Current Treatments

At present, there is no cure for narcolepsy, however many treatment options are available to help to control the symptoms:

Excessive daytime sleepiness may be treated with stimulant drugs, such as Ritalin (an amphetamine), or with the drug modafinil (Provigil) (ninds.nih.gov).

Cataplexy and other REM-sleep symptoms may be treated with tricyclic antidepressants.

These drugs have the effect of preventing the neurotransmitter norepinephrine from being reabsorbed into cells, so it remains in the synapse and inhibits REM sleep (Hobson 1995).

These drugs may help treat REM-sleep symptoms but will not entirely alleviate them.

Behavioral treatments include regulating sleep schedules, scheduled daytime naps (to prevent sleep attacks), and avoidance of emotional, over-stimulating situations.

 

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