Health Information

Treatments for Narcolepsy

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The treatment and management of narcolepsy involves lifestyle changes and medications.

The goals of treatment include:

  • Improving daytime alertness
  • Minimizing or eliminating troublesome symptoms such as cataplexy, hallucinations at the beginning or end of sleep, and sleep paralysis

Treatment involves the following:

Lifestyle changesMedications

At this time, there are no surgical procedures for the treatment of narcolepsy.

Revision Information

  • Reviewer: Rimas Lukas, MD
  • Review Date: 09/2012 -
  • Update Date: 00/91/2012 -
  • Goetz CG, Pappert EJ. Textbook of Clinical Neurology . Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders Company; 1999.

  • Narcolepsy. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. National Institutes of Health website. Available at: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/nar/nar%5Fwhat.html . Updated November 2008. Accessed April 7, 2009.