Treatment
Although there has been no cure of chronic hypersomnia, there are several treatments that may improve patients quality of life—depending on the specific cause or causes of hypersomnia that are diagnosed.Because the causes of hypersomnia are unknown, it is only possible to treat symptoms and not directly the cause of this disorder. Behavioral treatments, as well as sleep hygiene, have to be discussed with the patient and are recommended. There are several pharmacological agents that have been prescribed to patients with hypersomnia, but few have been found to be efficient. Modafinil has been found to be the most effective drug against the excessive sleepiness, and has even been shown to be helpful in children with hypersomnia. The dosage is started at 100 mg per day, and then slowly increased to 400 mg per day.In general, patients with hypersomnia or excessive sleepiness should only go to bed to sleep or for sexual activity. All other activities, such as eating or watching television, should be done elsewhere. For those patients, it is also important to go to bed only when they feel tired, than trying to fall asleep for hours. In that case, they probably should get out of bed and read or watch television until they get sleepy. Epidemiology
Hypersomnia affects approximately 5% to 10% of the general population, "with a higher prevalence for men due to the sleep apnea syndromes". See also
Encephalitis lethargica
Reticular formation
Sleep medicine
Somnolence

References
External links

Help: I cant stay awake! - Public Radio Interview with Dr. David Rye
med/3129 at eMedicine - "Primary Hypersomnia"
Pyrantel is a medication used to treat a number of parasitic worm infections. This includes ascariasis, hookworm infections, enterobiasis (pinworm infection), trichostrongyliasis, and trichinellosis. It is taken by mouth.Side effects include nausea, headache, dizziness, trouble sleeping, and rash. A lower dose should be used in people with liver disease. While it does not appear to be harmful during pregnancy, it has not been studied for this use. It is unclear if it is safe for use during breastfeeding. It is in the antihelmintic family of medications. It works by paralyzing worms.Pyrantel was initially described in 1965. It is on the World Health Organizations List of Essential Medicines. Pyrantel is available as a generic medication. It costs less than US$25 per course of treatment in the United States. It may also be used to treat worms in a number of other animals. Pregnancy and breastfeeding
Pyrantel pamoate is considered a pregnancy category C drug for use during pregnancy for humans, but is in category A for canines and felines. Pyrantel is considered safe to use in nursing animals. Mechanism of action
Pyrantel pamoate acts as a depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agent, thereby causing sudden contraction, followed by paralysis, of the helminths. This has the result of causing the worm to "lose its grip" on the intestinal wall and be passed out of the system by natural process. Since Pyrantel is poorly absorbed by the hosts intestine, the host is unaffected by the small dosage of medication used.