Hypersomnia (Symptoms)

Symptoms often develop slowly during adolescence or young adulthood.

• Daytime naps that do not relieve drowsiness
• Difficulty waking from a long sleep -- may feel confused or disoriented
• Increased need for sleep during the day -- even while at work, or during a meal or conversation
• Increased sleep time -- up to 14 - 18 hours per day
Other symptoms may include anxiety, feeling irritated, low energy, restlessness, slow thinking or speech, loss of appetite, and memory difficulty.

Hypersomnia may be symptomatic of

• multiple sclerosis
• depression
• obesity
• chronic fatigue syndrome
• an injury to the central nervous system resulting from head trauma
• a side effect of taking a medication or stopping a medication
• genetics: there may be a genetic predisposition to hypersomnia

Diagnostic Features

• Excessive sleepiness for at least a month, including prolonged sleep episodes or daytime sleep episodes almost daily
• Excessive sleepiness severe enough to cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of life
• Excessive sleepiness does not occur exclusively during the course of another sleep disorder or mental disorder
• Excessive sleepiness is not due to the physiological effects of a substance or a general medical condition