Jimmy Kimmel – Late Night Narcoleptic

Ever fall asleep during a root canal? It might be nice to get a nap in. But, do you need a nap after sleeping all day? That’s narcolepsy for you.

Jimmy Kimmel, host of Jimmy Kimmel Live suffers from narcolepsy.

“When I get on a flight to Vegas, I’ll fall asleep before the plane takes off and wake-up after it’s landed. I’m always very close to sleep. [Yawns.]”

Narcolepsy is a neurological sleep disorder in which the brain loses its ability to maintain normal sleep and wake states, causing excessive sleepiness and frequent daytime sleep attacks lasting from a few seconds to several minutes. In rare cases, sleep attacks extend for an hour or longer.

Other symptoms might include legs buckling, the face drooping and half the body becoming weak, or even paralyzed. Narcolepsy could also cause you to fall asleep in a car or drift during meetings.

Many are misdiagnosed as ADD/ADHD because of difficulty recalling the day before. But instead of taking the average 12 minutes to fall asleep, narcoleptics take 30 seconds to go from zero to zonked.  Narcoleptics run to the couch before losing consciousness, become dead to the world around. Some experience cataplexy, which is involuntary loss of muscle control – paralyzing the body, but not the mind. Some narcoleptics never really feel like they read to the land of the living and awake and are in a constant state of sleepy stupor.

Narcolepsy is brought on by strong emotion — positive or negative. If events becomes a storm that drains energy, then narcolepsy induces misery. It is treatable, thought most rely on expensive stimulant medications to survive the day.

Sleep specialist suggest amphetamines, Provigil or Nuvigil, which are basically prescribed speed. They make work to a certain extent, but their long-term safety have not been determined. Other “newer” drugs are supposedly better, more concentrated in the brain to stimulate wakefullness. However, this just means your blood is carrying this concentrated drug everywhere inside your body, exposing it to toxicity – even before you “wake-up!”

There are no “quick fixes” for narcolepsy, especially since doctors don’t truly understand narcolepsy – and therefore can’t cure it. To alleviate the fatigue and drowsiness, try B-complex supplement in the morning and liquid B-complex when the sudden urge to fall asleep occurs. Vitamin D can also help regulate body’s sleep rhythm.

Counter measures for narcoleptics include dietary changes and supplements:

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  Avoid processed foods
• Avoid unnecessary dairy
• Avoid genetically modified fruits or veggies
• Avoid bleached sugar and high fructose corn syrup
• Maintain regular protein intake
• Juice for usable vitamins and enzymes
• Use filtered water
• Avoid large meals, instead choose 5 smaller meals through out the day
• Mix 1 tsp cayenne with juice to combat sleepiness
• Take about 2,000 mg of calcium everyday before you go to bed
• Take 500 mg of magnesium twice during the day and then once before bedtime

Additionally, regular sleep patterns on a fixed schedule reinforce restful sleep for narcoleptics. Wake-up and sleep at the same time every day, as well as eat at the same time. Reserve your bed for sleep only to condition your mind that being in bed means being asleep.

Jimmy Kimmel explains narcolepsy feels like “somebody’s gently sitting on your brain. You have almost no focus. All you’re thinking about is not falling asleep.”

On that note, time to try to go back to bed.. *YAWN* Nighty-night!

 

 

 

Quotes taken from http://www.jimmykimmel.net/articles/esquire0803.htm