The Natural Sleep Aid Blog

Narcolepsy is a very unusual sleep disorder that is characterized by random sleep attacks. This means that an individual may fall asleep at any given time of the day uncontrollably. These so called sleep attacks happen even after having a full nights rest and occur at any time of day. Falling asleep uncontrollably can affect many things such as social life, work, relationships, or school. It is considered to be a very unusual pattern and there are no specific times that these episodes take place which makes it very difficult for the person affected by it.

There are two forms of sleep that a person experiences at night. The first is called non rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) which is when there is no movement with your eyelids and the body is not in a deep slumber. This generally takes place before the second stage of sleep which is known as rapid eye movement sleep (REM). During this stage your eyelids move rapidly even though they are closed. In general this is the type of sleep that causes an individual to dream and relax their muscles.

People who suffer from narcolepsy generally don’t go through the NREM sleep stage but rather the REM stage first. Even though they are in the deep sleep stage they may be partially awake.

Because of the inability to control sudden sleep attacks, narcoleptics are prone to accidents, injuries, impaired concentration, depression, driving problems, or eating issues.

Currently, there is no cure for narcolepsy but certain lifestyle changes may help to improve the situation such as eating a healthy diet free of toxins and chemicals. It may be wise to determine if a food allergy is the cause by ruling out various food items. This can be done with the supervision of your physician. Another helpful approach may be to take scheduled naps during the day to see if it relieves some of the sudden drowsiness. Lastly, the use of conventional drugs may be helpful to some. In any case narcolepsy is a very serious sleep disorder that should be diagnosed and supervised by your physician.

 

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