Medications that treat narcolepsy include antidepressants, stimulants, and sedatives. Lifestyle changes like creating a sleep schedule, taking short naps, and exercising daily can ease symptoms.
Narcolepsy is a chronic, neurological sleep disorder impacting your brain's ability to regulate sleep-wake cycles. Those affected feel tired and drowsy during the daytime and experience sleep attacks during daily activities. If you have narcolepsy, you may also wake up frequently at night due to unsteady and interrupted sleep. Narcolepsy affects between 135,000 to 200,000 US citizens. It inhibits your work and social life if left untreated.
Type 1 narcolepsy causes low levels of hypocretin, responsible for wakefulness and rapid eye movement (REM). Type 1 narcoleptics can experience cataplexy, which occurs when your muscles suddenly go limp without warning.
Unlike type 1 narcolepsy, doctors aren't sure what causes type 2 narcolepsy, as people with type 2 narcolepsy have normal hypocretin levels. While people with type two narcolepsy experience sleep attacks and irregular sleep cycles, they don't suffer from cataplexy, and their symptoms might be milder than people who have type 1 narcolepsy.
People with narcolepsy experience symptoms for their entire lives, but their symptoms may improve and become more manageable over time.
There are no treatments that can relieve you of narcolepsy completely, but there are medications you can take and lifestyle changes you can implement to ease your narcolepsy symptoms.
If you suffer from narcolepsy, it's possible that you've tried many of the treatments listed here with little to no results. If you've tried the treatments listed above and haven't seen your symptoms improve, it may be time to invest in a quality mattress. Improving sleep quality can ease narcolepsy, so investing in the right mattress may help get you on the right track towards a better night's sleep.
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