allright, narcolepsy is a sleeping disorder... :)

[TheNarcoLeptic]

Hey

narcolepsy is a funny disease. we fall asleep with out a notice and it can cause funny things to happen, like the film Rat Race the one that falls asleep during the race, duce bigalow was dating a narcoleptic.. and so on.
but when you have an extreme case of narcolepsy, i dont think its funny at all!

narcolepsy is a sleeping disorder, neurological.
it has something to do with proteins in the brain, that are not funcioning right or that arent there or something. they really dont know excactly. but they cant inject the proteins cuz the body will probably just use them for something else! so there is no cure.

additionally to sleeping attacks, other symptoms are cataplexy, that is sudden loss of muscle tone for just a blink of a moment. That is triggered by emotion, laughter, anger amusement.. and then your limp down cuz of that cataplexy! some people even completely collapse on to the floor.
Then 3rd is pedagogic hallucination, this hallucination before and after sleep when reality and dreams get mixed up.

When we have these "naps" it can vary from split seconts to few minutes, and we dont really realize because we go straigth to REM sleep. So basically everytime we fall asleep we dream! It is also possible to continue doing automatic things like when we do the dishes, we might fall asleep many times, but keep doing the dishes, but that is just automatic behaviour and we are not thinking about what we are doing. but when wake up we are just completely fresh. just 3 minutes can give you lots of energy. but the sleeping attackes arent really a sign of being truly tierd at all. its just something that makes us feel tierd and lacking energy, so it goes away by napping for these 3 min!.

its a rare disease, and nobody has it the same way. for me, its not really that much of a problem, because usually i know when i get the sleep attacks so i can deal with it pretty safe. but some people just dont have a clue so some of them dont really function in the normal society.
in the past they used to use amphetamines for narcolepsy, but i dont think they do it anymore. they have been developing it in the past years. no now they have something that doesnt make you addicted! the only thing is to organize things around you, naps, regularly taking short breaks from doing whatever you are going...
I avoid medicine as much as i can.

one interesting thing thoug, i think that the cataplexy is what happens when you fall asleep but we call paralyzed in sleep. So basically the sleep routine is kind of f#cked up in us narcoleptics. normally the cataplexy happens during sleep and since the sleep is not functioning right, we go to REM and have cataplexy randomly during the day, making dreams and reality mix up

[idgy]

Hello Narcoleptic,
That sounds like it could be quite dangerous if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I find this really interesting and reading your description of what you go through, I think that the dreams of someone suffering from narcolepsy could shed a lot of light on what dreams are. Out of interest, you must have a lot of dreaming experience. Can I ask you some questions if you don't mind?
When you have an attack, is it really light sleep or deep sleep?
Do you have lucid dreams during this time?
If you fell asleep washing up, do you dream you are washing up, or do you have other dreams whilst still doing something physically different?
Have you had an out of body experiences during this time?
How do you sleep at night? Does narcolepsy affect your ‘normal’ sleep?

Sorry for asking so many questions.

[TheNarcoLeptic]

it can be quite dangerous, that's true. That is why i dont drive a lot.
And I have a lot of dreaming experience, actually, i have been talking about my dreams with my dad since i was very young, but then we didnt know i had narcolepsy!

sleeping attack for me, is usually dreaming.
im not deeply alseep, because sometimes i hear everything that is going on, but im that much asleep that i cannot participate, so sometimes i think i am participating, but the people keep calling my name, no matter how many times i answere.
so ther i am answering in my dream and of course, they cant hear that....: )

somethimes i am just sitting in a chair and suddenly the roof starts to leak and a donkey walks in. I remember it just as clearly as life normally, and sometimes i dont realize that im dreaming until afterwards, even though its not making any sence in the "real world"

Once i dreamed that i was s little black boy and i was at a farm. i felt in the mud and sank down, then i saw my room, so i was there dreaming i was drowning in a mud, but still i was in my room. this was mixing back and forth for a while.

so most of these dreams are concious. I know that im dreaming and i control them in a way, sometimes i trick the dream, escape from situations or change or undo things...

about washing up i usually dream of someting else, but seometimes im there, but not fully awake. i dont call that a dream. but sometimes i swich repeadedly from wake to REM, lasting few seconds at time, but this goes on for few minutes, then suddenly i snap back to regular wake. during this "swithing" period, dont realize that im sleeping, I just figure out that i was sleeping each time i am wake up!

also when i am reading a book. i dont have any attention or focusing problems, but when i read a book or a paper, read the first few lines, and then i suddenly wake up and figure out that i felt asleep, because instead of thinking of the books story or topic, i was thiking/dreaming (sometimes in not sure) of things that dont make any sence, like the combination of a pink toilet and a taste of watery bedroom blanket. so it doesnt make any sence at all.

i have had many out of body experiences, and i remember the whole process. i can do it conciously, one interesting experience was that i was little, going to sleep and i had been laying a while in my bed, but i remember the process of leaving the body and i went from my room to the hallway and saw my father wake up and go to the bathroom and come back to sleep. then i continued my "travel" and flew out the window and started to dream. i asked him the day after if he had gone to the bathroom in the night and he said yes, how do you know? ....i saw it.....

at night i usually fall asleep in few minutes. then i go straigth to REM .then i wake up after a while and just fall asleep again, back in REM. its not like i wake up totally fresh, i just keep on sleeping and fall back asleep in few seconds. this one time me and my friends were in the down town of my city and i decided to go home at like 3 am, they wanted to stay, but hey had been drinking so i took my friends car and went home. at 6 am she called me and asked if i could pick them up, and i did that. i woke up when she called, and it wasnt a problem to go picke them up, even thought i had just 3 hours of sleep.
i think there is something related to the fact that we fall a sleep randomly during the day, so its no problem if we wake up randomly during the night. but of course, a fulltime 8 hour sleep is the best.

allright does this answere anything?! do you relate to any of these? for me its normal, but im curious to know how it is for a normal non-narcoleptic person.

but if you have more questions, just ask.

[idgy]

Thank you such a good reply. I find your experience fascinating. The reason I ask all these questions is because I lucid dream on a regular basis and find myself in strange places. I find myself regularly ‘out of my body’ and have spoken to other beings whilst there. Reading your descriptions, do you think that it is possible that you are not sleeping in the ‘normal’ sense, but switching to an altered state of consciousness? Or like your brain is tuning into a different wavelength. I think some of us can do this while we are sleeping, but you seem to just switch over whilst you are awake.

Also it may sound strange, but apart from seeing your father whilst in this state, did you ever see any other beings? I also wondered if you have ever looked into a plant called Ayahuasca? It’s a plant root that Shamans used to take and anyone can now take it in certain South American countries. I was just reading that it alters slightly the chemistry in your brain so that you can tune into other wavelengths. Reading your descriptions, I just wondered if there was some relation to what you are going through?

It’s really interesting to hear your experiences. Thank you for sharing them.

[TheNarcoLeptic]

i dont know how this herb thing works. i havent heard alot about it.

I have seen other beings. But in different dreams, a red devil trying to take me to hell, but i fought and won, a scary witch above my bed, but those are not human...

i dont believe that the brain is in the control of sleep traveling, the concious or dreams. I think the soul, or the concious is in control of the brain...


but you mentioned sleeping or in altered conciousness.

i think its not making sence. im almost asleep (its close to 1am) so i might have mixed it up.
but here it is anyways...


we only have one soul, therefore we have only one conciousness.
i think that when we are sleeping, we are concious in another plane,that is: in an altered level. So its the same?


what is the difference between concious dreaming and lucid dreaming?

[Jennings]

I have not read what the medical symptoms are for narcoplexy but I was wondering if it is a form of epilepsy? I guess there must be many who suffer from a mild form of epilepsy without knowing what ails them.

[TheNarcoLeptic]

I dont think it is a form of epilepsy.

But symptoms of narcolepsy is 1. exsessive day time sleeping, 2 cataplexy. 3 pedagogic hallucination 4. automatic behaviour.
As far as i know, epilepsy is a combination of different sesures that are caused by some brain activity.

I cant see what makes them related. can you?

[Jennings]

Could those seizures like as you have described and probably as described in medical text books show up in different guises? I have the feeling that there is a similarity and one that should not be too readily dismissed. It is just a thought.

[TheNarcoLeptic]

why do you think it is a form of epilepsy?

Im not an expert in diseases. But this is what i found.
they say that condition such as narcolepsy and cataplexy can be mistaken for epilepsy.

---

About Epilepsy: Symptoms

Symptoms of Epilepsy

The following symptoms may indicate someone has epilepsy. A medical exam is advised if one or more of these symptoms are present. The symptoms include:

* A convulsion with or without a fever
* Short periods of blackout or confused memory
* Occasional "fainting spells" in which bladder or bowel control is lost, followed by extreme fatigue
* Episodes of blank staring
* Brief periods of no response to questions or instructions
* Sudden stiffening or falls for no apparent reason
* Episodes of blinking or chewing at inappropriate times
* Dazed behavior; being unable to talk or communicate for a short time
* Repeated movements that look out of place or unnatural
* Sudden fear, anger or panic for no reason
* Odd changes in the way things look, sound, smell or feel
* Muscle jerks of arms, legs or body
* Clusters of swift jerking movements in babies

Conditions that may be mistaken for epilepsy:

* Seizures associated with high fever
* Fainting
* Sleep disorders: nightmares, narcolepsy, cataplexy
* Psychiatric disorders: panic attacks, fugue states, psychogenic seizures
* Transient ischemic attacks (TIAs): brief interruptions of blood flow to the brain
* Migraine headaches
* Childhood breath-holding episodes

for narcolepsy:

Narcolepsy: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis and Treatment

signs and symptoms of narcolepsy

The main narcolepsy symptoms are excessive daytime sleepiness and sudden episodes of falling asleep, from several seconds to more than thirty minutes.

Other narcolepsy symptoms include:

* Loss of muscle control (cataplexy): People with narcolepsy often have a sudden loss of muscle control while awake, usually triggered by strong emotions, such as laughing. About two-thirds of people with narcolepsy have this symptom of sudden muscle weakness, or cataplexy.
* Hallucinations: Some people with narcolepsy experience vivid, sometimes frightening, visual or auditory sensations while falling asleep or upon awakening. About 25 to 50% of narcolepsy sufferers have such hallucinations.
* Sleep paralysis: Sleep paralysis is the inability to move or talk at the beginning or end of sleep. About 25 to 50% of narcolepsy sufferers experience sleep paralysis.
* Microsleep: Some people with narcolepsy have very brief sleep episodes during which they continue to function (talk, put things away, etc.), and then they awaken with no memory of performing such activities. Up to 40% of people with narcolepsy experience these automatic behaviors during sleep episodes.
* Nighttime wakefulness: People with narcolepsy may have periods of wakefulness at night, with hot flashes, elevated heart rate, and sometimes intense alertness. This disrupted nighttime sleep adds to daytime sleepiness.
* Rapid entry into REM sleep: Narcoleptics have unique sleep cycles. They enter the REM, or dream, phase of sleep right after falling asleep, whereas most people take about 90 minutes to enter the REM phase. This means that the characteristics of REM sleep (vivid dreams and muscle paralysis) occur at the beginning of nighttime sleep for someone with narcolepsy. If the person falls asleep during the day, vivid dreams and muscle paralysis can also occur immediately.

Two of the most common narcolepsy symptoms (excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy) seem to be connected to emotional state. People often have these symptoms when they are experiencing intense emotions, such as laughter, sadness, surprise, or frustration.

[Jennings]

Thanks for the information; it should prove to be of assistance to two close associates.