Narcolepsy

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Does anyone else have narcolepsy and managed to work out how to explain it to an NT?

I'm positive I have narcolepsy but my NT wife refuses to listen to the idea. I try to explain to her that I can't stop the sleep and she doesn't seem to get it. She's firmly in the 'try harder' camp of dealing with it, which frustrates and depresses me.

I have sudden sleep attacks most of the day, with the worst periods being early afternoon and late evening. Combined with the fact I HATE going to sleep it's a nightmare. No wait, I hate the idea of going to sleep, but love being able to give in to it I guess. The worst part is the evenings, I can just about get most of our kids to bed before it hits me hard again, and then it's chewing into the only time me and my wife have together. So if I even show vague signs of it getting me she starts going 'oh my god you're sleeping already!' and then I just hate myself, or it, I don't know any more.

I've tried to explain to her how much I hate the slow horrible unstoppable feeling of sleep coming, but she still acts like I'm doing something to her or something stupid like that. I've got to the point where I lie and say I'm not tired/not sleeping, when it's obviously a lie, and she knows it, but I hate admitting it because I just fail every time to explain to her how it all feels.

She also thinks that me going to bed at a 'sane' time will help, I get up at 7:30 to feed our kids breakfast, etc, but I don't _want_ to go to bed till about 3 or 4am. Any earlier feels too early. So even when I'm passing out I hate the idea of going to bed. Plus I've tried getting more sleep and it makes no difference. I lie and say it does just to try to make her happier in herself, but it's all BS, it does nothing, I'm just as tired and likely to suddenly doze off.

Not sure where I wanted this to go, or in fact where it went. Guess I just ranted.

Paul

I would think getting more sleep at night would help.

I also think, if you really think it's narcolepsy (or just more generally, some sort of sleep disorder), then go see a doctor about it. Then you have the doctor's word, not just your own. And you also may get treatment. Just because it's not something you choose doesn't mean there's nothing you can do about it.

aren't narcoleptics supposed to fall asleep when emotional? and for a very short time?

I'm not 100% sure about this, but my neighbour's doberman is narcoleptic and he falls asleep whenever he sees a tasty treat or when people come to visit hehe.

might just be fatigue, my cousin had a few car crashes caused by him falling asleep behind the wheel but it turned out he wasn't narcoleptic after all, he just suffered from permanent fatigue and hypersomnia.

best get checked for that, self-diagnosis is worthless

Sometimes I think I have narcolepsy too because I take a lot of medications, and I find myself nodding off during movies, church, etc. without control. But my doctor told me to get 8 hours of sleep a night, and it seems that since then, I don't fall asleep during the day as much. I blame it on the medications.

For me it may be lack of sleep, but really boring things trigger it, and I fall asleep when I really shouldn't. Example include in conference call with boss, in meetings, watching court (I was working there on an internship, and I think the judge saw me sleeping), work, and movies (even Borat!).I try to resist and I can't. Even if I am tired, the rest of the day I may be ok. My eyelids start to feel very heavy and it is a fight to keep them open.

I HATE going to bed (unless really tired) and generally I perk up at night, even if I was a bit tired during the day. Ideal bed time would be 3am.

My sleep pattern is just totally screwed. I'm wide awake in the middle of the night and then feel sleepy at very odd times - but never at 'bedtime'. It is frustrating as my energy levels sink so low sometimes that I can't do anything except the absolute necessities. It is frustrating.

Narco-sleepy topic

My father had narcolepsy, and I used to call the condition narcosleepy when I was much younger.

It was also a contributing factor in his death; no doubt he fell asleep while driving.

I get spells like this also, and it is what puts me to sleep at night. Of course, I get up at 5:30 in the morning to get my teens off to school.

You need to see a doctor.

Narcolepsy is different than tiredness.

I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy two years ago. Before the official dx, people did just think I had poor sleep habits and I wasn't trying hard enough to stay awake. If this is a problem for you I highly suggest seeing a neurologist and getting a sleep study done. ,

I have had at least a dozen sudden transitory sleep attacks over the past forty years usually when I am exposed to tedious material to study which I hate. The attack comes on suddenly and for a minute or two I am stuporous before I fall asleep for ten or more minutes. I had an attack once when I was driving but managed to pull to the side of the road before I fainted or fell asleep. On a recent occasion I fell asleep during a day spent watching videos of furniture I was going to sell. That almost cost me the job on my first day at work. I have never sought a diagnosis of narcolepsy as I already have almost a dozen medical conditions and I don't want to worry about any more. I know this is a stupid attitude but take it or leave it.

Interesting topic! I don't know if it's "narcolepsy", per se, but my wife won't even let me get behind the wheel anymore when we drive from DC down to Florida to visit family, because I've indeed fallen asleep driving numerous times (usually for long stretches - I-95 is a bore!) and swerved the car harzardously when I've awoken. In more practical settings, I can start losing it during meetings, even when directly engaged with the topic. Conversations with my wife can sometimes start tugging on my eyelids involuntarily, too. It's very frustrating when you actually want to stay awake but you can't even force yourself to! Sometimes I'll fall asleep watching a movie I actually want to see and will just keep rewinding and rewinding over the same section like 10 times because I fall asleep at the same spot. The absolute worst and freakiest feeling is when you are essentially "half" asleep and are vaguely aware that you've fallen asleep; I almost feel paralyzed like I can't move my arms or legs and I have to literally "fight" my way (mentally) back to consciousness. I also get paranoid that I've stopped breathing. Does anyone else get that way? Another really wierd thing that happens frequently is that I'll feel like I'm falling and I'll jerk myself awake, sometimes rather violently, even while reading a book or something. I've even done this in public sometimes like on the train (subway). On a couple of occasions, I've fallen asleep standing up on the train and my knees have half-buckled before I catch myself. I'm sure people were wondering 'what's wrong with that guy?'.