Narcolepsy can cause excessive daytime sleepiness. [Photo/ vignette.wikia.nocookie.net] Narcolepsy is an incurable sleeping disorder. The brain is unable to regulate the sleep-wake cycle normally causing an individual to fall asleep unexpectedly. It can cause hallucinations, sleep attacks and sleep paralysis.
A person with narcolepsy experiences frequent excessive daytime sleepiness. They also have disturbed sleep at night.
Hallucinations occur before going to sleep, when waking up or at any time. They can be disturbingly scary and often feel real.
Sleep attacks is a situation where one can fall asleep instantly at any time while working, driving or while speaking to someone.
Sleep paralysis occurs when first going to sleep or while waking up in the morning. One may be able to move their eyes during sleep paralysis but not much of anything else. An individual can't speak and it's often accompanied by hallucinations.
People with narcolepsy also experience cataplexy. It is a sudden loss of muscle tone that affects the legs, neck or wrists and is triggered by any strong emotion like crying, laughing, anger or terror.
There are ways to cope with narcolepsy. Lean more on vigorous activities than sedentary tasks like reading or typing. Such tasks can make you fall asleep more easily so you might need to take breaks. Take frequent naps but let them not exceed 20 minutes so that you can still get sleep at night.
Though it's not always possible, find a job with a schedule that suits you. Even better, work from home.
There are also drugs that stimulate the central nervous system.