Archive for the 'Narcolepsy' Category

Recent studies have found that people who are suffering with narcolepsy/cataplexy are experiencing various symptoms of eating disorders like irresistible cravings for the food, binge eating, etc.

The latest study conducted in the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center in Netherlands concluded this statement with their research reports.

They conducted study on 60 patients who are suffering with narcolepsy/cataplexy and several interesting facts were found on this research.

• Out of those 60 narcoleptic patients, 23.3 percent of them have the clinical eating disorder.
• Half of them i.e. 30 people are reported with the problem of craving for the food and binge eating.
• 25 percent of the people also said that they are performing binge eating for at least twice a week.
• Coming to the mental health of these people, they had some tension in their mind and felt hurry at the time of eating.

The above research makes you clear that narcolepsy is not only a sleeping disorder but it also develops eating disorders. This narcolepsy is also named as the hypothalamic disease which has a much broader profile of symptoms. Other than the above problems, your body weight will also be increased with this problem as you don’t follow the proper eating habits [Signs and symptoms of narcolepsy].

Is narcolepsy a mental or psychological disorder?

Narcolepsy is neither a psychological nor a mental disorder.

It is a neurological disorder and physical cause is unknown.

If you have narcolepsy, your sleepiness and sleep attacks are uncontrollable.

It can influence your self esteem and personal relationships. Counseling is required to alleviate these problems.

What are the long terms problems of narcolepsy?

There are many long term problems of narcolepsy. Due to cataplexy and sleep attacks in public, you will become embarrassed and therefore cause severe social and economic difficulties. Your physical activities can be interfered with cataplexy [Cataplexy Info].

You are unable to work or drive with cataplexy and can result in loss of independence. Due too inability to work, you can face financial difficulties and other problems. With all these problems, you can lose contacts with others and become depressed.

Does narcolepsy affect learning?

Narcolepsy, although do not affect your intelligence, learning and education directly but you are affected by the symptoms. Due to the sleep disruption, concentration, study, memory and attention are affected.

Modafinil is a drug that improves wakefulness in people with excessive sleepiness. It promotes wakefulness in people who have excessive sleepiness related to narcolepsy, shift work sleep disorder, obstructive sleep apnea and hypopnea syndrome.

Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder of the brain and spinal cord characterized by recurrent and uncontrollable desire to sleep. Shift work sleep disorder occurs when the normal rhythm of the sleep gets disturbed due to night shifts.

Modafinil for narcolepsy:

Modafinil is the non-addicting drug for narcolepsy sufferers, which offers safe and efficient relief from excessive sleepiness. Patients with narcolepsy stay awake longer after taking this drug. Patients also reported that they felt less sleepy during normal daily activities.

You have to make sacrifices when you are pregnant and have narcolepsy.

Pregnancy is period of joy and numerous challenges.

These challenges are intensified when narcolepsy is diagnosed.

Narcolepsy is characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness accompanied by cataplexy, a sudden loss of muscle control.

Narcolepsy must be treated with medication. People with narcolepsy are prescribed stimulants such as provogil and ritaline to treat daytime sleepiness.

Antidepressants are prescribed to treat cataplexy. The effects of these drugs are unknown on a developing fetus, so it is better to stop taking the medication during pregnancy.

It is quite miserable for women with narcolepsy without medication, which begins with the decision to become pregnant and last until birth. Some women don’t prefer to use medications as they don’t want to take any risks for their baby.

Before conception, women with narcolepsy need to talk with their physician and evaluate their situation. Woman with narcolepsy should consider the health of the baby as well as consider own health and safety.

There are risks associated if you stop taking narcolepsy drugs, though the risks vary by drug. When you stop taking anti-depressants for cataplexy, serious effects are felt. If you stop abruptly taking anti-depressants, it can lead to bad cataplexy.

Are you feeling that you are suffering with narcolepsy?

Narcolepsy is a condition in which your body is unable to regulate a healthy sleep cycle.

Here are signs and symptoms to identify that you are suffering with narcolepsy.

Signs and symptoms of narcolepsy:

• REM sleep or dreaming do not occur until sixty to ninety minutes, if you dream after ten to twenty minutes when you lay down, you may be narcoleptic. If your doctor suspects narcolepsy, you will be diagnosed in the sleep clinic during daytime and instructed to take a nap for 20 minutes for every one and half hour. Doctor will monitor after each nap whether you went to sleep and you went to REM. They will ask about the dreams and whether you have remembered. You have to take total five naps. If you dream during naps, then you might have narcolepsy.
• Your body uses sleep as a way to recharge the system. If you do not feel refreshed waking up often or if your sleep does not give energy, then you may have some problem with sleep. Remember when you woke up feeling refreshed. For how much time do you feel refreshed and how long it did it last? If you have ever wake up feeling refreshed, then you have narcolepsy.

Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder in which the brain does not regulate sleep wake cycle and it causes a person difficulty staying awake.

The common symptom of narcolepsy is excessive daytime sleepiness. You may sleep at any time during the day and you may have episodes of sleep half an hour or less.

If your muscles become weak without loss of consciousness, it is called cataplexy. It may occur by sudden emotional reaction such as anger, joy, surprise etc.

Narcolepsy is common in both men and women and can occur at any age. About one of every 2000 people have narcolepsy. The symptoms of narcolepsy include excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, sleep paralysis and hypnogogic hallucinations.

If you are suffering from narcolepsy, you may prone to accidents as you may sleep while driving due to excessive sleepiness. Sometimes you are prone to sleep attacks while driving and this leads to accidents.

Narcolepsy is caused by the shortage of chemical called hypocretin. The deficiency of hypocretin might produce sleep attack.

6 out of every 1000 people in the world are affected with Narcolepsy.

It has been estimated that about 250,000 people in United States have this type of sleep disorder.

Although there is a strong genetic factor linked to the disorder the exact cause of narcolepsy is not fully understood.

Relatives of narcolepsy sufferers are at a much greater risk for developing the disorder.

Narcolepsy is often viewed as a disorder of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep or as an imbalance between the physiologic mechanisms that control sleep and wake. Most of us go directly into non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep when we fall asleep at night.

We then enter REM sleep after approximately an hour and a half of NREM sleep. On the other hand, patients with narcolepsy often enter REM sleep as soon as they fall asleep, that is, they have sleep onset REM periods.

When patients with narcolepsy fall asleep unintentionally during the day, they also may enter REM sleep right away. This is why narcolepsy is considered a disorder of REM sleep.

However, patients with narcolepsy do not always enter REM sleep immediately. They may enter NREM sleep first, just as most of us do.