Narcolepsy has four main symptoms. These are excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy or loss of muscle tone while being awake, sleep paralysis while sleeping and hallucinations.

If you have one or more of these symptoms, then you are suffering from narcolepsy. The symptoms can be severe or mild.

Each of the symptoms of narcolepsy is further explained below.

Excessive daytime sleepiness is the most noticeable symptoms of the disease. It has been noticed that a person suffering from narcolepsy tends to have many episodes of sleepiness during the day where the sleep lasts for a period of 30 minutes at the maximum. Even experiencing emotions like anger, excitement, fear, laughter or anger can bring about the periods of sleep. Narcoleptics tend to fall of to sleep while reading, watching television or sitting in a meeting. However, it has also been noticed that narcoleptics can have episodes of sleepiness while talking, eating or performing some other activity. In addition, they also suffer from cataplexy.

Cataplexy is loss of muscle tone while the person is awake. The loss can affect just some parts of the body or the entire body. When a narcoleptic suffers from cataplexy, he will experience the nodding of head or will find it difficult to speak. In addition, the loss of muscle tone makes the knees weak or the person may end up dropping anything he is holding. Some people have muscle tone loss over the entire body which causes them to fall down. Cataplexy can be brought on by strong emotions like anger, fear or excitement. It can last anywhere from few seconds to few minutes. During an episode of cataplexy the narcoleptic is awake.

As the name suggests that sleep paralysis occurs while the narcoleptic is falling off to sleep or waking up from sleep. When this symptom affects the person, he can neither move nor speak, but the person is completely conscious and aware of what is going on around him. Sleep paralysis can last for few seconds or few minutes.

As a narcoleptic is falling off to sleep, waking up or dozing, he will suffer from hallucinations. These hallucinations will seem real to the person. In addition, he will be able to hear, see, smell and taste different things.

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