Sleep Apnea – Narcolepsy is a rare condition that makes a person fall asleep at the oddest moments. This sleep problem is more neurological in nature because a person tends to sleep when he or she wants to keep awake. This happens when the brain sends sleep inducing messages to the body at inappropriate and unpredictable moments.
This sleep disorder is overwhelming, as the person feels asleep in the midst of any activity during the day. Often, a narcoleptic falls asleep when he or she is engaging in activities such as eating, attending a meeting, watching a movie and even conversing with other people. A narcoleptic has the overpowering desire to sleep despite of doing activities to overcome the sleepiness. This desire to sleep comes several times per day and lasts for a few minutes and commonly known as sleep attacks.
On the other hand, patients find it difficult to sleep because of sleep apnea. Narcolepsy may attach anytime but during the night, the patient will have difficulty to fall asleep. They usually wake up several times even if they fall asleep, thus their sleep pattern does not follow the normal non-REM and REM pattern. However, people suffering from narcolepsy are not aware how and when they fall asleep.
Furthermore, this makes a person’s life in danger when falls asleep in front of a steering wheel while driving other than the sleep apnea. Narcolepsy manifests as excessive sleep during daytime, insomnia and sleep fragmentation, sleep paralysis, hypnagogic hallucinations and cataplexy. There are cases of sleep apnea paralysis wherein a patient is not able to move or talk before sleeping or on waking and this is referred to as sleep paralysis.
In addition, almost 50% of people suffering from this condition experience cataplexy wherein enabling a person to move the muscles. It is due to the non-functional part of REM that is triggered by emotions. In extreme cases, the patient’s jaws and neck becomes weak as well as the knees that could make the patient to collapse. The person is very much awake and knows what is going on although he or she looks asleep and cannot talk. A narcoleptic patient manifests automatic behaviour or doing a task incorrectly and this aggravates the sleep apnea. Narcolepsy is a dangerous condition that when left untreated can lead to death.