Narcolepsy is a nervous system problem that causes extreme sleepiness and attacks of daytime sleep. Experts aren’t sure of its cause.

Signs & Symptoms

Symptoms of narcolepsy include:

• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• Sudden, severe attacks of deep sleep during daytime hours
• Sudden loss of ability to control muscles in the body
• Hallucinations or vivid dreams that occur just before falling asleep or just after waking up
• Automatic behavior
• Sleep paralysis

Diagnosis

In order to diagnose narcolepsy, a Deborah Specialty Physicians sleep medicine specialist will do a blood test to rule out other conditions that may cause similar symptoms. Additional tests may be ordered, including:

• Electrocardiogram (ECG)
• Electroencephalogram (EEG)
• Sleep study
• Multiple sleep latency test
• Genetic testing to look for the narcolepsy gene