Excessive Daytime Sleepiness – Homeopathic Medicines for Hypersomnia

Hypersomnia refers to a condition in which a person experiences excessive sleepiness during the day and struggles hard to stay awake during day time. It is also known as excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). Homeopathic medicines for hypersomnia help restore the normal sleep cycle of a person and also manage the attending symptoms like low energy levels, concentration difficulties, irritability, anxiety and restlessness. People having hypersomnia frequently face complaints of low concentration levels, lack of alertness, difficulty in thinking clearly and low energy levels during day time.

Homeopathic Medicines for Hypersomnia

Homeopathic medicines offer great help in cases of hypersomnia. These medicines are of natural origin and are safe to use among people of any age group. They bring about excellent recovery in cases based on the intensity and duration of complaint. Given here are the top 10 homeopathic medicines that are well-indicated for treating hypersomnia cases. One should consult a homeopathic expert for case assessment and prescription and do not self prescribe them in any case.

1. Nux Moschata

Nux Moschata is prepared from powdered seeds of a plant Myristica Fragrans (also called Myristica Officinalis), or Nutmeg. This plant belongs to the family Myristicaceae. It is a top listed medicine to treat cases of hypersomnia. It is indicated when there is great sleepiness and irresistible drowsiness. Person needing it feels sleepy as if he is intoxicated. Sometimes attacks of sleepiness are attended with vertigo. There may be a confusion of mind, impairment of memory, slowness of thinking and sluggish flow of ideas in the mind. Mood changes from laughing and crying and vice versa may also be present. Apart from above it is a prominently indicated medicine for cases of narcolepsy with overpowering sleep.  

2. Gelsemium 

This medicine is prepared from the bark of the root of plant Gelsemium Sempervirens commonly known as Yellow Jasmine of the family Loganiaceae. It is the next prominent medicine for cases of hypersomnia. People needing it are unusually sleepy and drowsy all the time. They have prolonged sleep cycles with difficult waking. They may sometimes wake with a headache. The characteristic features that attend it are marked dullness of mind and tiredness, weakness. They also have confusion of mind and difficulty in thinking. Putting attention and concentration to do any sort of work is difficult for them. Lastly they may have irritability where they don’t wish to speak, anxiety and also tend to get angry easily. 

3. Phosphoric Acid

It is another significant medicine for cases where excessive sleepiness in daytime is present. There is a strong desire to sleep. With this there is dullness and slowness of mind. Confusion of mind with impaired memory accompanies it. The mind gets blank and there is inability to concentrate and focus mind in doing any task. Marked weakness is another main complaint appearing with the above.

4. Arsenic Album

This medicine is effective for people who complain of constant drowsiness. They wake unrefreshed in the morning and always feel as if some more sleep is required. Along with this they suffer from intense tiredness and exhaustion and feel like lying down all the time. Extreme anxiety is another attending complaint that they usually have. Anxiety is mostly about little things, about health or about the future. They also are very restless along with the above symptoms.

5. Agaricus 

This medicine is very helpful when there is excessive drowsiness and weariness during daytime. People requiring it have excessive desire to sleep in the day. They may even feel sleepy soon after getting up from sleep. Sleepiness is also marked while eating or after eating. Along with sleepiness, heaviness of the head is usually present. Tired feeling in the lower limbs is another complaint that attends. 

6. Antimonium Crudum

Antimonium Crudum is beneficial for persons who have great sleepiness during the day. They usually have deep sleep at night but wake unrefreshed in the morning. Waking is hard for them in the morning and they feel very tired, weary at that time. They mostly have a strong desire to sleep in the morning and evening time. Intense irritability of mind appears with sleepiness. It is a well-indicated medicine for excessive drowsiness in elderly people. 

7. Cannabis Indica

This medicine is significant for treating cases of excessive sleepiness. To use this medicine the main symptoms are great desire to lie down in daytime and poor concentration. Mind appears foggy and there is an inability to fix the mind and pay attention to anything. Anxiety may also accompany the above symptoms.

8. Natrum Mur

Natrum Mur is useful medicine for cases where extreme sleepiness in the day is present with frequent yawning. The complaint is most worse in the afternoon. The person needing it feels unrefreshed in the morning. Weakness is excess and is most prominently felt in the morning in bed. There may be some sort of depression present where it is indicated. In this condition sadness, weeping spells, desire for loneliness, aversion to work, dullness and dwelling on the past disagreeable events are additional symptoms.

9. Sepia 

It is used when there is difficulty waking in the morning and no desire to rise. The limbs feel weak at that time. There is sleepiness during the day and people fall asleep soon after sitting down. Sleep does not refresh and leaves the person tired with aching throughout the whole body. Weakness is there sometimes with fainting attacks. Weakness is present on both mental and physical level. Confusion of mind, poor memory are frequent attending symptoms. Irritability and tendency to get offended easily are there.

10. Hydrogen 

This medicine is indicated when a person complains of sudden sleepiness. He feels very sleepy in morning time. He feels the need of frequent short naps during the day. With this excessive weakness and difficult concentration are present among them.

Causes

Hypersomnia can arise from poor sleep at night, conditions causing weakness and tiredness during day. Genetics play a role and a person having a family history of hypersomnia is at risk of developing the same. This condition affects men more than women.

A) In some cases no underlying medical condition is  present behind hypersomnia (primary hypersomnia).

Primary hypersomnia includes following:

1. Narcolepsy – chronic sleep disorder characterized by sudden, uncontrollable attacks of sleep  during day occurring any time regardless of the circumstance often at inconvenient times like while driving.

2. Idiopathic hypersomnia (where no cause is found behind hypersomnia)

3. Recurrent hypersomnia like Klein – Levin syndrome (rare sleep disorder with persistent episodes of hypersomnia, cognitive problems and mood changes).

B) In other cases it arises from some medical condition (secondary hypersomnia).

The medical conditions linked with secondary hypersomnia include following:

2. Some neurological diseases. Some examples of these linked with secondary hypersomnia are as follows:

Parkinson’s Disease – a nervous system disorder with symptoms including rest tremor, slowed movement, rigid muscles, impaired posture and balance and changes in speech changes.

Epilepsy – a brain disorder that causes recurrent seizures which is sudden uncontrolled electrical disturbance in the brain that causes unusual behaviour, movements and sometimes loss of consciousness

8. Kidney Failure

9. Some autoimmune diseases like :

Lupus – In this body’s immune system attacks body’s own tissues and organs causing its Inflammation and it can affect joints, skin, kidneys, brain, heart and lungs.

Rheumatoid Arthritis – a chronic inflammatory disorder in which joint inflammation arise with pain, swelling and stiffness of joints.

11. Mononucleosis – an infection caused by Epstein Barr virus (EBV)

Apart from above the medical conditions, other possible causes linked with secondary hypersomnia are head injury, use of certain medicines (like tranquillisers, antihistamines, anticonvulsants, opioids, antipsychotics, melatonin), withdrawing use of some medicine, excessive alcohol use, excessive smoking and drug abuse.

Symptoms

The major symptoms of this condition are feeling tired constantly, excessive sleepiness during the day and taking frequent and long naps during day which are unrefreshing. People with this condition also have prolonged night time sleep. They have difficulty waking from sleep and feel confused disorientated on waking up. Rest of its symptoms include low energy levels, trouble concentrating, poor performance at work or in school, irritability, anxiety, restlessness, problems with memory, difficulty remembering, slowness of speech, slowness of thinking, trouble thinking clearly , headache and loss of appetite.