Parasomnias occur during the deep stage of sleep called Delta Sleep. All three types have many similarities and may occur in the same patient. Parasomnias are a group of sleep disorders that typically start in childhood and include three types: Sleep walking, Night Terrors and Confusional Arousals. However, in some patients, cataplexy is so severe that patients collapse on the floor. Patients will feel their head drop slightly or their knees buckle when they hear a funny joke. Cataplexy is frequently mild and affects either the neck or knees. Cataplex consists of sudden loss of muscle tone that happens when the patient has an emotional reaction, such as laughter or surprise. In addition, some patients with narcolepsy also experience a symptom called cataplexy. REM intrusions and sleep paralysis frequently occur at the same time which makes the experience fairly scary. In addition, patients may feel their bodies paralyzed as they start to fall asleep or as they wake up. Typically, patients with Narcolepsy experience REM intrusions when they are in bed ready to fall asleep, or when they wake up. In this case, patients experience visual hallucinations because they start dreaming while they are still awake. In fact, sometimes they go into REM sleep before even falling asleep. Patients with Narcolepsy go into REM sleep much sooner, sometimes as soon as they fall asleep. Normally, after we fall asleep, it takes about 90 minutes before we go into REM sleep. Patients with Narcolepsy have an abnormally strong tendency to go into REM sleep. Our muscles became paralyzed to prevent us from acting out our dreams.

REM is the stage of sleep during which we dream. Narcolepsy is a disorder that affects a very important stage of sleep, called Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. Sometimes, the urge to fall asleep is so strong, that patients are unable to fight it. Patients are typically tired and sleepy throughout the day and have a strong tendency to fall asleep. Narcolepsy is a sleep disorders characterized primarily by excessive sleepiness.

Deep sleep disorder