When excessive sleepiness is recent and sudden, the doctor asks about the person's mood, knowledge of current events, and any drugs the person may be taking. A neurologic examination may point to depression, impaired memory, or abnormal neurologic signs. Narcolepsy An uncommon sleep disorder, narcolepsy is marked by recurring, irrepressible attacks of sleep during normal waking hours, as well as by cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and hallucinations. The cause of narcolepsy isn't known, but the disorder tends to run in families, suggesting a genetic predisposition. While narcolepsy has no serious medical consequences, it can be frightening and may increase the risk of accidents.
Symptoms usually begin in healthy adolescents or young adults and persist throughout life.
A person with narcolepsy is overcome by sudden attacks of irrepressible sleepiness that can occur at any time. Falling asleep can be resisted only temporarily, but once asleep, the person usually can be easily aroused. A person may have many attacks in a single day or only a few, each usually lasting an hour or less. The attacks are most likely to occur in monotonous situations such as boring meetings or long periods of highway driving. The person may feel refreshed on awakening but may fall asleep again several minutes later.