About Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a rare long-term brain condition that causes a person to suddenly fall asleep at inappropriate times.

The brain is unable to regulate sleeping and waking patterns, which can result in:

  • Excessive daytime sleepiness- feeling very drowsy throughout the day and finding it difficult to concentrate and stay awake
  • Sleep attacks – falling asleep suddenly and without warning
  • Cataplexy – temporary loss of muscle control resulting in weakness and possible collapse, often in response to emotions such as laughter and anger
  • Sleep paralysis – a temporary inability to move or speak when waking up or falling asleep
  • Excessive dreaming and waking in the night – dreams often coming when falling asleep (hypnogogic hallucinations) or just before or during waking (hypnopompic hallucinations)

Narcolepsy is a fairly rare condition and many cases are thought to go unreported, but it’s estimated to affect about 30,000 people in the UK.

This information was obtained via NHS.uk.   Please click the link for more NHS advice on Narcolepsy. Narcolepsy - NHS (www.nhs.uk) Please note clicking this link will cause you to leave the Bioprojet UK website. Bioprojet UK are not responsible for external sites)