Life as a Possible–or Probable–Narcoleptic

Asleep reading a long time agoIt seems like I might finally know why I fall asleep all the time, and it my not just be that “button on my butt” that I inherited from my grandpa. It might actually be narcolepsy, which is also genetic–makes sense to me.

The cool thing about having a sister-in-law studying psychology is you get free diagnoses from time to time. On our way back from Orlando last weekend, I (as typical) fell right asleep in the van with everyone chatting and laughing. I was completely oblivious to everyone. Apparently she looked it up as a joke, and it kind of matched in their minds, without knowing the full extent of my sleep patterns.

I have always been able to fall asleep on a dime when I’m tired, unless my mind is busy. Ever since I was 16, I could fall asleep in the chair watching movies with the family. I have fallen asleep during explosive action movies in the theater in the afternoon. I can fall asleep within 3 minutes of picking up a book, which makes studying REALLY hard. I fall asleep at work, just for a minute or two, but it’s the nodding that drives me crazy. I nod and fight the eyelids when I’m driving to the point where I will go take a nap in a parking lot to keep going. All it takes is 5-15 minutes of sleep, and I’m good as new–for a couple of hours.

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