Managing Your Idiopathic Hypersomnia (IH)

Not everyone’s Idiopathic Hypersomnia is the same. It’s important that your treatment plan is tailored to your own unique combination of symptoms.

Your doctor may suggest different approaches to help manage your Idiopathic Hypersomnia. These include following good sleep habits, diet and exercise, working with a therapist or counselor, and taking a prescription medication.

Treating Idiopathic Hypersomnia with medication

Make sure you share with your doctor all of the Idiopathic Hypersomnia symptoms affecting you—excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), sleep inertia, brain fog, long unrefreshing naps, and long sleep times—so that together, you can find the right medication.

Some kinds of medications—such as stimulants—are used to treat daytime sleepiness in other conditions. Doctors will sometimes prescribe them for use in Idiopathic Hypersomnia, too. This is called “off-label” use.

That said, remember that Idiopathic Hypersomnia has multiple symptoms, beyond just feeling sleepy during the day. So be sure to share with your doctor all of the ways Idiopathic Hypersomnia may be affecting you.

Tracking your idiopathic hypersomnia symptoms

For most, Idiopathic Hypersomnia is a lifelong condition, and symptoms may change over time. Tracking your symptoms on an ongoing basis can help you and your doctor better evaluate, understand, and address these changes.

Use these 2 useful tools to help you monitor your Idiopathic Hypersomnia symptoms over time:

The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) measures your level of daytime sleepiness.

Download ESS

The Idiopathic Hypersomnia Severity Scale (IHSS) was specifically designed to measure the frequency and severity of your Idiopathic Hypersomnia symptoms.

Download IHSS

Be sure to ask your doctor about these tools and discuss your results together.