Thoughts of a Narcoleptic Mind

Cataplexy, it is quite the unique condition. It manifest itself in different ways for different people. For some it lasts seconds, with almost complete paralysis. For some it can go for upward of an hour. The latter dedcribes mine. For most attacks are triggered by emotions. For others, they can just come out of the blue. Again, the latter would be me. Most would call my attacks atypical. Either way, no matter how they manifest for different individuals, it is quite debilitating. While I can't speak for other people with Narcolepsy, I can attempt to give some insight on what it is like for me. When a Cataplexy Attack occurs, you are essentially losing muscle control. You have no say so whatsoever over your bodies actions. I mentioned earlier, for some it is complete paralysis. Mine have been called mild because I do have some control. I know when they are coming and I can lay or sit down to keep from falling. Now while some say mild, there is nothing mild about how horrible my body...

Narcolepsy is such an unpredictable illness, in that you never know what symptoms will pop up when. While EDS is a constant, you just never know when a hallucination might strike. For some, exploding head syndrome can hit at a moment's notice. Cataplexy, well that is just a whole other ballgame. You also have the ever scary sleep paralysis. While sleep paralysis is not exclusive to Narcolepsy, it is likely to be much more common if you have Narcolepsy. With that being the case, a PWN (person with Narcolepsy) is much more likely to have heard many of the ridiculous theories associated with sleep paralysis. I myself have heard, "Just pray about it." or things like you need to block those evil spirits. It is amazing that so many people don't realize that there is a perfectly valid, physiological reason people suffer from sleep paralysis. Here is a simple explanation of sleep paralysis. During the process of falling asleep, or waking up one of the sleep cycles your b...