The earliest sign of narcolepsy is extreme drowsiness during the day. This sleep condition might take years before it is identified as recurring drowsiness can be attributed to other causes, but in the case of narcolepsy, the severe sleepiness occurs no matter how much you’ve slept the previous night. Those who have narcolepsy complain of the shortage of energy, fatigue, exhaustion, or a combination of all these.

This severe sleepiness is often referred to as an attack for it occurs suddenly. These normally happen from thirty minutes up to some hours. Whether you have watched the mocie Deuce Bigalow and watched that girl who usually becomes unconscious in the middle of an action for no specific reason, that’s an example of so much narcolepsy. Narcoleptics also have really weak memory and incorrect vision.

According to studies, most narcolepsies are hereditary. The hyphothalamus, which is accountable for keeping the rest of the body alert, is prevented from sending signals to other organs by bad genes. The sad part is, narcolepsy can occur anytime regardless of what you are doing. It does not need a stimulus.

Non-heredity caused narcolepsy can be attributed to a dysfunction with the amygdala. The hypothalamus finds itself not able to function well due to the shortage of the protein called hypocretin.

There remains no cure for narcolepsy right now. But we can take drugs or undergo therapy to remedy the symptoms. What type of treatment is best for you depends on your case.

Drugs like Modafinil, dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine), and methylphenidate (Ritalin) are the most popular drugs to fight narcolepsy, mainly due to their hypocretin content. But the medical community still recommend that they be taken along with improved lifestyle habits. It's useless to take caffeine because it's not effective.

In the end, taking any kind of drug to remedy narcolepsy symptoms requires the close watch and supervision of a physician. Narcolepsy is something that we must take seriously because, if left as it is, it could be morbid. Some patients have even died due to narcolepsy as they had attacks while in an activity.