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
[removed]
Sleep is a very complex biological function and we as humans don’t perfectly understand it, but probably the most critical factor in its timing is hormones. The release of melatonin signals to your body that it’s time to recharge with sleep, and it makes you feel drowsy. Before we had enclosed houses, humans evolved so that the release of natural melatonin from your pineal gland is largely regulated by your exposure to light, namely sunlight. Hence, we get tired when it becomes nighttime.
Perhaps for your narcolepsy there is a drug that exists that inhibits the release of melatonin for the right amount of time to regulate your sleep cycle. I personally don’t have narcolepsy, but I’ve recently been experimenting with taking a CBD gummy with 3mg melatonin in it (before I’m even very tired), and I can usually manage to go to sleep 10 minutes later pretty easily, and once I make it to an hour post-gummy, my brain is sleeping whether I like it or not.
There are a lot of parts of the brain involved in sleep and arousal.
One part is the eyes themselves. There are specialized cells called ipRGCs (intrinsically photoreceptive retinal ganglion cells) that are not involved in vision, but send signals that it’s daytime and you should be awake. They do this by reducing the amount of melatonin that is released. The ipRGCs send signals to a part of the brain called the SCN (suprachiasmatic nucleus) that regulates the pineal gland, which is where melatonin is produced and released. If you try to wake up at night then the ipRGCs don’t send the signal to the SCN and so melatonin is not suppressed.
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
Latest Answers