Beth Goodier, 22-Year-Old With “Sleeping Beauty Syndrome” Sleeps for Months at a Time.
On her 17th birthday, Beth Goodier fell asleep and didn’t fully wake up for six months. Now, at 22, doctors are still baffled by the condition that causes the young woman to spend most of her time sleeping.
Beth Goodier was diagnosed with Kleine-Levin Syndrome in 2011 after she slept for most of six months, beginning on her 17th birthday. Five years later, her mother says she is asleep about 75 percent of the time.
Goodyear is one of just over 100 people in Britain diagnosed with the rare condition, which is also known as Sleeping Beauty Syndrome.
In 2011, Goodier slept for roughly 22 hours a day for six months, barely waking up only to eat, drink, and use the bathroom. She is still affected by the condition, and according to the Daily Mail, is currently in the middle of another months-long episode of deep sleep.
During an episode, Goodier spends just about all of her time at home in pajamas, but on the rare occasion that she leaves the house, she has to be pushed in a wheelchair because she is too tired to walk. Cosmopolitan reports that upon waking, she is known to use baby speak and throw tantrums, as well. She binge eats junk food and hits the gym, hoping to stay ahead of the decline sleeping so much causes.
Beth’s mother, Janine, 48, says that the only thing she can do is to wait for her daughter’s episodes to end.
“It’s like day and night,” Janine told the Daily Mail. “She might wake up tomorrow and then it’s a race against time to live the life she should have had. She rushes off to catch up with her friends and get her hair done. But no one knows when she might fall asleep again.”
Goodier’s neurologist, Guy Leschziner, called KLS a “devastating condition,” and said that most people diagnosed with the condition tend to grow out of it in roughly 13 years. The majority of those affected by KLS begin showing symptoms as teens.
“It breaks my heart to see the best years of her life slipping away,” Janine told the Daily Mail.
During “an awake phase,” Beth tries to maintain a sense of normalcy by interacting with friends and spending time with her boyfriend, whom she met in 2013.
