(BPT) – Do you fight to stay awake during the day? Is exhaustion part of your everyday life? If the urge to sleep is overwhelming and irresistible, it may be a sleep disorder called narcolepsy, a condition affecting approximately one in 2,000 people in the U.S. Narcolepsy is one of the most frequently diagnosed primary sleep disorders. However, it’s not always easy to recognize.
“There are five major symptoms of narcolepsy. Many of them can be confused with other medical conditions such as depression or epilepsy, making a narcolepsy diagnosis somewhat tricky,” says Dr. Raj Dasgupta, pulmonary and sleep specialist at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine. “Approximately half of the people affected by narcolepsy remain undiagnosed. A diagnosis can take up to 10 years to receive. We need greater awareness of narcolepsy to help expedite the diagnosis process for patients.”
Everyone with narcolepsy has excessive daytime sleepiness. That’s when you feel tired all the time, making it hard to stay awake and alert throughout the day. It can be described as feeling fatigued or irritable, having difficulty concentrating, poor memory, or mood changes. Patients say it comes in waves, like a “sleep attack.” These can happen during unusual situations, such as in the middle of a meal, a conversation or bike ride.
There are five major symptoms, but you don’t need to experience them all to have narcolepsy.
1. Excessive daytime sleepiness: As discussed above, this is when you have an irresistible urge to sleep during the day.
2. Cataplexy: The weakening of muscles when you feel strong emotions like embarrassment, laughter, surprise, or anger. Cataplexy can cause your head to drop, your face to droop, your jaw to weaken, or make your knees give way.
3. Sleep disruption: When you often fall asleep quickly but wake up frequently throughout the night.
4. Sleep paralysis: Feeling unable to move or speak for a short time when falling asleep or waking up. You may also feel like you can’t breathe.
5. Vivid dreaming: Often frightening dreamlike experiences that seem real and happen when falling asleep or waking up. You may experience hearing sounds or words when drifting to sleep or have unwanted visions. Sleep paralysis often accompanies these vivid dreams.
Narcolepsy occurs equally as often in men and women. The symptoms often start between the ages of 10 and 25, but it can take up to 12 years for narcolepsy to fully develop. Narcolepsy is a debilitating disease, as it can cause difficulties at work, negatively impact social interactions, lower self-esteem, and create challenges performing everyday tasks. Contrary to popular belief, people with narcolepsy do not spend more time sleeping than the average person.
“It’s normal to feel tired sometimes,” Dr. Dasgupta says. “But if the urge to fall asleep is interfering with your job or personal life, it might be time to talk to a sleep specialist.”
For more information about narcolepsy and to take the symptom screener, visit MoreThanTired.com.
This content is provided by Jazz Pharmaceuticals.
Brandpoint – Free Online Content
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhmsrTzSbX8&fs=1&rel=0]
* At the moment, only 3 per cent of women in the UK are very confident at spotting a symptom of ovarian cancer. Help us raise awareness of the symptoms of ovarian cancer this Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month: targetovariancancer.org.uk/startmakingnoise
What are the symptoms?
– Persistent pelvic or abdominal pain
– Increased abdominal size/persistent bloating
– Difficulty eating or feeling full quickly
– Needing to wee more urgently or more often than usual
Occasionally there can be other symptoms such as changes in bowel habits, extreme fatigue (feeling very tired) or unexplained weight loss. Any post-menopausal bleeding should always be investigated by a GP.
Find out more: http://www.targetovariancancer.org.uk/symptoms
Download our Symptoms Diary app: http://www.targetovariancancer.org.uk/symptomsdiary
Subscribe to our YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TargetOvarianCancer
Symptoms of ovarian cancer – Target Ovarian Cancer
Health & Vitality: the Way to Good Health
Start living a healthy life now: Here is your 7-day plan ==> Having sworn to yourself that you’ll go to the gym in the morning, how many times have you changed your mind after you woke up and did not feel like working out? We all have days when we lose our motivation to get […]
Science-based Suggestions for self-confidence
A recent study shows your perception of your own image has a profound effect on how you present yourself to the rest of the world. Those findings could be empowering since even small changes to your self-care routine can significantly boost your self-confidence. The study by researchers at the Stanford Graduate School of Business found […]
5 ways to feel good while getting fit
(BPT) – Setting intentions is a powerful thing. Then when you have that shiny new gym membership in hand, you feel like nothing stands between you and your goals to get in shape once and for all. Trouble is, lack of motivation, unpreparedness and busy schedules have a way of interfering with our plans. If […]
When buying hearing aids: 6 essential things to know
(BPT) – Being an informed health care consumer is hard work. There is information everywhere. But how do you sift through it and make sense of it all? And how do you know what is reliable and what isn’t? Sorting through the noise when buying hearing aids is no exception. In the past several months, […]
Abdominal discomfort, Bloating, Eating less but feeling full, Pain on one side? Get checked and #BEATOvarianCancer