Idiopathic hypersomnia (IH) is a chronic disabling disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), prolonged nighttime sleep and sleep inertia. IH is a rare disorder, estimated around 0.05%, yet its true prevalence remains unknown. Disease onset occurs most often during young adulthood and is accompanied by severe social, professional and economic impairments, resulting in risk of accident and a loss in patient's quality of life. There are no ANSM (or FDA-) approved treatments for IH symptoms.
IH shares common features with delayed sleep-wake phase disorder (DSWPD) which is a chronic circadian rhythm disorder which occurs as in IH during young adulthood. The combination of evening melatonin and morning bright light therapy is the most effective validated chronotherapy in DSWPD.Moreover, bright light therapy has direct effects and is known to increase daytime alertness and to improve mood.
Melatonin is empirically used in routine clinical practice in patients with IH and French and European recommendations mention melatonin as a possible treatment of sleep inertia in IH.
. Our goal is to bring a proof of concept of a safe therapeutic practice for IH combining exogenous melatonin and bright light therapy in
Male or female patient
Age ≥ 18 and ≤ 40 years at signature of informed consent form
Diagnosed with Idiopathic hypersomnia in a reference/competence center of hypersomnia rare disease network according to ICSD-3 criteria (International classification of sleep disorders) with symptoms lasting since >3 months and a total sleep time ≥11hours objectified with a 24h continuous polysomnography realized during the last 12 months
Patient with stable medication in the month preceding inclusion and throughout the 10 weeks of participation to the study (except for drugs excluding participation. See list below).
Criteria related to the underlying disorder (other forms of hypersomnia or sleep disorder)
Other primary or secondary hypersomnia (narcolepsy, Kleine-Levin syndrome, post-traumatic hypersomnia, hypersomnia due to medication or substance abuse…)
Other intrinsic sleep disorder according to ICSD-3 criteria (sleep apnea syndrome, restless legs syndrome, insomnia)
Significant psychiatric comorbidities (current severe depressive episode based on the DSM-V criteria, risk of suicide, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder).