Main Narcolepsy Symptoms
Narcolepsy is a chronic disorder of sleep in which a person experiences overwhelming day time sleepiness and there are sudden attacks of sleep. The patient of narcolepsy often suffer from the difficulty to stay awake for longer periods of time regardless of the current situation this sleeping disorder can greatly disrupt the daily routine of the patient. The signs and symptoms of narcolepsy might get worse for the first few years of life and then continue to develop. People having narcolepsy might have other sleeping disorders such as insomnia, restless legs syndrome and even obstructive sleep apnea which is a condition involving the stopping of breathing throughout the night. During the brief episodes or attacks of narcolepsy some people might experience autonomic behavior. For instance, a person might fall asleep while doing a task he normally performs such as driving, typing or writing. A lot of health risks involved in the condition of narcolepsy because the person falls asleep and continues to perform the task he was doing before. Narcolepsy also interferes with other cognitive functions of the brain such as memorizing. The patient cannot remember what he did when he wakes up from the narcolepsy episode. Some of the main signs and symptoms of narcolepsy include:
Sudden loss of muscle tone
Sudden loss of muscle tone or medically known as cataplexy is a condition which can cause several physical changes from complete weakness of a lot of muscles to slurred speech. The cataplexy episode of loss of muscle control is usually sudden and might last for up to a few minutes. Intense or strong emotions can trigger the condition of cataplexy in the patients of narcolepsy and is usually uncontrollable. Some of the strong emotions which are typically positive such as laughter and excitement can trigger the condition of cataplexy. While for some others other emotions like anger, fear or surprise can also stimulate the condition of cataplexy. For instance, when a person laughs, the head might droop uncontrollably or the knees might suddenly buckle. For some patients having narcolepsy might experience only one or two episodes once a year while the other people have numerous episodes in a day. It is possible that not every person with narcolepsy experience cataplexy.