What should I do if I forget to take the medicine?ĭon’t worry. Your consultant will want you to reduce your dose gradually if you need to stop treatment.

Stopping suddenly can cause unwanted side effects and severe cataplexy attacks. Keep taking the capsules until your consultant tells you otherwise.

Swallow the capsules whole with a drink of water. Clomipramine can be taken with or without food. How do I take the medicine?įor the treatment of cataplexy, clomipramine is taken 1 a day at bedtime. Clomipramine works by interfering with certain chemicals in the brain which may be involved in causing the symptoms of cataplexy. It can be used to treat cataplexy in narcolepsy. What is clomipramine?Ĭlomipramine belongs to a group of medicines called anti-depressants. Muscle weakness can vary in severity, and cataplexy attacks can differ in both type and how long they last for. This can be triggered by strong emotions such as: You can also have sleep attacks where you fall asleep at inappropriate times during the day without any warning.Ĭataplexy is a condition associated with narcolepsy that results in sudden muscle weakness. Disability Evaluation Under Social Security.Narcolepsy is a long-term condition which causes excessive sleepiness during the day and may disrupt your sleep at night. Narcolepsy in the Workplace: Considerations for Employers and Employees. Untangling narcolepsy and diabetes: Pathomechanisms with eyes on therapeutic options. Mohammadi S, Dolatshahi M, Zare-Shahabadi A, Rahmani F. Best known as a sleep disorder, narcolepsy may also impact heart health.

Current understanding of narcolepsy 1 and its comorbidities: what clinicians need to know. National Organization for Rare Disorders, Inc. H1N1 infection of sleep/wake regions results in narcolepsy-like symptoms. The physiological role of orexin/hypocretin neurons in the regulation of sleep/wakefulness and neuroendocrine functions. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. This can not only contribute to obesity but raise your risk of developing diabetes.Īmerican Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Obesity and diabetes: Narcolepsy is associated with a higher body mass index (BMI), in part due to lower levels of hypocretin (which plays a role in regulating food intake).

Psychiatric conditions: People with narcolepsy are more likely to develop depression and anxiety, partly because of the effects of excessive daytime sleepiness on their quality of life.

One possible reason is because the lower levels of hypocretin common in narcolepsy inhibit the body’s ability to lower its blood pressure during sleep, among other reasons.

Heart disease: Narcolepsy can lead to hypertension and high cholesterol, both of which can affect your heart health, and are tied to a higher risk of stroke and heart attack.

Obstructive sleep apnea: Adults and children with narcolepsy are more likely to have sleep apnea, and the crossover in symptoms-particularly excessive daytime sleepiness-can make it hard for people to get the right diagnosis.

Hallucinations: When falling asleep or waking up, people with narcolepsy may have intense and startling sensory hallucinations.

REM sleep is the phase of sleep in which dreams usually occur.

Sleep paralysis: People with narcolepsy are more likely to experience episodes of sleep paralysis, a phenomenon where you are cognitively awake but your body remains locked in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, unable to move for several seconds to minutes.

They often don’t sleep well, either failing to stay asleep or can’t fall asleep at all. Insomnia: Although people with narcolepsy have excessive daytime sleepiness, nighttime sleep is often fragmented and poor.Not everyone with narcolepsy has episodes of cataplexy. Cataplexy can be mild or severe, but most episodes only last a few minutes. These episodes are usually preceded by strong emotions, like joy, fear, or anger. It makes people with type 1 narcolepsy feel weak and unable to control their movements. Cataplexy: Cataplexy is the sudden loss of muscle tone.This sleepiness can lead to “sleep attacks,” or the characteristic symptom of dropping off to sleep without warning, regardless of the environment. Excessive daytime sleepiness: Everyone diagnosed with narcolepsy experiences excessive daytime sleepiness no matter how much sleep they get, or how long it's been since they last slept, people with narcolepsy may never feel refreshed.

Severe cataplexy attack