Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is a symptom that may be associated with disorders other than idiopathic hypersomnia (IH), narcolepsy type 1 or 2 (NT1 or NT2), or Kleine-Levin syndrome (KLS). EDS is a strong daytime sleepiness or need to sleep during the day, even with enough sleep the night before.
Depending on your symptoms and other disorder, you may be diagnosed with one of these hypersomnia sleep disorders:
- Hypersomnia associated with a medical disorder
- Narcolepsy type 1 associated with a medical disorder
- Narcolepsy type 2 associated with a medical disorder
- Hypersomnia associated with a mental disorder
These disorders can affect your ability to do daily tasks and cause poor quality of life, similar to IH, NT1, NT2, or KLS.
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Hypersomnia associated with a medical disorder
In hypersomnia associated with a medical disorder, EDS happens because of a medical condition. These conditions include:
| Infectious diseases or their effects, such as: |
| Whipple’s disease |
| Lyme disease |
| Encephalitis and post-infectious syndromes |
| Neurodegenerative diseases, such as: |
| Multiple sclerosis |
| Multiple system atrophy |
| Parkinson’s |
| Alzheimer’s |
| Dementia with Lewy bodies |
|
Other problems that affect your brain, such as: |
| Neurosarcoidosis |
| Brain tumors |
| Head trauma |
| Stroke |
| Epilepsy |
| Migraine |
| Metabolic encephalopathy, including hepatic, renal, adrenal, pancreatic, toxic, and inherited |
|
Other chronic (long-term) diseases, such as: |
| Systemic inflammation, such as from chronic infections, rheumatologic disorders, or cancer |
| Autoimmune or paraneoplastic disorders associated with anti-Ma-2 or anti-aquaporin-4 antibodies |
| POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) |
| Fibromyalgia |
| Endocrine disorders, such as hypothyroidism |
|
Rare genetic disorders (conditions you were born with), such as: |
| Prader-Willi syndrome |
| Myotonic dystrophy |
| Ehlers-Danlos syndrome |
| Moebius syndrome |
| Niemann Pick type C disease |
| DNMT1 mutations |
| Williams syndrome |
| Smith-Magenis syndrome |
| Fragile X syndrome |
| Norrie disease |
Narcolepsy type 1 and 2 associated with a medical disorder
In NT1 and NT2 associated with a medical disorder, the underlying medical disorder is the main cause of EDS, but people also meet the full diagnostic criteria for NT1 or NT2. If you think you have narcolepsy associated with a medical disorder, ask your doctor if you need further testing. The narcolepsy diagnosis can help you get narcolepsy treatments that may help your symptoms.
Hypersomnia associated with a mental disorder
In hypersomnia associated with a mental disorder, EDS and a mental disorder are related. Researchers don’t yet know whether the mental disorder causes the EDS, the EDS causes the mental disorder, or the two are related in another way.
Mental disorders that may be associated include:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Bipolar
- ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity-disorder)
What can help my symptoms?
Treatment for the associated medical or mental disorder may help your hypersomnia symptoms, such as EDS.
To learn more about how you can help your symptoms, visit our web pages:
Learn more
Visit our web page for doctors: “Diagnosis, classification, symptoms, and causes of hypersomnias.”