What does cataplexy feel like? (Narcolepsy questions)

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I'm fairly certain I have narcolepsy. I dream all night and always remember my insane dreams (often lucid), I start dreaming before I'm even asleep yet (I think this is hypnogogic hallucinations) and regularly get sleep paralysis. I never wake up feeling rested and sometimes during the day I suddenly feel the desperate need to sleep. If I sit or lie down and close my eyes I'll drift off immediately. Sometimes it's only for a few seconds and sometimes for a lot longer, but I always dream even if it's just a few seconds. If I start to fall asleep and am woken up I get very disoriented. I am able to stay awake if I really try (although it's very difficult and I can't feel properly awake until I am finally able to drift off for at least a few seconds), so I must not have a severe case. I only recently learned that you can have narcolepsy even if you're able to resist falling asleep during the day or have trouble falling or staying asleep at night.

I suspect I have automatic behaviors sometimes. I regularly sort of snap to full attention and realize I can't actually remember doing what I obviously just did (walking part of the way somewhere, putting shampoo in my hair in the shower, etc.), although I'm not positive if it's automatic behavior or just my focus drifting to something else, or my poor working memory.

I think I might get cataplexy sometimes but I'm not sure. Sometimes, especially at work (and especially if I'm stressed) my body just starts to feel really heavy and weak. I can still walk around and talk and everything, but it's hard to concentrate and I can't do things that require any amount of strength, like opening jars. I get criticized for walking too slowly or reacting too slowly to things happening around me. What I'm not sure of is whether this is actually more "sleep attack" but because it's happening during a stressful situation where it's not possible for me to sit/lie down and close my eyes, I feel this way instead of just sleepy.

Does anyone here have narcolepsy with or without cataplexy? What's your opinion? I haven't gone to a doctor for a diagnosis because I know my insurance won't cover the cost of a sleep lab visit. Is it possible or likely that a doctor would diagnose me without having to stay in a sleep lab? If so, is it really worth it? I am able to function, it's just unpleasant and sometimes difficult, and people tend to think I'm lazy. I've heard that there's not much medically that can be done to help narcolepsy, and I could take medications which might help, but with bad side effects (many possibly long-term) and that the medication doesn't work forever anyway. Is it worth getting diagnosed?

Cataplexy is the sudden relaxation of all the body's muscles. A person with Cataplexy literally drops to the floor fully concious but unable to move. Cataplexy is not neccessary for a diagnosis of narcolepsy though. I am being tested for various 'epsy' conditions at the moment to see if it could explain my sudden drop attacks. It might just be my Tourettes playing up though!

Unfortunately the only way to diagnose narcolepsy is MONTHS of seeing doctors. If they agree that your symptoms are constant enough then they will probably refer you to a sleep clinic. The sleep monitoring is essential to both diagnose narcolepsy and rule out other sleep disorders.

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

I know that severe cataplexy makes you fall to the ground, but I've read that there are varying degrees and it's possible to have moderate or even mild cataplexy, where your muscles relax but not all the way. Your speech might slur or you might stagger walking or something, or it might not be visible at all. That's why I wanted to find out what it feels like, so I can compare my lead-heavy limbs, slightly slurred speech, and blurry vision and see if it might be cataplexy or not.

Just briefly from the Wikipedia page: Cataplexy manifests itself as muscular weakness which may range from a barely perceptible slackening of the facial muscles to the dropping of the jaw or head, weakness at the knees, trembling of mesenteric muscles, rictus, dysarthria, may drop objects held in hands or a total collapse. Usually the speech is slurred, vision is impaired (double vision, inability to focus), but hearing and awareness remain normal.

The diagnostic process is likely to be different here actually. I know the system in the UK is generally different than in other places. If I go to a state hospital here it will certainly take months and require various referrals, but if I go to a private sleep clinic (expensive but better and faster overall and the people there are more likely to speak English) it might be possible to do it more quickly. I've even heard of people being diagnosed without a stay in a sleep lab as long as all the symptoms are present, although that seems to be uncommon.

In any case, my symptoms have been constant since I was about 12 years old. Assuming they don't think I'm making it up, I would think the only thing they might need to do beyond talking to me would be to put me in a sleep lab and watch my brain to make sure I'm entering REM sleep immediately. I'm sure that I am (I can actually feel the moment when I stop being awake and start dreaming) but I suppose they might need to check with their science machines in order to confirm it for their diagnosis.

If it is going to take a long time it hardly seems worth it. My symptoms are not severe enough to justify all that difficulty. My insurance is very limited, I don't have the money to pay for all those hospital visits, and I very much doubt there's much they could do for me anyway. I don't even have enough time to cook dinner every night -- I hardly see how I could fit in a bunch of appointments on top of everything else. Mostly I just want to know for sure if it's narcolepsy (partly so I can shove that diagnosis in my narcissistic mother's face and tell her I wasn't "just lazy") and hope that maybe they can help at least a little.

I didn't realise that just the muscle weakening could be cataplexy as well! As I said, I am not diganosed with narcolepsy or cataplexy but I have family who have it. For me (what I belive is cataplexy) it feels like I am relaxing one or more of my muscles. I regularly tip forward. I'm fully concious so it is not like epilepsy. A full attack usually begins with my legs collapsing followed by the rest of me! It's quite scary

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )