity and narcolepsy was first noted about 8 decades ago. Patients with narcolepsy are often deficient in the neuropeptide hormone orexin, which encourages hunger and wakefulness. This deficiency may be the result of impaired energy-burning brown fat.
Although there are rare families where narcolepsy is passed on through several generations, most cases of narcolepsy occur at random rather than being inherited. The likelihood of developing narcolepsy is influenced by proteins known as histocompatibility leukocyte antigens (HLA).
There are 5 main symptoms of narcolepsy, referred to by the acronym CHESS (Cataplexy, Hallucinations, Excessive daytime sleepiness, Sleep paralysis, Sleep disruption). While all patients with narcolepsy experience excessive daytime sleepiness, they may not experience all 5 symptoms.
Excessive daytime sleepiness is usually the first sign of narcolepsy. It can have a significant impact on everyday life. Feeling drowsy throughout the day and struggling to stay awake makes it difficult to concentrate at work or school. People with narcolepsy may be misjudged as being lazy or rude.
Most people with narcolepsy have daytime sleepiness and cataplexy. Not everyone has all these symptoms. Surprisingly, despite being very tired, many people with narcolepsy don't sleep well at night.
A Sleep Physician
Thorpy, the director of the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at the Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, NY, says that he recommends that narcolepsy patients be in bed for a minimum of eight hours each night, have a regular wake-up time, and hold these constant for two weeks.
Narcolepsy – People with narcolepsy are not able to drive until they are stable on treatment and also need to have cataplexy controlled.
Narcolepsy can be diagnosed on the basis of a history of typical episodes and the results of an overnight sleep study with a multiple sleep latency test. The sleep study checks for other explanations that could account for daytime sleepiness, such as sleep deprivation, sleep apnoea and depression.