This Woman Was Called Lazy For Being Always Tired, Then She Was Diagnosed With A Rare Condition
From a very young age, Alyssa Davis was dealing with a daily struggle - to stay awake. The 26-year-old from North Carolina fought extreme exhaustion for much of her life, dozing off in class or even having to leave to take a nap, and stumbling over in the middle of dance class.
Alyssa would sleep 10, 12, even 14 hours a night and 'bathe in coffee', but still couldn¡¯t fight off the pull of sleep.?
Sleepy since childhood
¡°Ever since I was a little kid, sleep and I haven¡¯t got along. It wasn¡¯t just like having the occasional late night. It was a constant, bone-deep exhaustion that often blurred the edge of my vision,¡± she said.
She was always tired and even her doctors thought that she was just being lazy.
Surprise diagnosis in 2017
But things changed in 2017 when she was asked to take part in a sleep study in which the patient was hooked up to a series of sensors so that experts could analyze their sleep patterns throughout the night.
There she was diagnosed with Idiopathic hypersomnia, an extremely rare medical condition.
What is Idiopathic hypersomnia??
Idiopathic hypersomnia is a central disorder of hypersomnolence, with the primary complaint being the irresistible need to sleep and waking up non-refreshed despite the prolonged duration of sleep.
It is a lifelong condition with no clear cause, affecting only up to 50 in every 1 million people.
Doctors often prescribe stimulants such as Ritalin and modafinil to keep people awake during the day.
Part of first treatment for the condition
However, there could be light at the end of the tunnel for her as she is now undergoing another sleep study to be prescribed the first FDA-approved for the condition.?
This drug is taken at night and is believed to work by affecting the neurotransmitter GABA.?
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