A person constantly falls asleep while sitting. Sleeping in a seated position: occurrence, causes and potential harm Why sleepy state

In modern medicine, the search continues for answers to the questions of why some people used to sleep while sitting, and what benefits it could bring. A similar situation occurs today. Many adults and children note that when they are lying down, their level of sleepiness begins to decrease, and they cannot sleep for a long time. However, as soon as they sit down, read a book or watch TV, they immediately fall asleep soundly. Is it okay to rest in this way, or is sleeping while sitting is bad for your health?

Historical reference

In the 19th century, sitting sleep was quite common

Historical sources say that in some European countries, including Russia, half-sitting sleep was quite common. In doing so, people use not ordinary armchairs or sofas, but shortened sleeping cabinets. Some of them have survived to this day. For example, in the Netherlands, there is a wardrobe in which Peter the Great rested at night, having had a dream while sitting in Europe.

The prevalence of resting at night in a seated position in the past does not speak of its health benefits.

Why did people sleep while sitting in the 16-18 century? There are no reliable data explaining the reasons for this phenomenon. The most plausible hypothesis is associated with frequent feasts, when people overeat fatty and protein-rich foods, which take a long time to digest. In a similar situation, people felt better sitting than lying down. The second theory says that the main benefit of such a night's rest is just the preservation of fancy hairstyles for the fair sex.

Why does a person prefer to sleep in a sitting position?

When a person chooses to sleep while sitting, the reasons for this condition can be very different. Most often, the desire to sit at night is associated with psychological characteristics. So, for example, such deviations are very often observed in people who have traumatic memories from the past - they were either very frightened of something in the past, lying in bed, or they have unpleasant associations with a similar situation. All this leads to the fact that when a child or an adult goes to bed, then he has a strong adrenaline rush, which does not allow falling asleep. When such a person moves to a chair, the feeling of discomfort disappears, allowing him to sleep peacefully.

There are different reasons for sleeping while sitting.

Why can't a psychologically healthy person fall asleep? Various diseases can be the reason for this. Very often, people with gastroesophageal reflux disease, in which the contents of the stomach are thrown into the esophagus, prefer to sleep half-sitting. This posture prevents such casts and significantly reduces the level of discomfort. However, such a situation requires, first of all, the treatment of the underlying disease, and not just a change in the place to sleep.

The second common medical problem that explains why people slept and slept while seated is sleep apnea, which is periods when breathing stops during sleep. This phenomenon is more common when lying down, and, as a rule, is noticed by the husband or wife of the person who tell the patient about the violation. As a result, the person gets scared and prefers not to fall asleep in bed anymore.

The situation in children is slightly different from that in adults. Why does the child prefer to sleep while sitting? Very often, babies take a similar position due to night fears that disrupt the process of falling asleep in bed.

Diseases of the cardiovascular system

Seated sleep also occurs in patients with cardiovascular disease. In this case, such patients sleep, placing pillows under the lower back that relieve the heart.

If a person is in a horizontal position, then a large amount of blood flows to his heart through the venous vessels. This situation can cause discomfort, shortness of breath, and breathing problems in patients with heart failure of any severity. Therefore, such people get some benefit from sleeping half-sitting.

Potential harm

When a child or adult sleeps while sitting for a long period of time (more than one month), this can lead to certain consequences:

• an uncomfortable posture leads to squeezing of the arteries of the spine, which supply blood to the brain. This leads to his ischemia and interferes with night rest, causing drowsiness and a feeling of fatigue after a night's rest;
• significant pressure on the vertebrae as a result of a long stay in an uncomfortable position can lead to changes in the spinal column and cause exacerbation of a number of diseases, including osteochondrosis;

Sleeping in an uncomfortable position threatens the development of diseases of the spine

• similar consequences that occur in older people can cause ischemic stroke.

To restore the quality of a night's rest, it is necessary to consult a doctor who is able to select recommendations and treatment for a person.

In this regard, many doctors talk about the dangers of sleeping in a sitting position, both for adults and for babies.

Doctors who insist that you shouldn't sleep while sitting give the following recommendations for people with sleep disorders.

• If the problem is of a psychological nature, then the person should contact a psychotherapist who can help in a similar situation. Learning to sleep in a new position is also of some importance, for which there are a number of special techniques. You can get acquainted with them from your attending physician or from a doctor-somnologist.

If the reason for sleeping in a sitting position is caused by psychological problems, then you need to seek help from a psychotherapist.

• It is necessary to ventilate the room before bed, use a comfortable mattress, do not overeat in the evening and do not engage in activities that stimulate the central nervous system.
• In the presence of diseases that interfere with the process of falling asleep in the lying position, it is necessary to contact a medical institution for their treatment. Early detection of diseases allows you to quickly cure them, without the development of negative health consequences.

Sleep in a sitting position in a child or an adult is associated with psychological characteristics of a person or with certain diseases. Identifying the causes of this condition allows you to draw up a plan for the formation of the habit of lying down and make recommendations for organizing a night's rest.

Have you literally struggled with sleep during the day? In fact, this problem occurs in many people, but for some it goes away the next day, and someone lives with it for years. Does such a condition indicate a simple malaise, or does sleepiness during the day warn of a serious illness?

Causes of drowsiness

In reality, there may be several factors why it is so tempting to sleep during the day. Often the drugs we take are the culprit. For example, it can be anti-inflammatory drugs or antihistamines. But if you are not taking any medications, then perhaps daytime sleepiness warns of a serious illness associated with a violation of this process. It can be narcolepsy, catalepsy, sleep apnea, endocrine disorders, or depression. Often, this condition is associated with meningitis, diabetes, cancer, or poor nutrition. In addition, such drowsiness can occur due to any kind of injury. For symptoms that last for several days, a doctor's examination is the best way out for the patient.

But not in all cases, daytime sleepiness warns of a serious illness, often the reason for this is the usual lack of sleep at night associated with lifestyle, worries or work. In addition, boredom and idleness can "press" on the eyelids. Also, a poorly ventilated room can provoke an attack of drowsiness due to lack of oxygen. But often the desire to constantly sleep causes concern for your health, so it is worth finding out how you can deal with this condition in different cases.

Narcolepsy

This disease can be hereditary. In this state, a person is unable to control himself, and a dream can seize him completely suddenly. At the same time, he may have dreams. A person suddenly has muscle weakness, and he simply falls, dropping everything in his hands. This state does not last long. Basically, this disease prevails among young people. The causes of this condition have not yet been identified. But it is possible to control such "attacks" with the help of the "Ritalin" medicine. In addition, you can set aside some time to sleep during the day, which will reduce the number of unexpected attacks.

Sleep apnea

Daytime sleepiness in older people often occurs precisely because of this disease. Also, overweight people are prone to it. With this disease, a person stops breathing during a night's sleep, and due to a lack of oxygen, he wakes up. Usually he cannot understand what happened and why he woke up. As a rule, the sleep of such people is accompanied by snoring. This condition can be controlled by purchasing a mechanical respirator for night time. There are also special holders that do not allow the tongue to sink in. In addition, if you are overweight, it is important to strive to get rid of it.

Insomnia

This is one of the types of sleep disorders. It is very common and occurs in people of all ages. Insomnia can manifest itself in different ways. Someone does not manage to fall asleep at all, while others suffer from constant awakenings. Such a violation is accompanied by the fact that a person has regular sleepiness during the day and insomnia at night. Due to constant lack of sleep, the patient's general condition and mood worsens. This problem is solved by lifestyle regulation and medication.

Thyroid

Often, drowsiness during the day warns of a serious illness associated, for example, with the work of the endocrine system. This disease is often accompanied by weight gain, stool disorders, and hair loss. At the same time, you can feel chills, coldness and fatigue, although it seems to you that you have slept well. In this case, it is important to support your thyroid gland, but not independently, but ask for the help of a specialist.

Hypoventilation

This disease occurs in obese people. It is accompanied by the fact that a person can fall asleep even in a standing position, and besides, unexpectedly for himself. Such a dream can last for a while. Doctors call this disease hypoventilation. It occurs due to a poor-quality breathing process. In some areas of the brain, carbon dioxide is supplied in very limited quantities. For this reason, a person develops sleepiness during the day. Treatment for such people is mainly diaphragmatic breathing training. It is also important to make an effort to get rid of those extra pounds.

During pregnancy

In a woman who is carrying a baby, the body begins to work in an unusual mode for him. Therefore, drowsiness during the day during pregnancy is often due to a physiological feature. In addition, these women use up energy faster. Since many invigorating agents are contraindicated during this period, a woman can change her regimen. To do this, it is important for her to sleep for about nine hours and give up noisy evening events, because they affect the nervous system. If a pregnant woman works, it is better for her to take short breaks and go out into the fresh air, and the room in which she spends most of her time needs constant ventilation. In addition, it will be useful for such a woman to master breathing exercises.

But it so happens that along with the constant desire to sleep, the expectant mother has other symptoms, or this condition causes her a lot of inconvenience. In this case, she should tell her doctor about everything. Perhaps she just has a lack of micronutrients, but it should be replenished immediately.

Sleepiness after eating

Sometimes a person may be healthy and have no obvious reasons for fatigue. Despite this, he may become sleepy in the afternoon after eating. You shouldn't be surprised at this, because after a meal, an increase in glucose is noticed in the blood, which affects some brain cells. In this case, he ceases to control the area that is responsible for wakefulness. But how to deal with this problem, because there is still half a working day ahead?

Coping with afternoon sleepiness

Method 1. There is a point in the nasolabial fold, which is advised to press at an energetic pace. This action helps to "recover" after lunch.

Method 2. You can massage the eyelids by pinching and unclenching them. After that, finger movements are performed under the eyebrow and under the eye.

Method 3. Head massage also brings you to your senses. To do this, you will have to lightly walk your knuckles all over your head. In addition, you can twitch your curls slightly.

Method 4. By working your fingers on the shoulder and neck area, you can induce a rush of blood, which will bring a portion of oxygen to the brain. It is worth noting that often due to osteochondrosis, people during the day feel a lack of energy and a desire to rest.

Method 5. You can take restorative agents that will help maintain vigor. For example, make some ginger tea for yourself. A few drops of Eleutherococcus, Schisandra chinensis, or ginseng will also work. But coffee will only give a short-term result.

But not only because of global diseases or in the afternoon, sleepiness during the day can come. There are other reasons, for example, simply lack of sleep due to lifestyle. Therefore, you need to take the following recommendations as a rule:

1. Don't steal time from sleep. Some believe that in the time it takes to sleep, more useful things could be done, such as cleaning the room, watching a TV series, or applying makeup. But do not forget that for a full life, quality sleep is required at least seven hours a day, and sometimes even longer. For adolescents, this time should take 9 hours.
2. Train yourself to go to bed a little earlier. Go to bed, for example, not at 23.00, as you are used to, but at 22.45.
3. Eat at the same time. Such a routine will help the body get used to the fact that it has a stable schedule.
4. Regular exercise will make you sleep deeper, and your body will be more energetic during the daytime.
5. Don't waste time getting bored. Always try to do something.
6. If you don't feel sleepy, then don't go to bed. Fatigue is different, be able to distinguish between these two sensations. Therefore, it is better not to go to bed just to take a nap, otherwise the night's sleep will be more disturbing, and during the day you will want to rest.
7. Contrary to what many believe, drinking alcohol in the evening does not improve sleep quality.

Lack of sleep is not only uncomfortable. The quality of life is deteriorating, side health problems arise, and the reason for this is daytime sleepiness. It is better to find out the reasons for this problem from a specialist, since a person cannot independently establish a diagnosis. After all, it may not be just insomnia or another sleep disorder. Such problems can indicate liver disease, kidney disease, cancer, infection, or other misfortune.

When you want to sleep, even if you have already slept enough, it starts to enrage and interferes with living a normal and full life. This desire is due to physiological and psychological factors, but sometimes it is a sign of serious disorders in the functioning of the body. Find out the reasons for the doubtfulness and start treatment if necessary.

Doubtfulness - drowsiness, characterized by a strong desire to sleep, which is extremely difficult to overcome. The condition is determined by physiological processes and is the brain's response to a decrease in energy reserves or the impact of negative factors. The organ transmits a signal to the human body about the need for rest: as a result, inhibitory mechanisms act on the central nervous system, suppress its functioning, slow down the transmission of nerve impulses, dull the perception of stimuli, block the sensory organs and gradually put the cerebral cortex into a dormant mode. But sometimes drowsiness is a pathology and accompanies diseases or malfunctions of the body.

Symptoms of doubtfulness:

• lethargy, apathy, a broken state, weakness, laziness, a desire to lie down and do nothing;
• depressed mood, melancholy, boredom;
• decreased concentration of attention, inhibition of reaction;
• feeling of fatigue, decreased performance, loss of strength and energy, chronic increased fatigue;
• impairment of memory, memorization and assimilation of information;
• absent-mindedness, inability to focus;
• frequent urge to yawn;
• dizziness;
• unwillingness to get up in the morning;
• dull perception of situations, environment;
• slowing heart rate, decreasing heart rate;
• decreased secretion of the glands of external secretion, accompanied by dryness of the mucous membranes (mouth, eyes);
• lack of interest in what is happening around;
• decreased visual acuity;
• rapid blinking, involuntary closing of the eyelids, red eyes.

For your information! Doubt is often confused with hypersomnia. But the latter condition differs from drowsiness and is characterized by an increase in the duration of night sleep, although repeated episodes of an irresistible desire to go to bed during the day are possible.

Physiological causes of sleepiness

Drowsiness can be caused by natural physiological factors. In this case, it will arise after certain situations or changes. The following are normal causes that are not related to deviations and pathologies.

Pregnancy

Why do pregnant women want to sleep all the time? The condition often occurs in expectant mothers and does not cause concern among doctors, since it is normal and is due to the influence of several factors. The first is a change in blood flow. The volume of circulating blood increases with the need for it, but it rushes to the uterus to ensure a normal blood supply to this organ (oxygen and nutrients are needed for the developing fetus).

The second factor is the increased load on the female body. The reaction to global changes is especially evident in the first trimester. During this period, toxicosis occurs, accompanied by nausea and sometimes vomiting, deterioration of health, changes in appetite, and malaise. A pregnant woman can get very tired, feel weak, get tired quickly. As the abdomen grows and the weight of the fetus increases, it becomes difficult for the expectant mother to walk and sit for a long time, it is difficult to choose a comfortable sleeping position, which also tires and provokes drowsiness. Frequent urination caused by compression of the uterus of the bladder makes you wake up frequently, making your night sleep worse and shortening its duration.

The third factor is hormonal levels. In the first weeks after conception, progesterone is actively synthesized in the early stages: the hormone is designed to ensure the normal course of pregnancy, but its effect on the body causes side effects. The substance reduces the contractile activity of the uterus and acts as a powerful relaxant. This is a protective mechanism that protects the pregnant woman and the unborn child from overload. In the later stages of gestation, with the approach of childbirth, the body begins to prepare for the birth of a baby. Doubt is the result of a lack of normal sleep at night due to insomnia. In addition, the desire to relax arises on a subconscious level: a woman tries to get enough sleep "for the future" in order to prepare for childbirth and the upcoming sleepless nights and days.

Important! Pathological drowsiness can be a sign of deviations: gestosis, anemia.

Food

Why do many people want to sleep after eating? The explanation is simple: after a hearty breakfast, dinner or lunch, the process of digesting food begins. To ensure complete and timely processing of food, the blood flow is redistributed: blood rushes to the stomach, gall bladder, and pancreas. This leads to a deterioration in the blood supply to other organs, including the brain.

Another cause of sleepiness is hunger. If you do not eat for a long time, there will be a deficiency of nutrients, energy reserves will decrease. The body will launch protective mechanisms designed to preserve the vital activity of important organs. All systems will go into a sparing mode that saves energy.

Menstruation, PMS, menopause in women

Doubtfulness can be caused by hormonal disruptions and disorders that occur during menopause, PMS, menopause and premenopause. A woman may feel nauseous, hot flashes, a feeling of fever, increased sweating, dizziness, tongue-tiedness, memory impairment, decreased brain activity, lethargy, decreased libido, weakness, fatigue, and poor health are often observed.

Drowsiness in young women and girls is also observed during menstruation due to redistribution of blood flow and significant blood loss, especially if menstruation is painful and heavy.

Sleepiness in children

Drowsiness in newborns and children in the first months of life is normal. A small child sleeps 17-19 hours a day, and parents should not be surprised if the baby, after eating, begins to fall asleep again. As it grows, the sleep rate will decrease.

Students in schools experience sleepiness and fatigue due to fatigue. Lessons and homework take a lot of energy, and the body needs energy to recover. Daytime sleep allows you to rest and better assimilate the information received. The teenager is faced with drowsiness as a result of increased stress and hormonal changes due to puberty.

Useful information: Dr. Evgeny Komarovsky notes that constant sleepiness is a characteristic symptom of fever and dehydration, and both conditions are dangerous for a child. A rise in temperature to critical levels can cause seizures, and with dehydration, there is an increased risk of death.

Drowsiness in the elderly

Doubt is often observed in older people, it can be associated with the inevitable age-related changes observed in the body. The brain works differently: the reactions and processes taking place in it slow down, it takes more time to recover. The duration of the rest period increases, and if an elderly person is forced to stay awake for a long time or does not have the opportunity to get enough sleep, then there will be insufficient sleep, and the brain will try to eliminate it through drowsiness. They provoke somnolence and senile diseases that have become chronic.

Interesting fact: it is believed that sleepiness in an elderly person signals the approach of death. This is a myth: if the condition is normal, and there are no other alarming symptoms, there is nothing to worry about.

Changes in environmental conditions

Physical condition is influenced by environmental conditions. Drowsiness occurs in the following cases:

• Cold. When it is cold indoors or outdoors, a person begins to freeze and experience discomfort. Metabolism slows down, blood vessels narrow, the brain suffers from hypoxia and goes into energy saving mode.
• The heat in summer can also provoke doubtfulness, especially if a person does not tolerate high temperatures.
• A decrease in atmospheric pressure causes a decrease in arterial pressure, and hypotension is accompanied by a desire to sleep or rest. With sharp fluctuations in atmospheric pressure, malaise and weakness are possible. Meteosensitive people start to get sick and dizzy.
• Cloudy weather: rain, cloudy, snow. With such weather phenomena, firstly, atmospheric pressure may drop. Secondly, during precipitation, the amount of sunlight decreases, and the brain can perceive this as the onset of evening and approach of night, triggering the production of sleep hormones. Changes in weather are especially common in autumn and spring, so in the off-season many people face the desire to sleep.

Lifestyle and living conditions

A hectic and unhealthy lifestyle can lead to doubt. The influence of factors is especially pronounced:

• non-compliance with the daily regimen: an increase in the period of wakefulness, late bedding;
• alcohol abuse (a drunk person wants to sleep, the coordination of his movements is impaired, the perception of the world around him is changed);
• constant overwork at work or at school while obtaining higher education;
• frequent stress;
• intense loads;
• prolonged stay in a stuffy room;
• work in difficult, unfavorable conditions (exposure to high temperatures, inhalation of toxic substances).

Psychological factors

If you constantly want to sleep and severe fatigue does not leave you, then the reasons may lie in a psychological or emotional state that affects sleep. One of the areas of medicine - psychosomatics, studies the connection between the psyche and somatic (bodily) diseases. Doubt arises against the background of depression and neuroses, after suffering losses (death of loved ones, parting with a loved one). The drowsy state is a protective reaction of the brain that allows you to survive the events that happened, get used to what happened, come to terms with the severity of the loss, and restore strength.

Pathological factors

Daytime sleepiness sometimes warns of serious illness or dysfunction of vital organs. There are a number of pathological factors that trigger drowsiness:

1. Infectious diseases are accompanied by malaise, weakness, and fever.
2. Postponed serious illnesses: acute infections, heart attacks, strokes. The body of a sick or recovering person seeks to restore the strength spent during an illness, and the best way to restore them is a long sound sleep.
3. Side effects of taking certain medications. Drowsiness is caused by antihistamines of the first generations ("Suprastin"), antidepressants, antipsychotics.
4. Endocrine diseases: diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism.
5. Injuries to the head (face, frontal or occipital part, temples). Drowsiness will be one of the manifestations of damage to important parts or the cerebral cortex. Other alarming symptoms: tinnitus, impaired coordination (the victim may be "stormy", stagger), confusion or loss of consciousness, blurred vision, memory lapses, flashes in the eyes, numbness or paralysis of fingers, hands and feet, noise or ringing in the ears ...
6. Neck injuries can cause compression of the vessels through which blood enters the brain. Hypoxia will lead to doubtfulness.
7. Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine disrupts the blood supply to the brain due to vascular compression.
8. Dehydration. The volume of circulating blood decreases, which inevitably leads to weakness and the desire to sleep.
9. Avitaminosis. Lack of vitamins in spring and winter is accompanied by a number of unpleasant symptoms: weakness, eternal desire to lie down or sleep, tearfulness, deterioration of mental abilities, changes in appetite.
10. Oncological diseases. Cancer disrupts the functioning of important organs, chemotherapy provokes intoxication of the body. The patient experiences severe stress and increased stress.
11. Pain syndrome after injuries, against the background of diseases. Pain is exhausting and interferes with proper sleep at night, so during the day the body tries to eliminate sleep deficit.
12. Sleep disorders. If you often wake up, sleep lightly, with difficulty and fall asleep for a long time or suffer from insomnia, then in the daytime there will be doubt. It is observed if bad dreams began to dream, making the night's rest inadequate and insufficient.
13. Attacks of sudden drowsiness may signal narcolepsy, a nervous system disorder accompanied by recurrent bouts of daytime sleepiness.
14. Bleeding, significant blood loss.
15. Anemia. Low levels of hemoglobin, which is responsible for transporting oxygen, will lead to brain hypoxia.
16. A symptom may mean atherosclerosis of the cerebral vessels, which are clogged with cholesterol plaques, which causes hypoxia and ischemia.
17. Poisoning with poisonous substances and vapors, provoking general intoxication of the body.
18. Heart failure. If a heart attack has passed or the work of the heart is disrupted, blood will not flow to the brain in the required volumes.
19. Diseases of the liver, kidneys. They affect the composition of the blood, provoke an increase in the concentration of toxins in it and reduce the level of oxygen, affecting the functioning of the brain.

Other influences

People who are fond of esotericism believe that drowsiness occurs due to negative influences exerted on the spiritual level, for example, the evil eye or damage. The energy shell is damaged, forces begin to leave the person, because of which the aura becomes vulnerable, the defense weakens. The opinion is contradictory, but if you believe in the dangerous consequences of the effects caused by unnatural force, you can worsen the psychological state, which will really lead to unpleasant symptoms.

The consequences of sleepiness

Why get rid of the symptom? Sleepiness is not only uncomfortable, but also very dangerous, as it can lead to negative consequences. A tired and sleepy person may fall asleep while driving or while performing monotonous actions when working with mechanisms, which will lead to injury. Serious consequences are possible due to a decrease in concentration of attention when crossing the carriageway. Doubtfulness affects relationships with loved ones, family life.

Men and women who are always sleepy are unlikely to seem attractive to members of the opposite sex, they will make their relatives worry, annoy colleagues. The quality of life will deteriorate, problems will arise in all areas: personal relationships, career, education, interaction with others.

How to solve a problem?

To get rid of the desire to sleep, which haunts you all day or arises periodically, it is necessary to eliminate the causes of doubt. The first step for an adult is to visit a clinic and see a general practitioner. He will order an examination, including blood tests and diagnostic procedures: ECG, ultrasound of internal organs, MRI or CT. Based on the results of the diagnosis, the specialist will diagnose and prescribe treatment.

Therapy will depend on why drowsiness began to torment, what causes the symptom. If the level of hemoglobin decreases, it should be increased with the help of iron preparations. For vitamin deficiencies, multivitamin complexes are recommended. With endocrine diseases and hormonal disruptions, hormonal drugs or drugs that suppress the production of hormones are prescribed. Infections require immediate treatment with immunomodulators or antibiotics, depending on the pathogen. The injuries received require medical attention: the diseased limb is immobilized, pain relievers are prescribed for pain.

It is not worthwhile to contact a specialist: the earlier you start to act, the more chances you have to cure the disease and solve the problem. Meticulousness in relation to your health and a serious attitude towards it will allow you to prevent dangerous consequences and live a full and energetic life.

Important! If everything is in order with health, but the problem persists, you should immediately contact a psychologist.

Emergency measures

When you start to feel sleepy and pull you into bed, but you need to continue working or doing business, you can use ways to eliminate drowsiness. The following methods will help to overcome the desire to sleep:

1. An effective stopgap measure is solving crosswords or scanwords. You will put your brain to work and forget about sleep for a while.
2. On the forums, it is advised to wash with cool water or take a contrast shower.
3. Move actively, do exercises, warm up.
4. Open the window and get some fresh air.
5. Change activities, take your mind off the monotonous duties that make you sleepy.
6. Run an ice cube over your ears, neck and face.
7. Try citrus juice or lemon water.

If drowsiness persists, the doctor will prescribe a pharmacy. Potent drugs used for narcolepsy and other sleep disorders - Longdeysin, Modafinil. They are prescription drugs and cannot be used alone. There are products containing vitamin supplements and herbal ingredients: "Pantocrin", "Berocca Plus", "Bion 3". Some have tried to cure dubiousness with homeopathy, but its effectiveness has not been proven, as evidenced by videos of doctors' stories. In any case, any tablets should be taken under medical supervision.

Lifestyle change

Changing the way of life for the better will help to drive away recurrent drowsiness:

1. You need to start getting rid of bad habits.
2. Eat full and varied, including healthy foods rich in vitamins, macro- and microelements, and minerals.
3. Maintain a balance of rest and wakefulness, try to go to bed on time and not too late, get enough sleep.
4. In order not to get tired and avoid excessive stress, give yourself some rest during the working day. If this is not possible, do not burden yourself with chores after work.
5. It is important to be in the fresh air more often, to arrange walks. This will increase the concentration of oxygen in the blood and prevent hypoxia. And a light jog in the morning will help you to cheer up and finally wake up.
6. In the evening, tune in to sleep: do not overexert yourself, relax, avoid overexcitation, suppress irritability, protect yourself from events and actions that can bring negative emotions. But pleasure and pleasant sensations are useful.
7. Avoid stress and try not to be nervous.
8. If the room is stuffy, open a window or increase the capacity of the air conditioner.

Folk remedies

Folk and home remedies for fighting drowsiness, included in the list of the most effective:

• Ginseng can help suppress the urge to sleep. Infusions, decoctions are prepared from the plant.
• Many people start drinking coffee when they are sleepy: the drink really gives vigor and suppresses the desire to sleep.
• You can relieve drowsiness with green tea, which contains caffeine. Top up the drink with lemon for energy.
• Combine two tablespoons of peeled chopped walnuts, dried apricots, natural honey and raisins. Eat the mixture and drink it with water.
• You can drink a decoction of Chinese lemongrass for a month: pour a tablespoon of raw materials with a glass of boiling water, cook the mixture for ten minutes and strain. Divide the volume in two and drink them after breakfast and dinner.

Knowing the answers to questions about the causes and elimination of drowsiness, you can get rid of doubtfulness. But remember that a symptom sometimes signals serious deviations, so you need to deal with it in a timely manner, effectively and under the supervision of a doctor.

Various versions of the origin of the disease have been put forward, even surprising ones (one German neurologist believed that the cause of narcolepsy was teenage masturbation). Some neurologists talked about the psychosomatic origin of the disease, others considered it a manifestation of schizophrenia, while others considered the cause in disturbances in the neurochemical balance of the brain.

The true cause of narcolepsy was discovered quite recently, at the end of the twentieth century, it lies in the "breakdown" of the system that triggers the phase of REM (paradoxical) sleep.

Our brain is a very complex "mechanism". Even in Pavlov's laboratories, it was proved that it has deep structures responsible for sleep. There are also biologically active chemicals that facilitate the conduction of nerve impulses through neurons - neurotransmitters (neurotransmitters). When the human nervous system functions correctly, then thanks to these substances we are in an awake state. But in the case of their shortage, the excitation impulses do not reach the neurons and the person falls asleep. Thus, large-scale studies have identified the most plausible cause of narcolepsy, which lies in the lack of certain types of neurotransmitters - orexin A and orexin B. The function of orexins is to maintain a state of wakefulness, and their lack is the cause of narcolepsy.

Breakdown of the REM sleep system and, accordingly, a lack of orexin provoke:

• brain injury;
• infectious brain lesions;
• excessive overwork;
• pregnancy;
• unstable emotional state, psychological trauma;
• malfunctioning of the immune system;
• hormonal imbalance;
• diabetes;
• genetic predisposition.

In many cases, the cause of narcolepsy, that is, the factor that triggered the REM sleep disorder, remains unclear.

Signs of the disease

There are two essential symptoms of narcolepsy:

1. Falling asleep "on the go", when a person suddenly falls asleep for no apparent reason. Most often this happens during monotonous work, but it is possible to completely unexpectedly fall asleep during a conversation, while walking, while watching a movie or in any other situations. Such sleep usually lasts several minutes, but in severe forms of narcolepsy it can last for hours.

2. Sudden involuntary relaxation of all muscles of the body (cataplexy), which occurs at a time when a person experiences vivid emotions (laughter, surprise, rage, vivid memories, anxiety, a certain period of sexual intercourse). Cataplexy (loss of muscle tone) is rarely the first symptom of narcolepsy; it is much more likely to develop over the years.

In the first case, inhibition captures the cerebral cortex, but does not reach the lower parts of the brain, so the person falls asleep, but immobility does not occur. So, if he fell asleep while walking, then in a sleeping state he can walk for another 1-2 minutes, and then wake up.

In the second case, the opposite happens. With a normally preserved consciousness, immobility occurs. A person's muscles relax, he just falls, but at the same time he still manages to find a place to fall, for example, sits on a chair.

These are not all the symptoms of narcolepsy, many patients have a full range of possible symptoms, including:

• sudden falling asleep and cataplexy (mentioned above);
• vivid dreams up to hallucinations, which are observed when falling asleep or when waking up;
• immediately after waking up, a person cannot move for several seconds (this state is called sleep paralysis);
• there is an urgent need for daytime sleep.

In addition, due to the absence of a phase of slow (deep) sleep, it is not uncommon for patients with narcolepsy to sleep poorly at night, their sleep is superficial, and they often wake up.

The symptoms of narcolepsy can develop over many years, or they can occur all at once. However, you should not assume that if you have any of the above symptoms, then you are necessarily sick with narcolepsy. These manifestations are also signs of many other diseases, but most often they can be just temporary disorders against the background of stress, chronic fatigue, lack of sleep, etc.

Diagnosis and treatment of narcolepsy

Diagnosis is very important for any disease, and narcolepsy is no exception. The symptoms of narcolepsy are similar to those of other disorders of the nervous system, so before starting treatment for narcolepsy, you need to make sure it is, and first of all, exclude the possibility of such a disease as epilepsy. Treatment for narcolepsy and epilepsy is diametrically opposed, so getting the correct diagnosis in this case is vital.

Both diagnosis and treatment of narcolepsy should be carried out under the strict supervision of a neuropathologist.

Diagnosis of the disease is rather difficult and time-consuming, it includes: polysomnography and MSLT test. Polysomnography is performed in a sleep laboratory, where a person must spend at least one night. Special electrodes are attached to it, with the help of which brain waves, muscle activity, heart rhythms, and eye movements are recorded. After polysomnography, an MSLT test is performed, it allows you to get the so-called sleep pattern, which differs in patients with narcolepsy and healthy people.

Narcolepsy is a serious illness that can significantly reduce the patient's quality of life. Treating narcolepsy is a difficult task. Unfortunately, today there are no treatment regimens that could completely eliminate the disease. But there are two groups of drugs that the doctor selects individually for each patient, and which temporarily relieve the symptoms of narcolepsy:

1. Drugs that stimulate the brain.

2. Drugs that weaken the inhibitory effect from the sleep zone in the brain.

And although the treatment of narcolepsy is mainly symptomatic, the patient himself can make efforts and adapt life to the situation as much as possible. It is necessary to normalize night sleep, adjust the daily and wakefulness regime, and, most importantly, set aside a certain amount of time for daytime sleep.

Patients with narcolepsy are strictly prohibited from engaging in activities that are potentially dangerous for themselves and those around them, including: driving a car, working at height, working with other moving mechanisms, night work, etc.

American scientists have taken a new step in the treatment of narcolepsy. They have developed a special nasal spray that contains orexin (a substance lacking in narcolepsy). Experiments on animals have confirmed the effectiveness of the drug, so there is a possibility that soon the theory of the incurability of narcolepsy will remain in the past.

This article is posted for educational purposes only and does not constitute scientific material or professional medical advice.

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For Inna. I understand and sympathize. It is easier for me, I have been retired for a long time, I will soon be 70 years old. But for the last year and especially this winter I have been completely hibernating, like a bear. Crystal good health only at night from 01.00 to 05.00 (four hours a day), provided that the rest of the time is to sleep. In general, I have had this since childhood, but earlier it was not so pronounced. Right now we need to trudge to the store for food for ourselves and the dogs, not to fall asleep on the way. The wife says - I'll give it up! Although, from me myself, more and more "infected" with the desire to sleep. That's how we live.

I sympathize! Same story and also fired. As a rule, blackout at the computer in the morning and a headache, and in the evening vigorous.

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An obese person constantly falls asleep as soon as he sits down. Why?

Situation: One friend often comes to her husband for repairs. It has live weight, at least 150 kilograms. It barely fits in the car. While he is being repaired, he sits in the garage and sleeps in a chair. Even fell several times. Well, at least not in the viewing hole. Once he was asked to drive the car out of the garage after repairs. He drove out. But the door does not open, the motor is running. The men came up - he was sleeping! I fell asleep in a few seconds! But there is more. Over the past 2 weeks, he fell asleep at the wheel 4 times. The first time I was taking home my husband's partner. He, sitting next to him, grabbed the wheel and kicked him in the side with his elbow. Thanks to this, they did not leave the road. However, later he himself, being alone in the car, fell asleep 3 times. Twice he was lucky. I just pulled out and got stuck on the sidelines. But for the third time he did not part with the trucker. The car is in accordion - he has no scratches. Probably, if I had not slept, I would have been killed to hell. The Belarusian trucker was shocked by the severity of local drivers. Now it doesn't go. Apparently God saved. He will not kill himself while driving and will not kill anyone. Only one thing is clear - he cannot drive. But he intends to restore the car.

That is, in fact, the question - what is it with him? What kind of disease and what is it called? How to treat this, and how to live with it?

I had such a misfortune (with a weight of 120), it is connected with sharp drops in blood sugar, most likely a person with such a weight already has diabetes mellitus, it also happens in hormonal (age and weight) failure, for example, testosterone. But you can't joke with health, it is difficult to establish the cause of such a problem on your own, therefore, without a decent examination of the body, a person does not just take risks, he also shortens the age allotted to him for a long time.

With the development of obesity, night sleep becomes restless, periods of respiratory arrest, snoring, and muscle twitching. Daytime sleepiness is compensatory. In addition, in obese people, fatty deposits compress the vessels in the neck that feed the brain. With a lack of oxygen, the brain prefers to work with minimal cost. This condition is called Pickwick's syndrome and differs from narcolepsy in the absence of catalepsy (no falls) and hallucinations.

All signs will disappear when the weight is normalized.

My relative (a former traffic police officer) after a drunk driver dragged him along the highway for a mile and a half (the planchette caught on the driver's seat while drawing up the protocol, the driver hit the gas and rushed forward, and the traffic cop was pulled after him. thrown into the "oncoming"), - after this incident, too, began to fall asleep right on the go. I could fall asleep, standing in line, in the bathroom, even fell asleep while eating!

He was treated for a long time. It's good that the work experience was already worked out (25 years), and he was able to retire. In general, spontaneous sleepiness is often observed in older people.

Grandparents always fall asleep in front of the TV, for example, but their sleep is superficial. shallow.

But in this case, the person clearly has something with the vessels. It is necessary to do an ultrasound scan of the vessels of the head and neck, check the blood for cholesterol, consult a neurologist, cardiologist and somnologist.

With narcolepsy, people often fall into a phase of deep sleep right from wakefulness. Often there is a genetic predisposition to this disease, and this symptom also happens with mental illness. It is necessary to be examined, because. the condition is very life-threatening.

Excess weight makes a person slow. It is difficult for him to bend over, squat and even walk. So he is looking for a way out in an elevator or in a car. He wants to sleep because of the heavy load. He gets tired quickly and needs sleep to recuperate. And the car should be taken away from him, out of harm's way. Once lucky, the second time, and the third not. Will walk more, lose extra pounds. The joy of life will return to him. In general, only one positive.

There is also such a disease (not only in "obese" people), called "Narcolepsy", in which a person can fall asleep anywhere and anytime. A very scary thing. But it's hard to say what's wrong with your friend, you need the help of a qualified specialist.

Most likely, he has high blood pressure, and he does not drink medicine. With increased blood pressure, many people experience constant drowsiness. And being overweight contributes to an increase in blood pressure.

Sleep disturbance: narcolepsy, symptoms

The narcoleptic falls asleep for a short time several times a day under any circumstances under the influence of irrepressible sleep.

For more than a century, neurologists around the world have been studying the disease, first described in 1877 by the German neuropathologist Westphal.

Its name comes from the Greek words "numbness" and "attack". The disease is quite rare, but the total number of patients with narcolepsy in the world is quite large, in the United States alone there are more than 100 thousand.

Experts note the close relationship of the disease with a genetic predisposition.

People who are susceptible to this disease and their environment often do not take it seriously.

Consider one of the cases described by Peter Haury, an American sleep doctor:

Farmer Robertson, 36, has had three bouts of sleep during the day since age 17, each lasting up to 15 minutes. Friends regard his strange behavior as a manifestation of laziness.

But the farmer himself is worried about another feature of his: when he has to get angry with his children, scold them or punish them, he is seized by a strong weakness in his knees, which simply knocks him onto a chair or the floor.

Having turned to a psychotherapist for help, the patient was examined at a sleep clinic, where his daytime sleep was recorded. The survey showed that Robertson goes into a phase of REM sleep directly from wakefulness, which is not normal for healthy people. He was diagnosed with narcolepsy and successfully treated.

Attacks of narcolepsy can affect the patient's relationship with others and the quality of his life. Therefore, it is very important to recognize this disease in the early stages of development.

Narcolepsy symptoms

• Sudden and unavoidable bouts of sleepiness

This is the most disturbing symptom and is the most characteristic. A narcoleptic attack occurs unexpectedly: while eating, having sex, driving a car or other transport, while swimming, which creates unpleasant or dangerous situations not only for the patient.

• Loss of muscle tone in striated muscles (cataplexy)

Let us recall the case of a farmer - muscle weakness, which doctors call cataplexy, manifested itself in him in moments of strong emotions and anger. Cataplexy can even be triggered by unpleasant memories.

Healthy people can also experience “weak knees” when they are frightened or when they receive bad news. This is the body's natural response to stressful situations.

In narcoleptics, it is amplified pathologically and can manifest itself in a weak form or complete collapse (fall). A person can fall silent in the middle of a conversation, drop a cigarette from his mouth, a fork from his hands, the body does not obey him: his arms hang like whips, his head goes numb, his legs give way, his jaw drops, his tongue does not move.

An attack of immobility can immediately stop and the patient, who has dropped the book, has time to pick it up. It is interesting that at this time the narcoleptic is aware of what is happening, and his attention is sharpened.

Cataplexy may not develop immediately after the onset of drowsiness, but some time later (months or years).

• Sleep paralysis

Another manifestation of narcolepsy is sleep paralysis. In a weak form, it is expressed in a healthy person, in patients it is extremely strong. Patients feel immobilized for a short time, measured in seconds or a few minutes, and experience intense anxiety.

Sleep paralysis occurs when you fall asleep or wake up and can disappear with external touch. This condition can frighten the patient: he is aware of the situation to varying degrees, but he cannot move.

• Hypnagogic hallucinations (visual and auditory hallucinations of falling asleep)

Vivid dreamlike experiences in a state of active wakefulness, often unpleasant and scary. A person can see various monsters and all kinds of evil spirits crawling over him, but he can neither shout nor move.

The patient, being in a state of partial wakefulness and sleep at the same time, has no control over what is happening, which often frightens him.

The narcoleptic does normal daily activities unconsciously. He may even fall asleep for a short time and continue them in a state of sleep, and after a while he does not remember what, how and when he did.

The manifestation of this symptom can be a potential threat to others.

In narcoleptics, not only daytime wakefulness is disturbed, interrupted by short episodes of uncontrollable sleep. Night sleep also proceeds abnormally and is characterized by high motor activity due to frequent awakenings. Sleep may be interrupted for just a couple of seconds and the patient may not notice it.

In the morning he is completely exhausted and overwhelmed and cannot understand the reason, which is that frequent awakenings do not allow him to plunge into full-fledged fast or deep slow sleep and get the necessary rest. There are no boundaries separating the phases of rest and activity.

Narcoleptics lack full daytime activity and are deprived of normal night sleep.

• Associated symptoms of narcolepsy include double vision, poor concentration, headaches, and memory loss.

Children affected by this disease often lag behind in their development. Adults may have problems performing professional duties.

Symptoms of the disease can develop gradually over time or all at once.

In healthy people, paradoxical sleep begins 60 - 90 minutes after falling asleep, muscle tone disappears gradually.

The narcoleptic falls into paradoxical sleep instantly and can also quickly lose muscle control. Sudden attacks of daytime sleep occur with characteristic signs: loss of muscle tone, sleep paralysis, vivid hallucinations - dreams.

Patients do not have a clear separation of wakefulness and paradoxical sleep.

Vogel, an American scientist, believes that a healthy person dreams in order to sleep, and a narcoleptic sleeps in order to dream. With the help of an unexpected transition to sleep, they run away from reality, from conflict situations.

Narcoleptics remember their dreams well and gladly talk about them. The proportion of REM sleep in the patient is increased, and the proportion of slow sleep is decreased.

Causes of drug use

There is no definite answer about the causes of narcolepsy yet. Genetic predisposition is noted by experts as one of the most important prerequisites for this disease.

The sleep of people suffering from narcolepsy is similar in many ways to the sleep of newborns: it is too active and incoherent - without stages of drowsiness and sleep spindles.

In both infants and narcoleptics, the thalamo-hemispheric system of the brain, which is responsible for the organization of slow-wave sleep, is weakened, and the hemispheric-stem system, which is responsible for REM sleep, on the contrary, is strengthened. Continuously producing REM sleep (in fragments or completely), it does not allow the narcoleptic to sleep or stay awake normally.

What factors or causes lead to the breakdown of the sleep-wake cycle? This question is to be answered by biochemists and geneticists. In the meantime, narcolepsy is entirely run by neurologists who offer patients medication and psychotherapeutic treatment.

Treatment of this disease should include the correct organization of the wakefulness-sleep regimen: go to bed and get up in the morning, preferably at the same time.

Reusable naps, 20 to 30 minutes each episode, are helpful to keep you active.

• You should be careful when performing potentially dangerous actions: driving a car and other vehicles, working with electrical appliances. Plan your day so that someone can be with you at this time.
• Follow the prescribed medication carefully and report any changes in well-being to your doctor.
• Ask your doctor to conduct an explanatory conversation with your family members if they underestimate the seriousness of the disease and write off its manifestations as laziness and more. Family support is very important.
• It is not advisable to hide from your employer that you have narcolepsy. The employer will provide the necessary working conditions if you are a valuable worker.
• Getting to know people affected by the disease will provide moral support - find in your city or create a support group for narcoleptics.
• Give special attention to your child if they also have narcolepsy. Teachers and trainers should know about this in order to help and protect in difficult or dangerous situations.

An interesting fact: not only people are susceptible to this disease, but also such dog breeds as Labradors, dachshunds and Dobermans. They show the same symptoms as humans: sudden daytime sleep, cataplexy, etc.

I wish you and your pets health and invite you to watch a short and funny video about a pug that reacts vividly to a TV show.

Elena Valve for the Sleepy Cantata project.

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• Night sweats. How to reduce folk remedies Reviews 3

Hello I am 21 years old and I have a lack of sleep. It all started in the army, when they put me on duty in the company, I went to the outfits a day later. Often I did not sleep for days and then I started. I fell asleep all the time during the day, standing, sitting, once I even fell asleep while walking, without even realizing it. Also, sometimes when I talk to a person, there are a few seconds of paralysis attacks, he also often happens when laughing. Many people say that I laugh in my sleep. But they became so colorful, saturated as in reality and became so long that it never happened. I also fall asleep while driving, but I feel like I fall asleep and immediately look for a place to stop. I consulted with the doctor, she said to drink glycine, for already a month I have not had any special changes, only noticed that he was not so abruptly starting to cut down. During the day I can sleep all day, but at night I am awake and as if I do not need sleep. Well, right now, it's all the same after the army, but glycine has become easier, but still I'm tired of it, I want a normal life.

yes. I also had to face this problem. Tell me which specialists you need to contact. what is the reason. can there be heart problems?

Victoria, the cause of narcolepsy has not been established, scientists suggest that the main prerequisite for the onset of the disease is a genetic predisposition. See a neurologist or specialist who diagnoses and treats complex sleep disorders.

I wrote a higher post here (I'm 30, and now I'm 10 years old.) I forgot to say that when he “cuts” (an attack of such drowsiness sets in), it doesn’t look like a simple fall asleep, at this moment he “knocks out” with such force that it looks like a horse dose of sleeping pills or anesthesia. And at the same time it feels like you yourself want to relax and. It is possible that it even looks like a drug "coming" (although I myself have never tried drugs and I can not say with certainty), but the sensations when falling asleep are so pleasant that if you relax, you immediately forget not only where you are, but even your name and who you are. It is very difficult to overcome this when working at a computer. Although a little physical activity (got up, walked, stretched.) Temporarily helps.

Although fig knows him, maybe this is normal? I work at a computer, my work is monotonous, with numbers, graphs, technical documentation (most often these are kilometers of columns with numbers / data that I have to parse). Maybe it's just monotony that affects me so much, because sitting in the twilight in an empty room and reading an interesting book for 4-6 hours, I am not "hacked"! And even with a long poking in a traffic jam, it still does not "chop" with such force as at work.

Thanks a lot for the detailed explanations. It's too bad that I learned about this disease so late. I have had a problem for a long time, since school. But only I did not suspect that it could also become aggravated.

Now I can turn off when I talk to someone.

I have already explained my condition to doctors and psychiatrists and neuropathologists, but they attribute everything to depression and chronic diseases, which, in addition to everything, I have.

But I nevertheless understood something from your statements, and took note of it.

Forget-me-not, doctors, unfortunately, cannot always help. Fortunately, each of us has an effective, but most importantly, safe remedy. This is our self-hypnosis, our connection with our “I”, with our subconsciousness. The cause of the disease may lie in your fear of life, affirmations can help:

"I completely trust the very process of life and freely rotate in it",

"Life was created for me, I freely rotate in it and trust the very process of life."

Control all your thoughts, think that you are able to control every moment of your life and fall asleep only as you wish.

Go to church, pray to icons so that the disease will go away, order a prayer service for your health.

Dear, Forget-me-not, believe in your healing, it will definitely come. All the best.

I am 17 years old, “chops” me for 2 years. At first I thought it was due to the fact that I do not sleep much at night, although I always seemed to go to bed at the same time and wake up. At first I fell asleep at school at my desk, but then hell began: I began to fall asleep wherever possible, in the cinema, at the computer, at school and even walking down the street. I try not to go out and walk with people, because I'm afraid that I will start to "cut down" again. I can't normally communicate with new people, because they are scared that I fall asleep like that, they think I'm some kind of drug addict or crazy. It is simply unbearable, I don’t know how to continue living with this disease, because I really want to study, develop and learn about the world, but this is not given to me because of sleep. My memory has worsened, I have ceased to understand a lot, I can no longer as before on the move. I'm afraid to go to school on the law, suddenly I fall asleep and crash. And after all this, I decided to undergo an examination, they did a sleep analysis and the diagnosis was confirmed - narcolepsy. Prescribed some pills, but they need to be taken constantly and I'm afraid that I will get used to them and become like a drug addict. What should I do?

Vlad, accept reality as it is, but do not lose heart. The pills will support your health at the moment. After all, they are better than falling asleep in unforeseen situations. Continue treatment and seek alternative treatments. Find and study the literature you need, you will hardly find the right advice on the Internet. Contact the Higher Forces with a request to help overcome this disease, the answer will surely come. Books can help: Sinelnikov "Love your disease", Louise Hay "Heal your body" and many other psychologists. Many diseases, if not inherent in heredity, are acquired due to a wrong worldview. Try to understand yourself. Sleep is a departure from reality. How long have you had symptoms of uncontrolled falling asleep, is an unpleasant situation connected with this period? In this, the clue to the cause of the disease and the path to cure is possible.

I am 30, and for 10 years I am nodding. I always want to sleep, which makes it difficult to concentrate. When I perform some kind of active action, it somehow drives the blood and then, I may not notice my drowsiness. But with not very active actions, it is the dream that begins to "chop" me. Even with a slowly moving traffic jam (I turn on heavy metal so as not to sleep). Now I work in the office, I drink liters of coffee. I train my will, it has already reached the point that when I underwent a kidney operation, they gave me general anesthesia intravenously and could not “knock me out” in any way. Drowsiness attacks occur several times a day (3-4), he cuts out so that he begins to double in his eyes. I hold on to my last strength and let go, but my head begins to split. The tone usually appears after 16 hours, productivity at work immediately increases, etc. By the evening, if last night I slept at least 7-8 hours, I do not feel any sleepiness, I feel a surge of strength and thirst for activity. If I don't go to bed, then I'm in good shape until 4 am. But usually I go to bed at 11, more often 12 at night and get up 7-7: 30. Somehow I was doing an experiment on myself - I just wanted to get enough sleep and slept from Friday 15:00 to Monday 12:00 with toilet breaks and still did not get enough sleep. When I fall asleep, then dreams (with sound and color) come instantly, I just have to close my eyes, but at this moment I can still control my body and even describe what I see and hear, while hearing what is happening around me.

What is it? Narcolepsy or am I just a night owl out of my cycle?

Sergey, it is quite possible that you are a night owl "in a wrong cycle." In this case, changing jobs to another with a more suitable schedule can help.

If you have symptoms of narcolepsy, then you need to go to specialists who can determine the disease.

I think I need to start with a survey. Searching for answers on the Internet will not guarantee that you yourself will correctly diagnose.

I have been unable to control my sleep since junior high school. I am now 22 years old. I constantly fell asleep in the classroom, even when I was interested, and sometimes the brain, due to monotony, simply turned off. At the same time, it was necessary not to fire in front of anyone, because the teachers cursed, and peers made fun of them and then teased them as soon as this happens again. Then my body began to recover by itself when the tone was weakened. because of this, you seem to be sleeping and at the same time you are aware of what is happening around you and with you. and at night the same. you hear when you say something in a dream, jerk your hands, feet. It is sometimes difficult for my boyfriend to sleep with me, and sometimes he becomes afraid. The last time he said that in a dream I had a cramp and my hand clenched as if it were a heart. my fingers did not open, I did not wake up and stopped breathing for 30 seconds. Of course, for all this for a long time I learned to live with this feature. But in the last 2-3 weeks, everything has become somewhat different. worse. I, like when in my distant childhood, literally yesterday fell asleep on the go and could not control it. In the underground. trying to move away from the edge of the platform and not being able to really do it, I realized that I was starting to fall asleep and that I would start falling on the rails. and today. before the visuals came at the moments when I was completely chopped, but you can't sleep and you hold on with all your might. today .. a strange state .. I have not contacted substances for a long time. but in an absolutely normal state, I looked at photographs of my friends, acquaintances, and they were as if in reality in space. it felt like they were continuing the movement that they performed in the photo. move, become three-dimensional in real space. like in 3d or something.

in a promise nifiga this is not a healthy topic.

thank you for the article! I will definitely visit a neurologist.

Emotional and mental fatigue interferes with my ability to remember information. Problems in my personal life and blockage on the robot depleted my body. The employee persuaded me to take Biotredin (I thought it was an antidepressant). He really improved my condition, and there is no dependence on him.

For ten years I have been suffering from a similar disease. I am 65. About 35 years ago I got into a car accident in Moscow. Severe concussion, they sewed a torn out eye in Sklif. They kept their sight. Relatives laughed at first, then began to take it more seriously. I can unexpectedly fall asleep in the toilet, at lunch, bump my face into a hot cup of tea, into a computer keyboard, on the corner of a table, etc. The most unpleasant thing is that this happens at concerts, in cinemas, when watching action films, listening to loud music. I am a filmmaker by profession. He has shot many documentaries and feature films. Now, with a pacemaker and second degree diabetes, he is forced to lead a secluded life in a remote Smolensk village. Passed many examinations, but - there are no recipes for today, or are there? The article is good, but without hope. Vitaly.

When traditional medicine has made diagnoses and is unable to help, it's time to engage in self-healing. Vitaly, do not give up and do not lose heart. I advise you to get acquainted with the health systems of Shatalova, Boyarshinov (AGGS), Norbekov, read Sinelnikov, Louise Hay. Any illness is a consequence of our wrong mental attitudes, and, of course, nutrition and lifestyle.

All the best to you!

So how to treat this disease, are there ways and which doctor should I go to if necessary?

Like any medical condition, narcolepsy responds better to early treatment. You, Andrey, should contact a neurologist or specialist who diagnoses and treats complex sleep disorders.

I had periods when I fell asleep literally on the go.

But it seems that overwork played such a role.

Now, I definitely need to get at least 8 hours of sleep to feel full of energy.

Otherwise, again, like boiled chicken. 🙂

I also remember a period when I studied at the institute, fell asleep during sessions on the go. At night I also worked part-time on covens. Thank God that these are temporary manifestations of drowsiness, and not permanent, as described in the article.

Yes, this disease happens not only in people - I recently saw on the discovery a program about a dog that falls asleep from a loud sound, for example, a clapping of his hands.

I have never heard of such an insidious disease as narcolepsy. Thank!

I saw a documentary about this disease, strange and terrible, because the life of not only this person, but also the people around him, is in danger.

When my driving experience was just beginning, I very often experienced drowsiness while driving, apparently under the influence of the monotony of the road. A couple of times I just fell asleep, but both times everything ended well, thank God. Now even if I didn't get enough sleep at the wheel this does not happen

i forgot about it as soon as I left the night shift.

I even watched a program about such people. a very dangerous disease.

It turns out that a person cannot control himself. It's very scary. And it turns out there are so many of them, I didn't know.

Yes, it is unpleasant, especially when driving or if such attacks make a person dependent on the performance of their functional duties, such as a doctor, teacher, and it’s just hard for a person with the same disease to live.

My dad sleeps all the time, even while driving. This can hardly be called narcolepsy. He has no other signs, although who knows.

Yeah! If it's just chronic lack of sleep, then the matter is fixable, but the symptoms are different! And in the case of narcolepsy, a completely different approach is required. It's good, at least it was singled out as a separate disease, and not written off as laziness or carelessness. Such people need to be seriously treated, otherwise grief will be for them, those around them and relatives. An interesting article, set out in detail, it just takes horror, as you imagine.

What diseases do not exist! This is the first time I read about such a pathology. I really sympathize with people who suffer from such a disease.

Probably, before making such a diagnosis, you need to look, maybe this is the usual chronic lack of sleep. And if this is a lack of sleep, then the situation can be easily corrected. When I chronically did not get enough sleep, I fell asleep standing on the bus.

How many tragedies happen on the roads if the driver fell asleep while driving. Unfortunately, almost no one pays attention to this disease, citing the fact that he was simply tired and did not sleep much. It's a pity.

You are absolutely right, Evgeny. My friend often falls asleep under any circumstances, but attributes this to fatigue and lack of sleep.

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Be sure to consult with a specialist so as not to harm your health!

What is this disease? A person only has to sit down, and even though he falls asleep constantly, even though his neck falls

Another manifestation of the disease is cataplexy: a person suddenly becomes silent in the middle of a conversation, things fall out of his hands, his legs give way. Consciousness does not leave him, but he is not able to utter a word, move his hand - his muscles relax. The attack lasts a few seconds, sometimes minutes. Often, patients do not even have time to fall, and having dropped an object from their hands, they pick it up. The most amazing thing is that cataplexy attacks most often occur against the background of a joyful, happy mood, and sincere laughter is their most faithful provocateur. Some people have pain attacks especially persistently when they themselves tell something funny. However, it is not possible to induce an attack of arbitrariness with “artificial laughter”. Safe and "polite" laughter for decency - but the laughter from the heart very quickly breaks off with an attack!

Another form of the disease - intermittent hibernation - has been known to physicians since time immemorial. A medical essay from 1672 describes the poet Epiminides of Crete, who allegedly slept in a cave for 57 years. It is hardly worth fully believing this date, but cases of hibernation that lasted two decades are completely reliable. True, they are very rare and are the result of severe mental illness. Hibernation for a week or even three weeks is not such a rare occurrence. Probably, the roots of this disease go very deep: it has much in common with the condition that, for example, bears and ground squirrels fall in in winter, when there is little food, and some amphibians in summer, when water bodies dry up. The body temperature of people during hibernation is lowered, so is the blood pressure. For several days they do not eat or drink - as a result, tissue dehydration occurs, patients lose weight dramatically. Muscles completely relax, reflexes sometimes completely disappear. It is impossible to wake up such patients.

Update: November 2019

Drowsiness is a feeling of lethargy, fatigue, desire to sleep, or at least to do nothing. This is a condition that normally occurs as a result of severe physical or mental overwork.

Physiological sleepiness is a signal from the brain that it needs a respite from the flow of information, that the brake systems have turned on a protective mode and slow down the reaction rate, dull the perception of all external stimuli and block the sensory organs and the cerebral cortex to a dormant mode.

Signs of sleepiness are:

• decreased mental acuity, yawning
• decreased sensitivity of peripheral analyzers (dullness of perception)
• decrease in heart rate
• a decrease in the secretion of the glands of external secretion and dryness of the mucous membranes (lacrimal - sticking eyes, salivary -).

But there are situations or conditions in which drowsiness turns into a pathological abnormality or even a serious problem in a person's life.

So why do you always want to sleep?

The main causes of persistent sleepiness are:

• Fatigue, both physical and mental
• Oxygen starvation of the cerebral cortex
• Strengthening inhibitory reactions in the central nervous system and their predominance over arousal, including against the background of drugs or toxic substances
• Brain pathologies with lesions of sleep centers
• Traumatic brain injury
• Endocrine pathologies
• Diseases of internal organs leading to the accumulation of substances in the blood that suppress the activity of the cerebral cortex

Pay attention to what house you live in: whether there are cell towers nearby, power lines, and how often and for how long you talk on your mobile phone (see).

Physiological sleepiness

When a person is forced to stay awake for a long time, his central nervous system turns on the inhibition mode forcibly. Even within one day:

• when visual overload (sitting for a long time at a computer, TV, etc.)
• hearing aids (noise in the workshop, office, etc.)
• tactile or pain receptors

a person may repeatedly fall into short-term sleepiness, or so-called "trance," when their normal daily alpha rhythm of the cortex is replaced by the slower beta waves typical of REM sleep (when falling asleep or dreaming). This simple trance technique is often used by hypnotists, psychotherapists and crooks of all stripes.

Sleepiness after eating

Many are drawn to sleep just after lunch - this is also explained quite simply. The volume of the vascular bed exceeds the volume of blood that circulates in it. Therefore, there is always a system of blood redistribution according to the priority system. If the gastrointestinal tract is filled with food and is working hard, then most of the blood is deposited or circulates in the stomach, intestines, gallbladder, pancreas and liver. Accordingly, during this period of active digestion, the brain receives less oxygen carrier and, switching to the economy mode, the cortex begins to work not as actively as on an empty stomach. Because, in fact, why move if the stomach is already full.

Banal lack of sleep

In general, a person cannot be completely without sleep. And an adult should sleep for at least 7-8 hours (although historical colossus like Napoleon Bonaparte or Alexander the Great slept for 4 hours, and this did not interfere with feeling energized). If a person is forcibly deprived of sleep, then he will still turn off and he may even have a dream for several seconds. In order not to want to sleep during the day - sleep at least 8 hours a night.

Stress

Another variation of physiological sleepiness is the body's response to stress. If in the early stages of stress, people often suffer from increased excitability and insomnia (against the background of the release of adrenaline and cortisol by the adrenal glands), then with prolonged exposure to stress factors, the adrenal glands are depleted, the release of hormones decreases, and the peak of their release shifts (for example, cortisol, released in 5- 6 am, begins to be secreted to the maximum by 9-10 hours). Similar conditions (loss of strength) are observed with or against the background of prolonged use of glucocorticoids, as well as in rheumatic diseases.

Pregnancy

Pregnant women in the first trimester against the background of hormonal changes, toxicosis, and in the last trimester, when there is a natural inhibition of the cortex by placental hormones, there may be episodes of lengthening night sleep or daytime sleepiness - this is the norm.

Why does the baby sleep all the time

As you know, newborns and children up to six months spend most of their lives in a dream:

• newborns - if the baby is about 1-2 months old, he is without special neurological problems and somatic diseases, it is typical for him to spend up to 18 hours a day in his sleep
• 3-4 months - 16-17 hours
• up to six months - about 15-16 hours
• up to a year - how much a baby should sleep for up to a year is decided by the state of his nervous system, the nature of nutrition and digestion, the daily routine in the family, on average, it is from 11 to 14 hours per day.

A child spends so much time in a dream for one simple reason: his nervous system is underdeveloped by the time of birth. After all, the complete formation of the brain, completed in utero, simply would not allow the baby to be born naturally due to a too large head.

Therefore, being in a state of sleep, the child is maximally protected from the overloads of his immature nervous system, which has the ability to develop in a calm mode: somewhere to correct the consequences of intrauterine or birth hypoxia, somewhere to finish the formation of myelin sheaths of nerves, on which the speed of transmission of a nerve impulse depends ...

Many babies even know how to eat in their sleep. Children up to six months wake up more and more from internal discomfort (hunger, intestinal colic, headache, cold, wet diapers).

Sleepiness in a child may cease to be normal in the event of a serious illness:

• if the baby vomits, he has frequent loose stools, prolonged absence of stool
• heat
• he fell or hit his head, after which there was some kind of weakness and drowsiness, lethargy, pallor or cyanosis of the skin
• the child stopped responding to voice, touch
• not sucking on a breast or a bottle for too long (much less urinating)

it is important to urgently call an ambulance or take (carry) the child to the emergency room of the nearest children's hospital.

As for children over a year old, then they have the reasons for drowsiness that goes beyond the usual, almost the same as in infants, plus all somatic diseases and conditions that will be described below.

Pathological drowsiness

Pathological drowsiness is also called pathological hypersomnia. This is an increase in the duration of sleep without an objective need for it. If a person who used to get enough sleep in eight hours begins to sleep during the day, sleep longer in the morning or nod off at work for no objective reason, this should lead to thoughts of a malfunction in his body.

Acute or chronic infectious diseases

Asthenia or depletion of the physical and mental forces of the body is characteristic of acute or severe chronic, especially infectious diseases. During the period of recovery from the disease, a person with asthenia may feel the need for longer rest, including naps. The most likely reason for this condition is the need to restore the immune system, which is facilitated by sleep (during which T-lymphocytes are restored). There is also a visceral theory, according to which in a dream the body tests the work of internal organs, which is important after an illness.

Anemia

Close to asthenia is a condition experienced by patients with anemia (anemia, in which the level of erythrocytes and hemoglobin decreases, that is, the blood transport of oxygen to organs and tissues worsens). At the same time, drowsiness is included in the program of hemic hypoxia of the brain (along with lethargy, decreased ability to work, memory impairment, dizziness and even fainting). It is most often manifested (with vegetarianism, bleeding, against the background of latent iron deficiency during pregnancy or malabsorption, with chronic foci of inflammation). B12-deficiency anemia accompanies diseases of the stomach, its resection, starvation, infection with a broad tapeworm.

Atherosclerosis of cerebral vessels

Another reason for oxygen starvation of the brain is. When the vessels supplying the brain with plaques become overgrown by more than 50%, ischemia (oxygen starvation of the cortex) appears. If these are chronic disorders of cerebral circulation:

• then in addition to drowsiness, patients may suffer from headaches
• loss of hearing and memory
• unsteadiness when walking
• in acute disturbance of blood flow, a stroke occurs (hemorrhagic when a vessel ruptures or ischemic when it is thrombosed). The harbingers of this formidable complication can be thought disturbances, noise in the head, and drowsiness.

In older people, cerebral atherosclerosis can develop relatively slowly, gradually worsening the nutrition of the cerebral cortex. That is why in a large number of old age sleepiness during the daytime becomes an obligatory companion and even somewhat softens their death, gradually deteriorating cerebral blood flow so much that the respiratory and vasomotor automatic centers of the medulla oblongata are inhibited.

Idiopathic hypersomnia

Idiopathic hypersomnia is an independent disease that often develops in young people. It has no other cause and is diagnosed by exclusion. A tendency to daytime sleepiness develops. There are moments of falling asleep during relaxed wakefulness. They are not as harsh and sudden. Like narcolepsy. The time for falling asleep in the evening is shortened. Awakening is more difficult than normal, and it can be aggressive. In patients with this pathology, social and family ties gradually weaken, they lose professional skills and ability to work.

Narcolepsy

• it is a variant of hypersomnia with increased daytime sleep
• more restless sleep at night
• episodes of irresistible falling asleep at any time of the day
• with loss of consciousness, muscle weakness, episodes of apnea (respiratory arrest)
• patients are haunted by a feeling of lack of sleep
• hallucinations may also occur when falling asleep and waking up

This pathology differs in that, unlike physiological sleep, the phase of REM sleep occurs immediately and often suddenly without first falling asleep slowly. This is a variant of a lifelong illness.

Increased drowsiness against the background of intoxication

Acute or chronic poisoning of the body, to which the cortex and subcortex are most sensitive, as well as stimulation of the reticular formation, which provides inhibitory processes with various medicinal or toxic substances, leads to severe and prolonged sleepiness not only at night, but also in the daytime.

• Alcohol is the most popular household poison. After the stage of arousal with moderate intoxication (1.5-2.5% 0 alcohol in the blood), as a rule, the stage of sleep develops, before which there may be pronounced drowsiness.
• Smoking, in addition to vasospasm, leads to a deterioration in the supply of oxygen to the cerebral cortex, contributes to constant irritation and inflammation of the inner choroid, which not only provokes the development of atherosclerotic plaques, but also potentiates their cracking with thrombosis of the vascular bed, including cerebral arteries. Therefore, in about 30% of smokers, constant drowsiness and loss of energy are constant companions. But during the quitting of a bad habit, drowsiness can also bother
• Psychotropic substances (neuroleptics,) give pronounced drowsiness, which becomes chronic with prolonged use of drugs or getting used to them. Also, long-term use (especially barbiturates) and high doses leads to drowsiness due to the activation of inhibition processes in the central nervous system.
• Drugs (especially morphine-like drugs) also induce sleepiness.

Oppression of the central nervous system against the background of diseases of internal organs

• Chronic heart failure

• Liver disease

Hepatic cell failure in liver cancer, chronic hepatitis makes it difficult to wash the blood from the products of protein metabolism (see). As a result, the blood begins to contain high concentrations of substances that are toxic to the brain. Serotonin is also synthesized and there is a decrease in sugar in the brain tissue. Lactic and pyruvic acids accumulate, provoking edema of the cortex and hyperventilation of the lungs, resulting in a deterioration in the blood supply to the brain. With increasing poisoning, drowsiness can develop into a coma.

• Intoxication against the background of infections

• Neuroinfection

Neuroinfections against the background of influenza, herpes, fungal infections can be accompanied by headaches, fever, drowsiness, lethargy, and specific neurological symptoms.

• Dehydration

• Mental disorders

Mental disorders (cyclothymia, depression) and neurological diseases can lead to drowsiness.

Endocrine causes

• Hypothyroidism is the most characteristic lesion of the endocrine glands, in which severe drowsiness develops, depletion of emotions and loss of interest in life - this (after surgical or radiation removal of the thyroid gland). A drop in the level of thyroid hormones affects all types of metabolism, so the brain is clearly starving, and the accumulation of fluid in the brain tissue leads to swelling of the convolutions and a deterioration in the integrative abilities of the brain.
• Hypocorticism (adrenal insufficiency) leads to a decrease in blood pressure, increased fatigue, drowsiness, weight loss, decreased appetite, and stool instability.
• Diabetes mellitus not only affects vessels of various sizes (including cerebral ones, but also creates conditions for an unstable carbohydrate balance. Fluctuations of sugar and insulin in the blood (with unbalanced therapy) can lead to both hypo- and hyperglycemic, as well as ketoacidotic) conditions that damage the cortex and cause an increase in encephalopathy, the program of which also includes drowsiness during the daytime.

Brain trauma

Concussion, cerebral contusion, hemorrhage under the meninges or into the brain substance can be accompanied by a variety of disorders of consciousness, including stupor (stupor), which resembles prolonged sleep and can go into a coma.

Sopor

One of the most interesting and mysterious disorders, expressed in the patient falling into a prolonged sleepy state, in which all signs of vital activity are inhibited (breathing is reduced and becomes almost undetectable, the heartbeat slows down, there are no reflexes of the pupils and skin).

Lethargy in Greek means oblivion. There are a lot of legends about those buried alive among the most different peoples. Usually lethargy (which is not a pure dream, but only a significant suppression of the work of the cortex and the autonomic functions of the body) develops:

• with mental illness
• starvation
• nervous exhaustion
• against the background of infectious processes with dehydration or intoxication.

N.V. Gogol suffered from a similar disorder. During his life, he repeatedly fell into prolonged pathological sleep (most likely against the background of neurotic disorders and anorexia). There is a version that the writer, who was bled by stupid doctors against the background of either typhoid fever, or a severe breakdown after starvation and neurosis from the death of his wife, did not die at all, but only fell into prolonged lethargy, about which he was buried , as evidenced by the results of the exhumation, in which the head of the deceased turned to one side and the coffin lid scratched from the inside.

Thus, if you are worried about causeless fatigue, drowsiness, the causes of which are very diverse, you need the most thorough diagnosis and an appeal to a doctor to find out all the circumstances that led to such disorders.