Is there a diagnosis or remedy for someone who falls asleep whenever he or she sits down?

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I have actually fallen asleep when I had gotten back in the car while I was putting gas in the car. It sounds like sleep apnea. It can be debilitating. It had destroyed my health. The narcolepsy is a remote possibility. A sleep study can diagnosis the problem. Wearing a CPAP machine at night is a real pain, but it does work. Believe me, sleep apnea can develop into a very serious illness. My sleep study revealed that I was stopping breathing on the average of 15 times an hour throughout the entire night. Don't ignore this.

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It does sound like sleep apneoa. We all learnt about narcolepy in Med School but my understanding is that it is exceedingly rare. Sleep apneoa is probably quite common and typically affects the truck driver coming the other way. Do you have a partner who notices that you sleep very fitfully, with long periods 30-45 sec of not breathing followed by a loud snore. This goes on all night and your partner may have moved to another room or left you. This can be treated by positive pressure ventilation through a mask during the night.

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Hi Val

This sounds very much like a condition called narcolepsy. Here, people have a tendency to fall asleep in quiet, calm surroundings or even during mundane tasks, at an abnormal rate.

It may also be associated with a sudden loss of muscle tone resulting in collapse, or sleep paralysis. Some people report vivid hallucinations in the moments before they sleep, although some patients do not experience any of these other symptoms.

Narcolepsy affects as many as 1 in every 2000 people and is probably due to the lack of a substance called hypocretin in the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord.

Unfortunately, narcolepsy is not that easy to treat. Drugs such as dexamfetamine, or a low dose of tricyclic antidepressants may be of some benefit - speak to your doctor.

Hope that is of some use, best of luck!

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I'm wondering if low blood sugar could play a part in this problem. Or how about just being under too much stress so when you finally quit moving, you fall asleep?

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Sleep apnea can deprive you of ever having a good nights sleep. This can cause one to fall asleep very easily while doing simple tasks such as driving or even waiting for a page to come up on the computer. Usually the afflicted snores when asleep. A good thing to rule out if nothing else. Any ear, nose and throat doc can help. The condition can be treated and greatly improve your well being. Ignoring this condition can cause high blood pressure and other health problems, including death.

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It could also be that you have a partner who snores, comes in late, or turns on the light while you are sleeping? Noise and light are known to reduce the quality of sleep, as well as caffeine and pseudo-ephedrine. Even though you are asleep, apparently two hours of sleep without caffeine or Nyquil in your system are better for you than four hours of sleep on cold medication. I know it's hard to find time, but you should REALLY try to get two hours more sleep a night, and try to make sure it's QUALITY sleep. If you find you can't sleep in bed, even if you're really tired, the next day you should try going for a jog. You may be surprised how much just fifteen minutes of exercise can improve sleep!

In other words sleep deprivation could cause some to fall asleep while sitting or doing some tasks.

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