The Medications For Narcolepsy

12/7/2007 - Medicine and Remedy Do you want to know more about the most effective and available medications for narcolepsy symptoms? Well, you have come to the right place! There are, in fact, a widely scattered group of medications that can be found on different online sites on the internet but I have summarized some of these below for your reference.

Let’s look at the stimulants first. Stimulants like Modafinil, unlike amphetamines, provide fewer sympathomimetic side effects within dosages ranging from 100-400 mg. Methylphenidate-HCl is a generic drug but it can be purchased branded at 5-60 mg dosages so it can be very useful. This drug has a descriptive short duration of action which is better if combined with stimulant medications and scheduled napping. Destroamphetamine-sulfate and methamphetamine-HCl are widely used in the United States due to their more potent and effective characteristics compared to amphetamine. Those are a great place to start but there is more.

Anticataplectic compounds that aid in the decreased cataphexy symptom include venlafaxine, a new antidepressant with slow release that acts on both the serotoninergic and adrenergic systems. Protriptyline at 5-60 mg dosages is a mild stimulant but is associated with side effects like drying of the mouth, constipation, and blurred vision. The most effective anticataplectic drug is the clomipramine. An antidepressant Riboxetine acts on the adrenergic system of our body and produces very positive results. Sodium oxybate and hypnotic Benzodiazepines are also hypnotic compounds that affect with short period of action and still help eliminate EDS. That is quite a list but it should be a good way for you to get started.

It is important to recognize that this summary is only for general information and it does not intend to replace any valuable medical guidance related to sleep disorders. If you suffer from Nardcolepsy, it is important to see a physician. Scientist have openly admitted the difficulty in determining the accurate factors that cause narcolepsy. This disorder is technically defined as an excessive daytime sleepiness and involves sleep attacks called excessive daytime sleepiness or EDS. They are associated with one or more other symptoms such as cataplexy, hallucination, and sleep paralysis. This tetrad of symptoms occurs only in about 10 percent of cases. The duration and severity of the symptoms vary depending on the patient. Understanding Narcolepsy and cataplexy is a great benefit to the sufferers because it affords them the ability to diagnose and treat themselves better. It also helps them to communicate better with a doctor.

Cataplexy is the most common auxiliary symptom associated with this disorder and afflicting over 70 percent of patients. Sleep paralysis and hypnogogic hallucinations are less common but are very frightening experiences as they can involve not only visual aspects but also other senses of the body. Sleep paralysis, on the other hand, occurs in only 30 percent of cases, and the last, hallucination, is present in only 25 percent.

Narcolepsy is a debilitating disorder that causes uncontrollable sleepiness and muscle weakness. The disorder can interfere with a person's ability to work. If you are a student, who suffers from Narcolepsy, you may experience lack of mental alertness and poor performance in school. This is the same with those who are working. Their personal interaction is affected by this condition. In cases where narcolepsy is left untreated, worse symptoms can be experienced and are characterized by microsleep and total paralysis. From a simple case of paralysis experienced only by a certain part of our body to the worst cases of untreated narcolepsy, a total muscular collapse and paralysis may be experienced depending on the patient.

The most recent news is extremely hopeful for Narcolepsy patients. Researchers under the leadership of a professor of molecular genetics, Dr. Masashi Yanagisawa at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, are now claiming to have discovered a new method of treatment for narcolepsy. Just like in movies where mice are used for experiments, the team used some genetically engineered mice with lacking nerve cells in the brain. These nerve cells are responsible for producing the brain chemical Orexin. The method involved introducing this brain chemical to the mice both genetically and by manual injection. It was concluded that without Orexin, the mice exhibited narcoleptic like symptoms including the overpowering sleepiness and cataplexy symptom. With injection of Orexin, the mice returned to full wakefulness. Researchers believe that a lack of the brain chemical Orexin may be the root cause of narcolepsy in humans as well. There is hope on the horizon! With further research it is widely anticipated that a more complete cure for this disorder will soon appear. However, more research and testing will still be necessary before Orexin can be made available to the public.