Whoa...I should have checked this thread earlier in the day with all these Narco Sleepy questions.
First time I cashed out with a REM/cataplectic episode was when I was 8. I caught a Northern Pike with my father and got so excited I collapsed. My eyes were fluttering and I couldn't move (paralysis). The "attack" lasted 45 minutes.
In high school, I started having what I thought were "migraines" for a lack of a better term. I was seeing double and my eyes were going nuts inside my skull. I had to lay down everyday my junior year. Went to a neurologist and he thought I had a brain tumor...narced out when he told me right then and there (no brain tumor after MRI scan). Finally got diagnosed with Narcolepsy at age 16 when I had a sleep study and a multiple sleep latency test. I went into REM sleep in less than 30 seconds.
Got on some meds (Provigil) and got super smart because that is what the movie Limitless is based on. Super drug for super nerds. It worked. My cataplexy went from very bad to mild. I haven't had a cataplectic event in like 14 years. I do however have excessive daytime sleepiness, paralysis in the morning and hypnogognic/hypnopompic hallucinations. Those are a freaking trip. You can see/dream some crazy stuff and you are conscious the whole time. They say Harrient Tubman was a narcoleptic (which is why researches claim she had "visions").
At age 16 I was unable to drive. I got my first driver's license when I was 18 years old (for 3 month durations via medical report). After 10 years, I finally got my first real driver's license. So yea, I am able to drive because I have mild cataplexy and I have an "aura" when I can sense an attack coming on. I did get a full ride to K-State due to the Narcolepsy. Nice little bonus there.
Narced out during sex??? Yup. Orgasms...more like sleepgasms.
Most awkward Narc out: Party in high school. Cops came and I went full on Narcosleepy. Cops thought I was passed out on drugs. I was completely sober. They picked me up and took me to the hospital because they thought I was dying. No charges were pressed.
Most awesome Narc outs: None really stand out. However, the benefits are awesome. I got extra time on tests, could miss as much class as I wanted and teachers had to give me notes and free school. I had a professor throw chalk at me to try and wake me up in class. That was fun. Also had a guidance counselor in high school that said I was a genetic failure and I will fail in college so I shouldn't try. I sent her a scanned copy of my PhD.
Sorry for the long post. Narcolepsy is awesome and so many go undiagnosed. There are roughly only 50,000 diagnosed Narcoleptics in the US and there are roughly 200,000 undiagnosed ones.
***Edited for Fanningism. Thanks ben ji/Obama.
