1 reply to this topic

[NZNor]

Hi, I'm a 27 narcoleptic - to briefly introduce myself: my symptoms are relatively mild and I choose to be unmedicated. Generally I have a quick sleep most afternoon with my head on my knees in a toilet stall when I start to fall asleep at the keyboard, but for the most part my job is fast paced enough to keep the adrenalin pumping and keep me alert during the working day. I can't read much or watch television without dropping off though - and while I drive in town I don't drive on the open road. I've developed mild cataplexy over the past year, which seems to be getting incrementally worse, though I notice that stress is a factor in how bad it is at any given time.

ANYWAY, to get to the point.

What I'm interested in at the moment though is whether a couple of my other idiosyncracies could be related to the particular way I'm neurologically hardwired... are these symptoms common to many/any other narcoleptics??

1. I am extremely reactive to 'frights' ie when someone appears unexpectedly, unexpected noises etc. While my conscious mind is already processing that it's ok, I tend to swear or slam my hand down or even jump in the air! (Lower level 'surprise' - as in not scary surprise - makes me buckle a bit at the knees these days meanwhile... )

2. I've noticed on various narcolepsy message boards etc a relatively high incidence of narcoleptics who also describe themselves as bipolar. I am not bipolar - but I am prone to relative extremes of being 'up' and relative extremes of being 'down'.

Really interested to hear other's thoughts on this.

[greatbig47]

1. I am extremely reactive to 'frights' ie when someone appears unexpectedly, unexpected noises etc. While my conscious mind is already processing that it's ok, I tend to swear or slam my hand down or even jump in the air! (Lower level 'surprise' - as in not scary surprise - makes me buckle a bit at the knees these days meanwhile... )

2. I've noticed on various narcolepsy message boards etc a relatively high incidence of narcoleptics who also describe themselves as bipolar. I am not bipolar - but I am prone to relative extremes of being 'up' and relative extremes of being 'down'.

Really interested to hear other's thoughts on this.

I think it's different with everyone. I think everyone has their own "level". I think it's all related in one form or another. Our herats, Our lungs, our nerves...all create this cool thing called you.

I was mis-diagnosed bi-polar, but really, I'm not big on treating a "diagnosis". I think bi-polar disorder was a default dx when doctors had no idea what the real problem is. Just because someone...ANYONE calls another human being bipolar doesn't make it so...white coat or not. Bipolar is one of those things that doctors go WAY overboard with, to a where it has reached a danger zone.

I've met too many people who say to me, "No...I am REALLY bipolar" like they need to convince me. Slap on a chicken outfit and call yourself a mascot, your still a human inside there.

We are emotional beings. We can all experience extremes. It's how our creator wired us. Stuff a couple Zyprexa pills down us and we can actually suppress our emotions to where we don't feel ANYTHING. And maybe we should feed our kids enough respirdal to make it easy to deal with (or not deal with) them.

I'm sure that's what our creator had in mind for us...*not!*

If your prone to relative extremes of being 'up' and relative extremes of being 'down' I believe you suffer from humanosous...THAT'S actually something to be proud of.