According to the American Sleep Association, around 50-70 million Americans suffer from a sleep disorder. A sleep disorder can affect your quality of life. Narcolepsy is a disorder that causes people to fall asleep unpredictably throughout the day. A specialist can help establish the signs of narcolepsy Glendale in good time, to enhance treatment outcomes. Below are the symptoms of this condition.
Narcolepsy produces a wide range of symptoms, including:
- Overwhelming drowsiness while at rest
- Being hard to wake up
- Fatigue
- Poor concentration
- Daytime sleepiness
Many risk factors can increase your risk of developing narcolepsy or trigger an attack or episode of narcolepsy. Some people with narcolepsy may have no risk factors, while others may have multiple risk factors.
Here are some risk factors that have been identified, including:
Genetics: People who have a family history of narcolepsy are more likely to develop it. If your parents or siblings have narcolepsy, you are at higher risk for developing it yourself. This means that about two out of three people with narcolepsy have at least one family member with the condition.
Autoimmune disorders: Narcolepsy can also occur in people with an autoimmune disorder, such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis or lupus. In these cases, your immune system may attack the brain and central nervous system, causing symptoms like insomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), and cataplexy, the sudden loss of muscle tone.
Infections: You may be more likely to develop narcolepsy if you have an infection such as meningitis or Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). These infections can cause damage to the brain and nervous system, which might increase your risk of developing narcolepsy later in life.
Treatment of Narcolepsy disease
Narcolepsy drug treatment
Drug treatment for narcolepsy includes stimulants
These medications increase alertness and initiate wakefulness. In most cases, these medications are taken during the day to prevent cataplexy attacks that occur at night.
Stimulants are effective up to three months after starting treatment, but their effectiveness decreases over time. Your doctor may recommend a different medication if your symptoms return or do not improve after taking stimulants for several months.
Behavioral therapy
Behavioral therapies may help you cope with the symptoms of narcolepsy. Behavioral interventions may be recommended as an alternative to medication to treat narcolepsy.
Behavioral interventions include:
- Exercise: Regular exercise is important for helping you feel better, but it can also help your body develop resistance to narcolepsy and improve your overall health.
- Sleep hygiene: This is the practice of good sleep habits and going to bed at the same time every night so that you are not tired during the day.
- Stimulants: This type of treatment stimulates alertness by temporarily blocking or decreasing brain signals that control sleep and wakefulness. The stimulant makes you feel fully awake while your brain continues to function normally. The most common stimulant used in narcolepsy is modafinil Provigil. Other stimulants include amphetamine and methylphenidate Ritalin.
The treatment of narcolepsy is based on the fundamental and specific diagnostic criteria, which depend on the presence of daytime sleep attacks, sometimes accompanied by cataplexy. Establishing a diagnosis as early as possible is essential to initiate treatment and follow-up. For the best personalized and compassionate full-serviced sleep disorder, link up with Sonoran Sleep Center.