Hypersomnia (cont.)
What Causes Hypersomnia?
There are several potential causes of hypersomnia, including:
- The sleep disorders narcolepsy (daytime sleepiness) and sleep apnea
(interruptions of breathing during sleep)
- Not getting enough sleep at night (sleep deprivation)
- Being overweight
- Drug or alcohol abuse
- A head injury or a
neurological disease, such as multiple sclerosis
- Prescription drugs, such as tranquilizers
- Genetics (having a relative with hypersomnia)
How Is Hypersomnia
Diagnosed?
If you consistently feel drowsy during the day, talk to your doctor.
In making a diagnosis of hypersomnia, your doctor will ask you about your
sleeping habits, how much sleep you get at night, if you wake up at night, and
whether you fall asleep during the day. Your doctor will also want to know if
you are having any emotional problems or are taking any medications that may be
interfering with your sleep.
Your doctor may also order some tests, including blood tests, computed
tomography (CT) scans, and a sleep test called polysomnography. In some cases,
an additional electroencephalogram (EEG), which measures the electrical activity
of the brain, is needed.
How Is Hypersomnia Treated?
If you are diagnosed with hypersomnia, your
doctor can prescribe various drugs to treat it, including stimulants,
antidepressants, as well as several newer medications (for example, Provigil and
Xyrem).
If you are diagnosed with sleep apnea, your doctor may prescribe a treatment
known as continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP. With CPAP, you wear a
mask over your nose while you are sleeping. A machine that delivers a continuous
flow of air into the nostrils is hooked up to the mask. The pressure from air
flowing into the nostrils helps keep the airways open.
If you are taking a medication that causes drowsiness, ask your doctor about
changing the medication to one that is less likely to make you sleepy. You may
also want to go to bed earlier to try to get more sleep at night, and eliminate
alcohol and caffeine.
Reviewed by The Sleep Medicine Center at The Cleveland Clinic.
Edited by
Michael J.
Breus, PhD, WebMD, September 2004.
Portions of this page ©
The Cleveland Clinic 2000-2005
Last Editorial Review: 6/20/2005
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