Narcolepsy, a chronic sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness, sudden sleep attacks, sleep disruptions, hallucinations, sleep paralysis, and cataplexy, often goes unnoticed until the symptoms become unbearable and hard to ignore. Just ask Alyssa Walker, a 27-year-old flight attendant from Houston, Texas, who suffers from the disease.
The two main types of narcolepsy are Type-1 and Type-2. Alyssa has Type-1 narcolepsy, which is hereditary. In high school, she was very active and involved in extracurricular activities such as track and field, dance, and pageant practice. Alyssa attributed her symptoms to her active lifestyle, but it wasn’t until she began college that she realized that something was wrong. The symptoms of Type 1 narcolepsy made the demands of Alyssa’s college education hard to navigate. To her friends, Alyssa was a social butterfly and full of energy. In reality, Alyssa was always tired, oversleeping, showing up late to class, irritable, and overwhelmed with school work. She cried most of the time for no reason and stopped vising her parents because she couldn’t make the long drive to see them without falling asleep at the wheel.
In her sophomore year, Alyssa failed all of her classes and lost her jobs. She finally went to her primary care physician with her concerns and was diagnosed at 20 years of age. Alyssa decided to tackle her narcolepsy symptoms with exercise, medication, and lifestyle changes, you can now also try the new and Natural Remedies for Narcolepsy. She learned to listen to her body signals to figure out what works and what doesn’t. She incorporated fitness into her daily routine.
To combat daytime sleepiness, she changed her diet by reducing her portion sizes and limiting sugar, carbohydrates, and fried foods. Ultimately, she became vegan and saw encouraging results. Alyssa takes a prescription medication, which helps to regulate her sleep. Alyssa credits lifestyle management and her medication to relieving her narcolepsy symptoms. While she is concerned about passing the condition to her future children, she is confident that her ability to manage her symptoms will enable her to be a good mother.
After graduating college, Alyssa became a flight attendant. One might think that narcolepsy may be problematic for her job, but it seemed to work out for Alyssa because she has learned how to manage life with narcolepsy.
