Hypersomnia And Its Causes: Here Are 12 Symptoms You Should Be Aware Of

Hypersomnia is a condition due to which a person may feel sleepy all the time in recurrent episodes, even during the day. Let us learn all about this condition, its symptoms and possible causes.

Are you constantly struggling with sleepiness during the day even after sleeping at night? If despite taking naps and sleeping on time at night, you are unable to feel fresh and awake for days on end, you may be suffering from a condition called hypersomnia. In order to detect this disorder, you need to detect its symptoms properly. If you are sleepy during the day because of overwork, burnout, lack of sleep and fatigue, this may not indicated hypersomnia as the cause. This may simply be because of poor mental health and exhaustion. However, symptoms of hypersomnia show even after a human being gets enough or more than enough sleep at night. It is best to get this condition diagnosed because otherwise it may impact a person's productivity, personal and professional life, and mental and physical health. Let us look at the symptoms.

12 Symptoms Of Hypersomnia

Let us dive into the symptoms of hypersomnia as described by the Journal Medical News Today:

1. A person may feel constantly sleepy during the day and may experience recurrent episodes of the same.
2. Extreme sleepiness is a symptom
3. A person may be sleeping for more than 10 hours and yet not feel fresh, awake and face difficulty staying awake and alert during the day.
4. You may face serious difficulty waking up in the morning or waking up from naps in the evening. This is also called sleep drunkenness. After you wake up, you may feel confused.
5. Naps are useless for people with hypersomnia, it does not impact their energy or alertness at all.
6. Irritability and anxiety.
7. Headache
8. Loss of appetite
9. Hallucinations
10. Restlessness
11. Very low energy
12. Slow thinking, slow speech, inability to focus/concentrate, memory problems.

What Causes Hypersomnia?

As per Journal Medical News Today, there are two types of hypersomnia, the first one being primary hypersomnia. This is a condition on its own and is not triggered or impacted by any other underlying conditions in the body. For example; Narcolepsy type 1, Narcolepsy type 2, Kleine-Levin syndrome, and Idiopathic hypersomnia.

The second type of hypersomnia is called secondary hypersomnia. This is the condition that we need to be more cautions about because it is influenced by some other condition that already exists in the body. This condition can be triggered by hypothyroidism, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, obstructive sleep apnea, delayed sleep phase syndrome, multiple sclerosis, obesity, mood disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, and insufficient sleep syndrome. In some cases hypersomnia can also be cause by poor lifestyle such as drug addiction or alcohol. In order to understand what is causing your symptoms, it is very important that you visit a doctor immediately and get to the bottom of it.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not vetted by an expert. If you suspect to be suffering from hypersomnia, please consult a health expert.