![]() ![]() You may be aware of it happening and can recall it afterward. It's usually brief - lasting a few seconds or minutes. During sleep paralysis, you can't move or speak while falling asleep or upon waking. People with narcolepsy often experience sleep paralysis. Not everyone with narcolepsy has these symptoms. Some people with narcolepsy experience only one or two episodes of cataplexy a year. Or your knees may suddenly lose strength, causing you to fall. For example, when you laugh, your head may drop without your control. But sometimes fear, surprise or anger can cause the loss of muscle tone. Laughter or excitement may cause the symptoms. Often the emotions that cause cataplexy are positive. Symptoms may last up to a few minutes.Ĭataplexy can't be controlled. It can cause slurred speech or complete weakness of most muscles. When you awaken, you can't remember what you did, and you probably didn't do it well. You might continue to perform that task while asleep. For example, you may fall asleep while writing, typing or driving. Some people with narcolepsy continue doing a task when they fall asleep briefly. Feeling sleepy makes it hard to focus and function. Daytime sleepiness often is the first symptom to appear. You also may experience a decrease in how alert and focused you feel during the day. After waking, you'll often feel refreshed but you'll get sleepy again. You might fall asleep for only a few minutes or up to a half-hour. It can be especially dangerous if you fall asleep while driving. For example, you may be working or talking with friends and suddenly fall asleep. It may happen when you're bored or during a task. People with narcolepsy fall asleep without warning. They include:Įxcessive daytime sleepiness. SLEEP by Cleveland Clinic is currently available to download for free at the Apple App Store, and plans are underway for conversion to Android.The symptoms of narcolepsy may get worse during the first few years of the disorder. “The sooner we can make these diagnoses the better.” Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer, Director, Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorders Center. “The app helps provide an opportunity for people anywhere using an iPhone to screen yourself for sleep disorders and then share those scores with your primary care doctor,” said Dr. ![]() Sleep problems can even cause serious health issues like high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Lack of sleep can affect happiness and quality of life – limiting productivity at work or school, leading to irritability, mood issues and poor coping skills, complicating personal relationships, and impacting health and safety. Untreated sleep issues can affect physical, emotional and cognitive well-being. ![]() “How are you sleeping?” is her introduction to many conversations, and something she encourages everyone to ask of themselves, their family and friends, and for physicians to ask of their patients. John’s untimely death and a general lack of public awareness for sleep apnea and the consequences if left untreated are the inspiration for Mary’s advocacy. It would be great to know that it did make a difference in somebody else’s life.”Īt age 57, John Schaff died of cardiac arrest just two days before he was to undergo a sleep test to determine a course of treatment for what doctors suspected was causing interrupted sleep and daytime drowsiness – sleep apnea. “That would be my goal right there – to have made a positive difference in somebody else’s life. ![]() For all the work that I have done over the last four years with the help of Cleveland Clinic, all I have wanted to do is make a positive difference in somebody else’s life,” said Schaff. “To hear that this app has saved another person’s life would make me feel very grateful. The app provides resources to learn more about sleep apnea, including finding sleep centers throughout the country. The app offers a scientific sleep assessment tool that can calculate risk of four of the most common sleep disorders affecting sleep patterns and sleep quality in adults. The free smartphone application was created by Cleveland Clinic experts and funded through donations by Mary Schaff, whose husband died of complications from obstructive sleep apnea. and CLEVELAND, OHIO – As Sleep Awareness Week takes place, March 13-19, and World Sleep Day is today, March 18, Sleep Apnea awareness advocate and founder of Our Sleep Apnea Story Mary Schaff, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, has provided support for a new app that launched today by Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorders Center – SLEEP by Cleveland Clinic. ![]()
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