Narcolepsy is a very challenging disease in regards to the issue of
Social Security Disability. Being the sort of disease that is
difficult to "put a finger on" so to speak, makes it difficult to
convince Administrative Law Judges to award benefits based on
Narcolepsy.

My best advice to you is to document as best you can, your
condition. Hopefully, your nap studies demonstrate a positive
diagnosis for narcolepsy. I'm not sure what the incidence of people
who are indeed narcoleptic that have negative sleep studies, but it
frequently arises in claims based upon epilepsy. I routinely run
into cases where an epileptic will not demonstrate any abnormal
brain activity on an EEG. However, from my understanding, this is
the case for approximately 50% of eplileptics.

Social Security is a very long and frustrating process. The typical
wait for an Administrative Hearing is about a year to fifteen
months. However, taking your case in front of an ALJ is the place
you are most likely to have your claim approved. If you are
initially denied, do not give up. Social Security claims are
delegated to the state agencies. These state agencies typically
turn down claims at the initial and reconsideration level in the
neighborhood of 70%.

If you have applied and been turned down, i do recommend that you
seek the help of an experienced Social Security attorney. Keep in
mind, that most Social Security Attorneys have probably not dealt
with a narcolepsy case very frequently. I have been doing SS cases
for twelve years and only recall about five cases involving
narcolepsy. Therefore, try and educate your attorney the best you
can on the nature and symptoms of this very frustrating disease.
Luckily, I've been able to continue working with narcolepsy, but
certainly can see where the condition would be disabling to many
individuals depending on the severity of their symptoms.

Best of luck to you.