Menstruation-related periodic hypersomnia: a case study with successful treatment

• Published in: Neurology Vol. 32; no. 12; p. 1376
• Main Authors: Sachs, C, Persson, H E, Hagenfeldt, K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.12.1982
• Subjects: Adolescent; Contraceptives, Oral, Combined - therapeutic use; Disorders of Excessive Somnolence - diagnosis; Disorders of Excessive Somnolence - drug therapy; Disorders of Excessive Somnolence - physiopathology; Female; Humans; Lynestrenol - therapeutic use; Menstruation; Mestranol - therapeutic use; Ovulation; Sleep Wake Disorders - physiopathology; Contraceptive Agents; Biology; Hormones; Urogenital System; Reproduction; Oral Contraceptives, Combined; Contraceptive Methods; Genital Effects, Female; Physiology; Oral Contraceptives; Contraceptive Agents, Female; Ovulation Suppression; Genitalia; Menstruation; Laboratory Examinations And Diagnoses; Reproductive Control Agents; Contraception; Family Planning; Examinations And Diagnoses; Ovulation; Genitalia, Female; Diseases; Menstruation Disorders; Treatment; Mestranol; Lynestrenol; Contraceptive Mode Of Action; Dysmenorrhea; Urogenital Effects
• ISSN: 0028-3878
• DOI: 10.1212/wnl.32.12.1376

A 16-year-old girl suffered from 1 to 2-week periods of hypersomnia associated with each menstruation. Serum hormone levels were normal. CSF concentrations of homovanillic acid and 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid were lower in hypersomniac than in symptom-free phases. 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethylene glycol was not affected. The sleep periods occurred only in connection with ovulatory menstrual cycles. When ovulation was inhibited by a combination of ethinylestradiol and lynestrenol, an oral contraceptive pill, the hypersomnia ceased. Thus, the hypersomnia seemed to be linked to the occurrence of ovulatory menstruations.