As someone living with narcolepsy, I know a lot about managing my sleep. Going to bed at the same time, waking up at the same time, consistency, etc. there are a ton of things you can do to improve your quantity and quality of sleep.
That said, I know nearly nothing about *why* a lot of these things are required. To me, for example, it makes no sense that one would feel more rested if they woke up in the morning, versus the night, and yet that’s merely one stipulation to restful sleep; there are a lot more that seem like they don’t make sense.
What I would like to learn from this thread is what chemicals are used, how/why they are produced and consumed, and what can be done to “cure” narcolepsy (given said information about chemicals and whatnot).
In: Biology
Being narcoleptic myself: the current theory is: neurons producing orexin/hypocretin (2 names for the same hormone) are being eliminated by an autoimmune reaction.
And after a threshold the sleep cycle gets disturbed.
The result is early onset REM sleep, I.e. dream phase.
We dream too early and too much, resulting in a lack of deeper sleep phases.
And as that hormone is produced and exclusively used in the brain and spinal fluid we cannot just take a pill to replace it. (Blood brain barrier will be nearly impossible to pass)
There are scientists working on solutions, but I won’t hold my breath.
Tl:dr
It is not melatonin for narcoleptics but Orexin/hypocretin, we dream too much and the blood/brain barrier is a bitch
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