Adjust lifestyle
In movies you sometimes see people who have narcolepsy; they just fall asleep in the middle of a conversation. Sometimes even while standing upright. In reality, of course, it’s not like that. What does it mean to have narcolepsy and how do you deal with it?
Narcolepsy is a chronic disorder of the normal sleep/wake rhythm. It is a disorder of brain function. Cure is not possible so far. The symptoms can be suppressed with medication.
Just sleep during the day
The exact cause of narcolepsy is not (yet) known. Complaints usually arise between your 15th and 30th year. It is probably due to a combination of hereditary factors and environmental influences. In the Netherlands an estimated 10,000 people suffer from narcolepsy.
If you have narcolepsy, there are always two complaints. You have an irresistible need to fall asleep and you have bouts of muscle weakness with emotions.
Every day you have a strong feeling that you want to fall asleep during the day. And sometimes it happens that you have a continuous feeling of sleepiness. It is similar to the feeling that you have had too little sleep for a number of nights. This allows you to fall asleep during the day. During a train ride, watching TV or, for example, a meeting at work. You will then sleep for ten to thirty minutes.
You usually feel the urge to fall asleep during the day. Sometimes you can suppress a sleep attack with a lot of effort and by being active. As a result, you will be drowsy, tired and irritable for the rest of the day. Almost all (between 95 and 100 percent) narcolepsy patients suffer from these complaints.muscle relaxation
If you are awake and your muscles suddenly relax, you are suffering from cataplexy. Intense emotions such as anger, great joy, fear and excitement cause the muscle relaxation. Sometimes these seizures are limited to certain muscle groups (partial seizures). Sometimes a relaxation of all skeletal muscles occurs (complete seizures).
When the muscles in your neck and face relax, your head falls forward and you can no longer speak. If your leg muscles relax, you will slump to your knees and fall. A slump usually lasts less than 30 seconds.
You often experience this several times a day. Although an attack of laxity comes on suddenly, you can often find support just in time. As a result, you rarely sustain an injury. About 60 to 70 percent of all narcolepsy patients suffer from cataplexy. You may also suffer from other complaints. But these do not occur in all narcolepsy patients. Here’s a summary.
sleep paralysis
Narcolepsy patients enter a dream sleep when they fall asleep or immediately afterwards, also called REM sleep. While others, when falling asleep, first enter a non-REM sleep.
If you go into REM sleep so suddenly, you experience it as sleep paralysis. You are aware of your surroundings, but are unable to move. This can feel very frightening or threatening. About 30 percent of all narcolepsy patients suffer from these complaints.
Hallucinations
With sleep paralysis, you can experience extremely vivid dream images, especially while falling asleep at night or during the day. These dream images, also called hallucinations, sometimes seem so real that you can hardly distinguish them from reality. During a hallucination you see, hear and feel everything. This can make you scared or feel threatened. Usually these hallucinations last a few minutes. Rarely are they longer than ten minutes. About 25 percent of all narcolepsy patients suffer from these complaints.
Waking up often
More than half of narcolepsy patients sleep shallow, restless and often wake up. You often wake up after one or two hours after falling asleep. You then lie awake for a few hours and fall asleep again for one or two hours.
You may also suffer from nightmares or nightmares. Sometimes you make involuntary movements. For example, kicking your legs or swinging your arms.
No treatment
There is no treatment for narcolepsy because very little is known about its cause. However, the symptoms can be treated with medication. With an extensive examination in a sleep/wake center, an expert can determine which symptoms you have and which medicines you can use for this.
Because narcolepsy is not curable, it may be good to adjust your lifestyle. If you sleep regularly, you wake up less tired. Going to bed at the same time and getting up at the same time as much as possible is good for your sleep rhythm. Staying in bed for a longer period of time means you no longer rest.
It can also help to include some sleeping moments during the day. Try to get thirty minutes to an hour of sleep at set times during the day. But make sure you don’t take a nap three hours before you go to bed.