Today, I was told I have narcolepsy, and I've it for a year and a half. When asked why I didn't go to a doctor before, I answered that I'd always assumed it was a normal adult thing to fall asleep randomly because of how everyone says they're always exhausted. Apparently not. FML
Collection
Fall
Dead leaves, the first cold of the season and an umbrella flipped inside out: fall, the season of grace.
Today, I discovered I have narcolepsy. During a driving test. FML
Today, I was finally diagnosed with insomnia. The trouble is, because of my physical disability, I also have diagnosed chronic fatigue. Barely can stay awake during the day, can't sleep at night. FML
Today, after countless nights of no sleep and only some spontaneous naps, I was finally seeing a sleeping doctor to analyze the problem. I missed the appointment because I ended up sleeping through my alarm after not being able to sleep at all last night. FML
Today, a patient was late for a psychiatry appointment, after having missed his previous two. I am the medical student on the team that was supposed to do his assessment. I said, "You snooze, you lose." Everyone stopped and looked at me. Apparently, he missed them because he has narcolepsy. FML
Today, after decades of 24/7 cognitive impairment and being made to feel like a hypochondriac by many doctors over the years, I learned I have a severe physical illness. I kept researching and discovered my own illness, found out which test to ask for, and finally showed doctors proof. FML
Today, after finishing work and collecting my bag from my locker, I yawned as my manager came to ask me a question. She yelled at me for yawning. She then told others that I have a chronic yawning problem at work and need medical intervention. I can't even yawn once after a long tiring day on my own time. FML
Today, while at work I passed out due to my blood sugar not being normal. Despite the fact that it took 10 minutes to wake me, no one thought I was in any sort of danger. After the episode, I then got fired for "sleeping on the job." FML
Today, I found out I sleepwalk. How you might ask? By awakening the moment just before I fell from the stairs. I was better off sleeping. FML
Today, I got to meet the guy that I have been talking to over a dating website. We were having a great time, at least until I managed to randomly fall asleep in front of him. I spent the rest of the day sending text messages trying to explain to him that I suffer from narcolepsy. FML
Today, I found out that I have a chronic illness that has affected my brain function, heart and nervous system, and basically leaves me cognitively impaired daily and ruined my quality of life. Apparently it wasn’t just “all in my head” like so many neurologists claimed over the past two decades. FML
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Top comments
XxNekoLovexX 26
Well now you know and knowing is half the battle! But in all seriousness, it's good you went in, so they can help. Would be terrible to randomly fall asleep at the wheel of a car.
flammaefata 20
Glad you got that wake-up call!
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Comments (30)
XxNekoLovexX 26
Well now you know and knowing is half the battle! But in all seriousness, it's good you went in, so they can help. Would be terrible to randomly fall asleep at the wheel of a car.
RpiesSPIES 27
Sleeping is the other half.
Wizardo 34
Sounds like your internal clock keeps hitting the snooze button.
Cow_Girl_Lilly 24
It's good you found out before something worse could happen.
flammaefata 20
Glad you got that wake-up call!
httpxsheree 7
I don't know whether to laugh or feel bad for the person...
WCARlover 35
I'm surprised your friends or family didn't tell you that wasn't normal?
mfmylifesrsly 30
That's what I'm wondering, too. And when OP noticed many others weren't randomly falling asleep wouldn't that make them curious?
InfiniteSunshine 32
A lot of people, friends and family included, just don't know what to look for, and can actually be very cruel and unsupportive, even after an official diagnosis. Being exhausted and falling asleep is often seen as being lazy and not managing your sleep routine correctly. It's looked at as the individual's fault, instead of there being an actual medical problem, even when you're uncontrollably and randomly falling asleep. If people don't experience it themselves, a lot of the time they just don't understand and are therefore unsympathetic, they think you're exaggerating. Tiredness and exhaustion is looked at as a character flaw, instead of what it's actually a sign of, which is lack of sleep. This needs to change.
captain_hero89 22
my coworkers used to think i was narcoleptic because i would pass out in the company trucks within minutes of heading to site
Lalala579121 28
But we all know you were just trying to get out of working.
captain_hero89 22
sometimes the job is over 4 hours away. that's a long time to stay awake doing nothing
InfiniteSunshine 32
Hey, I have that too. I had the symptoms for 2yrs before being diagnosed as well because of similar reasons. I was a teen when it started too, so a lot of doctors would brush off my exhaustion as "oh, she's just a teenager, she's supposed to be more tired, it's normal." It isn't normal, a narcoleptic's exhaustion/sleep attacks are equivalent to a normal person going 2-3 days without sleep and are impossible to fight or prevent. It's a hard disorder to diagnose if you don't know a lot about it, and aren't looking for it. I can tell you that it gets a lot better after your diagnosis, finally having something that explains what you're going through is very relieving. Finding the right meds is helpful too, some people even go without meds as well. The real importance is sleep schedule, don't push yourself, sleep is more important for us than it is for anyone else. If you want anymore information, there's lots of support groups on the internet and Facebook that are really helpful.
CastaP 12
Well, now you know that assumptions makes an ass out of you and me.
ab290 10
i envy you, its 5am and i still cant fall asleep -_-
InfiniteSunshine 32
Narcoleptics actually often experience insomnia as well, especially at night because we get a lot of REM sleep in the daytime from the sleep attacks. The sleep attacks aren't true sleeping, we don't go through the normal sleep cycle, just straight to REM sleep (it's the reason we pass out suddenly) which provides no restful, refreshing sleep. After the attack, we will still wake up exhausted. When I was undiagnosed, I was lucky if I'd get 2-3hrs of sleep at night, because a lot of the time I wouldn't get any sleep at all. So we actually know how you feel, insomnia is not fun.
doodlesdork 7
Same here, took 5 years to get a diagnosis. My college gpa suffered.