The Primary Symptoms of Narcolepsy
A lot of misconception exists around the neurological disorder known as narcolepsy. However, medical professionals believe that narcolepsy occurs due to a deficiency in hypocretin, a brain chemical that impacts the wake and sleep cycles, including REM sleep. Impacted sleep and waking cycles inevitably leading to extreme fatigue, loss of focus and memory, and even hallucinations. Narcoleptics tend to suffer what’s known as sleep attacks, or intermittent, uncontrollable spurts where the patient can suddenly fall asleep in the midst of an activity (i.e., eating or driving). Sadly, a large majority of narcoleptics are undiagnosed and remain untreated. For a narcolepsy diagnosis, a patient must present one of the following 4 symptoms, which can range from mild to extreme. Keep in mind that only one third of all narcoleptic patients exhibit all 4 of the following symptoms: 1. Severe tiredness The most prominent symptom associated with narcolepsy is without a doubt extreme fatigue and sleepiness. However, most narcolepsy patients don’t just suddenly fall asleep in the middle of a work meeting or meal. However, in cases where extreme sleepiness is extreme, a patient may lose focus, memory, display symptoms of lethargy, mental fog, and even go into “automatic behavior”, where the patient continues the action for a few seconds or minutes, but mobility appears poor or clumsy.
