Sleeping Beauty Syndrome

A person affected by the sleeping beauty syndrome is subjected to excessive amount of sleep for most of the day and night, as well. The person may only wake up for basic necessities such as food and bathroom needs. This condition, a neurological disorder, is also characterized by altered behavior. This is so due to the fact that when the person takes a break from his/her deep and prolonged period of sleep, exhibits a childlike behavior. He/she also exhibits other symptoms, which will be discussed shortly.

Kleine-Levin syndrome has been studied to affect mostly adolescents (most patients happen to be males). In some cases, the disorder shows no symptoms for weeks, months and even for years. Also, the affected person may appear to be perfectly healthy in between occurrence of attacks of the illness. Causes of this syndrome is still a subject of speculation. Some professionals blame it to hereditary predisposition, while some relate it to a result of autoimmune disorder.

What Symptoms are Typical of Sleeping Beauty Syndrome?

So, as I mentioned, after the patient wakes up from his/her deep slumber, he/she may exhibit different kinds of unusual symptoms. Common ones include hypersomnia (defined as an inability to stay awake and a primary symptom of this disorder), altered mental state, confusion, amnesia for what happened, hallucinations, delusions, hypersensitivity to noise and light, disorientation and undergoing a dream-like state. The person may develop an excessive craving for food (may eat anything without much discrimination) and may become aggressive or irritable more often. The patient is usually hard to arouse from sleep and irritability or aggressiveness may become intense if prevented from sleeping. Another important symptom of Kleine-Levin syndrome is a display of uninhibited sex drive or hypersexual behavior, which is seen more on males than in females. This symptom can occur in form of promiscuity, excessive masturbation and several types of inappropriate sexual behavior.

Treatment

The diagnosis of the sleeping beauty syndrome does not come easy. So, if at all a patient is diagnosed with this condition, it must have been after the doctor was able to rule out all sorts of other conditions which could mimic similar symptoms. As mentioned, hypersomnia is a primary symptom of this condition, so most patients are initially maybe put on a treatment procedure for sleeping disorder.

Till now, medical science has not been able to conquer any method which could be used to initiate a proper treatment regime for this condition. For treating the excessive sleepiness, medicines like amphetamines, methylphenidate, and modafinil are administered. These are stimulants which help the person stay awake. However, they may only treat sleepiness and have no influence upon sluggishness or other symptoms, mentioned above. Doctors consider this condition to be similar to bipolar disorder. So, lithium and carbamazepine have been known to be effective in reducing the episodes.

Sleeping beauty syndrome is a very rare disorder and living with it can be a serious affair. Most patients of this disorder suffer from severe cases of depression. The aftereffects which are caused by the symptoms may be debilitating to the quality of life. They may lead to excessive weight gain and other severe situations like being imposed upon by criminal charges due to unrestrained sexual behavior. So, friends and family need to give a great deal of support, love and care to help such patients. The good news is, most patients (about 90%) show mysterious recovery from this illness once they reach their twenties.