Cataplexy the unexplainable "nerve problem".
My introduction to narcolepsy was through cataplexy first. I was sitting with my boyfriend on the couch in 2001 and we laughed so hard at something on TV that my head fell into my chest and I couldn't move for a few seconds. After that day it happened almost every single day at different moments of laughter and anger. I had no idea what was happening to me, I called these moments my nerve problem. I didn't know what else to call them.
One day I was at work and I was on the phone with a customer, when I hung up I realized I was half asleep throughout the whole call,but I was still able to write notes and type on the computer. I quickly Yahoo'ed sleepiness and that's when I found narcolepsy and the Hallmark symptom was cataplexy. That moment changed my life, I realize I wasn't going crazy. I had an actual name for what was happening to me and I wasn't alone. Once I had all the facts I sought out a doctor and he told me most people with cataplexy diagnose themselves, because it's so hard to explain most people don't understand what you're telling them. When you tell them you lose your motor skills when you laugh or get mad it's like they can't comprehend it. I literally only have cataplexy a few times a year now, because I make sure I get plenty of sleep. If I have to really push myself it's usually the excessive daytime sleepiness that hits first and if I can get to a resting place then I can sleep before cataplexy knocks me down. I'm very lucky and I know there are others that are not so lucky.
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