Pioneers Treating Sleep Disorders, Including Narcolepsy

Norton Sleep Center specialists have been leaders treating sleep disorders, including narcolepsy, for the Louisville and Southern Indiana area for more than 40 years.

The right treatment can manage narcolepsy symptoms. Narcolepsy is a chronic disorder in which the brain can’t control when you sleep and when you are awake.

The most notable narcolepsy symptom is excessive sleepiness during the day and falling asleep during the day

Narcolepsy symptoms also can include sudden muscle weakness during an intense emotion, an inability to talk or move while falling asleep or waking up (sleep paralysis) and hallucinations.

Narcolepsy is manageable with medications and lifestyle changes. Proper treatment can lead to better sleep and reduce daytime sleepiness.

Narcolepsy often develops in the teen years and may not be recognized immediately as a neurological disorder. Most patients with narcolepsy have a deficiency of the neurotransmitter orexin in the brain. Norton Sleep Center specialists have easy access to  neurologists at Norton Neuroscience Institute to bring multiple viewpoints to your case.

To diagnose narcolepsy, your Norton Sleep Center specialist likely will arrange an overnight sleep study (polysomnography) and possibly daytime nap testing.

We have the most experienced group of certified American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) specialists in Louisville or Southern Indiana, including David H. Winslow, M.D., pulmonologist and sleep medicine physician with Norton Pulmonary Specialists and Norton Sleep Center.

Dr. Winslow has been a pioneer in sleep medicine and was one of the first certified sleep medicine doctors in the country. He and his colleagues are the reason patients are referred to Norton Sleep Center from all over the country.

As a part of Norton Healthcare, our specialists have access to a network of providers, including neurologists, to collect a broad range of opinions about your condition. Because sleep disorders often affect other aspects of your health, it’s important to take a multidisciplinary approach to sleep treatment.

A Precise Diagnosis and Customized Treatment Plan

Our four state-of-the-art, AASM-certified sleep centers offer daytime and nighttime testing in our comfortable private rooms. The overnight test — a polysomnogram — measures brain waves, oxygen levels, muscle movement, eye movement and more. The daytime test is the multiple sleep latency test to measure how quickly you fall asleep and whether you enter rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

With that information, our sleep medicine specialists can make an accurate diagnosis and begin your comprehensive treatment plan.

Norton Sleep Center: Comprehensive Care That Fits Your Schedule

Norton Sleep Center locations are staffed with fellowship-trained and board-certified physicians and sleep technologists who are experienced in diagnosing and treating a variety of sleep disorders.

• All locations are accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine — the gold standard for evaluating sleep medicine services.
• We offer home sleep studies, inpatient sleep testing and a full suite of treatment options.
• Our state-of-the-art sleep labs offer private, comfortable testing suites with full- or queen-size beds and showers. Sleep studies can be scheduled seven nights a week.
• Our team of providers has more than 200 years’ collective experience diagnosing and treating sleep disorders.
• We have four convenient locations: Norton Audubon Hospital campus, Norton Brownsboro Hospital campus, Pleasure Ridge Park and on Newburg Road.
• We work with patients in the transportation industry and the U.S. Department of Transportation to assist with required verifications to show sleep therapy compliance.
• Our physicians specialize in diagnosing sleep disorders and giving you a personalized treatment plan.
• Our sleep apnea treatment experience includes continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP), CPAP alternatives such as oral devices, and Inspire upper airway stimulation.