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It's estimated that up to 200,000 Americans have narcolepsy, a disorder that involves the loss of hypocretin-producing neurons.
1Hypocretin, also known as orexin, is a neuropeptide hormone involved in helping people stay awake; without it, people with narcolepsy experience extreme sleepiness and, often, related conditions such as
cataplexy, the sudden loss of voluntary muscle control that's frequently brought on by strong emotions.
Ironically, while those with narcolepsy may nod off without a moment's notice, they often have difficulty sleeping at night, experiencing fragmented sleep and insomnia. At nighttime, most people progress through
five stages of sleep, culminating in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is when most dreaming occurs. But a person with narcolepsy may experience
REM sleep at the beginning of the sleep cycle, just minutes after falling asleep.
2
REM sleep can even occur during the day, which is especially problematic because your muscles typically stay limp during REM sleep. Vivid dreams,
sleep apnea, sleep paralysis (inability to move before falling asleep or after waking) or movements during dreaming are par for the course with narcolepsy, as is a persistent feeling of daytime sleepiness, regardless of how many hours of sleep occurred the night before.
Many people think of narcolepsy as a disorder that causes people to fall asleep at odd times - and it is - but it's more than that. Even when a person isn't in the midst of a sleep attack, so to speak, they may still feel debilitating symptoms that make day-to-day life difficult. As reported by
Prevention, 28-year-old narcolepsy sufferer Ashley Starr explained that living with narcolepsy is "an ongoing struggle:"
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