Difficulty staying awake during the day
Are you so sleepy during the day that you can barely keep your eyes open? Do you ever fall asleep at work? Or do you sleep well at night, but you still need an afternoon nap? Then there may be the sleep disorder hypersomnia.
People with hypersomnia are not occasionally tired after a bad night or strenuous exercise. They are so extremely sleepy for an extended period of time that they have to take frequent naps during the day or pass out spontaneously.
This does not only happen when they sit quietly on the couch or lie down for a while. Patients sometimes fall asleep at an inopportune time. In the middle of a meeting, when they are eating, on their bike or while driving. They can’t stop this.
Causes
Hypersomnia can be a symptom of another sleep disorder. In addition, other conditions can lead to hypersomnia. Heredity can also play a role: excessive sleepiness is more common in certain families. Hypersomnia whose cause is unknown is called idiopathic hypersomnia.
Possible causes of extreme sleepiness include:
- apnea
- insomnia
- narcolepsy
- depression
- use of medication
- restless legs syndrome
- fibromyalgia
- multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Pfeiffer’s disease
- head injury
- neurological problems
- drug or alcohol abuse
Complaints
Excessive sleepiness hinders you in daily life. Patients feel tired, but can also experience memory problems and depressive symptoms and suffer from headaches. It often leads to problems with working or studying. The environment does not always have the same understanding for patients. Sometimes they are seen as lazy or unmotivated.
In hypersomnia, so-called ‘automatic behaviour’ can occur: you start doing things on autopilot in such a way that you are not aware of your actions or do not remember events.
Therapy
If the underlying cause is clear, it can be addressed in a number of cases. In idopathic hypersomnia, only symptom control is possible. For example with (stimulating) medicines that keep you awake during the day.
Despite this, many hypersomnia patients need more hours of sleep than others. It may help to go to bed earlier and avoid alcohol and caffeinated products such as coffee. Taking a ‘power nap’ at fixed times prevents some people from falling asleep at inconvenient moments.
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