Hypersomnia - The Wake Up Call [Part 2]

What is Hypersomnia?
Excessive daytime sleepiness is a disorder clinically defined as getting more than 10 hours of sleep every night and still feeling lethargic for most of the day. Symptoms include feeling sleepy despite the long sleep hours, depression and chronic fatigue syndrome. Energy levels remain low and even napping does not seem to help. People feel weakness and muscular pain. It is best to consult your physician immediately if you suspect hypersomnia.

There are two known kinds of hypersomnia. The primary hypersomnia distinguished by prolonged excessive sleep disorder. This happens over a long period of time and the symptoms remain consistent. The other is called recurring hypersomnia. However, this lasts for a day or only a couple of days, but can recur many times during a year.

Dealing with it
Since delay in bedtime is the most common cause of this problem, very often hypersomnia is cured by changing your sleep pattern. One can try and change the sleep pattern for a week or so before seeking professional help.

Making sure of your health problem and finding the reasons for your symptoms is the first step to a cure. That is why it is important to consult a physician for a proper diagnosis. Hypersomnia is an uncommon disorder and excessive sleep does not necessarily mean that one has this problem. In fact, there can be several other causes for the excessive sleepiness. About five to 10 per cent of adults aging between 15 to 30 years are known to suffer from this disease.

Make a Schedule
Quite often we initiate sleep too early which results in a longer period of sleep and lethargy through the day. Try to adjust the sleep phase from three to six hours after you start feeling sleepy. Take optimum sleep rhythm into consideration and try to avoid sleep during the day. Maximum sleep generally comes during the middle of the night and tends to increase slightly in the afternoon.

Recognizing maximum sleepiness is important to set a healthy pattern for ourselves. We can take note of when we feel sleepy the most for a couple of days to keep track. Once we understand the sleep pattern, we should try and adjust it to our schedule. The best time to sleep is at night since our mind and body’s natural pattern demands that. Therefore we should try and set our sleep pattern accordingly. Avoid falling asleep anytime during the day, even if it’s just for 30 minutes or less since chances are that we might still wake up ‘un-refreshed’. Continued...

Published: Dawn | Images | Health Wake up call