Embarrassing Illnesses

In order to make a diagnosis of narcolepsy, your GP will look carefully at both your medical and family history. They will ask you about your sleeping habits and about any other symptoms that you may be experiencing.

Ruling out other conditions

Narcolepsy is sometimes a difficult condition to diagnose. Its symptoms can often be attributed to other conditions, such as anaemia or epilepsy.

As the symptoms of narcolepsy often first appear during your teenage years, your symptoms may be mistakenly attributed to 'typical teenage behaviour'. For example, if you fall asleep in class, it may be assumed that it is because you are staying up too late at night or that you are lazy.

In order to make a correct diagnosis, your GP may have to perform several tests to help rule out any other possible conditions. For example, you may require a blood test or an X-ray.

Analysing your sleep

To confirm a suspected case of narcolepsy, you will normally have to undergo an in-depth analysis of your sleep patterns. In order to do this, your GP will refer you to a specialist in sleep disorders. There are a number of ways in which your sleep can be analysed, some of which are outlined below.

Epworth sleepiness scale

The Epworth sleepiness scale is a special questionnaire which is given to patients to help analyse which situations make them feel sleepy.

In filling out the questionnaire you must rank the likelihood of you falling asleep in situations such as sitting and reading, watching television or being a passenger in a car. Your specialist can then look at your answers to help determine whether you are unusually drowsy or whether your sleep pattern is fairly normal.

Polysomnogram

A polysmnogram will usually involve an overnight stay at a special facility in order to measure your sleep patterns. During your night-time sleep, several different parts of your body will be carefully monitored, such as your heart, brain, muscles and eyes.

Before you fall asleep, electrodes (small flat metal discs) are placed onto your scalp, chin and outer edges of your eyelids. They may also be attached to your chest, allowing your breathing rate and heart rate to be monitored. In some facilities, a video camera may also be used to record your movements during sleep.

After you have slept, a specialist will analyse your results to see whether you have normal brain wave and breathing patterns as well as muscle and eye movement.

Multiple sleep latency test

A multiple sleep latency test is a way of measuring how long it takes for you to fall asleep during the day. You may have this test after your polysomnogram.

If you have a multiple sleep latency test, you will usually be asked to have several naps throughout the day and a specialist will analyse how quickly and easily you fall asleep. If you have narcolepsy you will normally fall asleep easily and enter rapid eye movement (REM) sleep very quickly.