Hi, my name is Jennifer. I'm almost 20 and I think I might have
narcolepsy. I was wondering if I could get some personal accounts to
see if the "symptoms" I am having are in fact symptoms of narcolepsy,
or are just coincidence or things that normal people experience.

First, I do suffer from eds; I have been for about a year-and-a-half.
I doze and fall asleep doing all sorts of things, mostly while
studying and while driving. I've also fallen asleep while talking to
my therapist or on the phone, while eating, while taking notes in
class, and (of course) while laying down in the afternoon. I tend,
though, to not even be able to sleep when it gets late at night, no
matter how hard I try, and even if I've managed to stay awake most of
the day. This confuses me.

Second, I've read some about cataplexy, and the only way I can relate
it to myself is that it's a "brief loss of muscle tone stimulated by
intense emotions." This happens to me in my legs quite frequently,
usually when I get stressed and anxious, though I don't think I've
ever collapsed from it. On the other hand, I'm usually sitting down
when it happens. Also, when I laugh really hard (say, a six or higher
on a scale from one to ten), my knees can and often do buckle from
laughing and I can't get up until I calm down. Does everyone do that
or is that cataplexy?

Thirdly, I go into REM sleep almost as soon as I fall asleep. I can
take a ten-minute nap or fall asleep in class and have the most
bizarre dream or dreams. Also, they're usually related to what's
going on in the room; at least, they'll start out that way, and then
become something else entirely.

Fourth and finally, I *have* had hypnogogic hallucinations in the
past year-and-a-half. At least, I think I have. I'll wake up about
half-way in the middle of the night, or have an incredibly vivid
dream, and then the next day I honestly *cannot* distinguish whether
it was real or a dream.

The only one of these "symptoms"--and I put it in quotations because
I have not yet been diagnosed--that bother me is the daytime
sleepiness and falling asleep. It's quite a hazard, and I'm worried
it will disrupt my education (I'm a full-time college student) or
that I'll get into a serious accident while driving.

Thanks for any help or advice anyone can offer me,
Jennifer e.h.