Often a clinician will also check a patient's levels of the hormone hypocretin, which helps to regulate both wakefulness and appetite, as a hypocretin deficiency is common in people with narcolepsy. Individuals may also experience bouts of sleep paralysis just before falling asleep or waking up.įor those experiencing frequent symptoms of narcolepsy, the condition can be formally diagnosed by a sleep specialist after an overnight sleep study. For a diagnosis to be made, according to the DSM-5, this excessive sleepiness must be chronic, occurring daily or at least three times per week for at least three months. The core symptom of narcolepsy is the incidence of frequent recurring daytime naps or lapses into sleep. While the severity of symptoms may change over time, narcolepsy is a chronic, lifelong condition but treatment can help to address symptoms. Narcolepsy typically develops in children and young adults and rarely makes a first appearance later in life. Cataplexy episodes may last seconds or a few minutes, but they resolve instantly, and the individual remains conscious and aware throughout, even as their head bobs, their jaw drops, or they collapse to the ground. These disturbing episodes are often preceded by strong emotions-most commonly laughter but also anger, fear, or excitement a person may laugh boisterously, for example, and then experience a sudden loss of muscle tone as their knees buckle or their head drops. In many cases, people with narcolepsy also experience cataplexy, or sudden muscle weakness or paralysis. During severe bouts of sleepiness, they may continue with their normal activities in a kind of automatic state, but may feel dazed and have no memory of engaging in the activity. They may also take multiple 'micro-naps,' lasting just a few seconds at a time. People with this sleep disorder can experience overwhelming fatigue and uncontrollable sleepiness they nap or fall asleep often throughout the day and can lapse into fully unplanned sleep at any time. Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological condition that disrupts the normal sleep-wake cycle.

Narcolepsy without cataplexy definition