Treatment For Excessive Daytime Sleepiness

A clinical doctor specializing in treatment for excessive daytime sleepiness (i.e. inability to stay awake), would always be interested in how their patients have tried to solve their daytime sleepiness before coming in for a visit. You probably wouldn't believe some of the self-treatment stories they have heard over the years, but one thing is for sure: Excessive sleepiness in the daytime is a dangerously serious sleep disorder, and it warrants as much medical attention as chest pains.

One of the problems they have with first time patients is getting to the root of the disorder. They'll come in their office complaining of all sorts of health symptoms (like failing to stay awake for example) - with some of them even a little debilitating. But after questioning their busy lifestyles, the doctor starts to get a glimpse into their sleeping habits. Just this small window into such a private time paints a larger picture of the problem. For example, he'll ask them questions commonly found on the epworth sleepiness scale. The epworth sleepiness scale is a chart that measures how likely a patient is to sleep during different activities - activities in which they should normally remain awake.

Following this epworth interrogation if you will, the Doctor will continue to build a diagnosis based on health information forwarded by their regular physicians. Nine times out of ten, the Doctor finds a health condition that is known to contribute to a patient's excessive sleepiness in the daytime. With additional circadian tests, the Doctor is able to prescribe a sleep disorder treatment and monitor how that patient responds until a long-term efficacy is found.