I keep reading that some people experience mild cataplexy or don't even know they have cataplexy. Can anyone give me some examples of what this would be like?
Would randomly dropping things (keys, purse etc) when I am walking be an example of this? It does not seem to be related to extreme emotion or anything. Also one time i was laughing and I had a can of pop slip out of my hand. Also during sleep attacks my eyes stay open but i sometimes feel like I can't control my eyeballs and they roll or start moving back and forth quickly while they are still open (as i typed that i realized it doesnt sound like cataplexy at all). Has anyone experienced this? is it REM sleep? This whole thing is so weird!
Mild Cataplexy?
Started by
Jeni
, Dec 10 2011 11:09 AM
3 replies to this topic
#2
Asleeper
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Posted 10 December 2011 - 11:57 PM
It sounds like you could be experiencing brief episodes of micro sleep. Falling asleep so fast and then waking up again before you even know you've been asleep.
#3
InquiringMind411
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Posted 11 December 2011 - 01:19 AM
You're not along with this confusion. I too have these mild cataplexy attacks that seem so mild I question them so I'd love to hear other's responses. I was diagnosed just a few months ago and have had only 3 doc appts. My sleep doc only has 10 N patients so I have a hard time considering him an "expert" when he's comparing me to his other patients and their reports of responses to medication, etc. I live in a relatively small community with no support group to attend.
I'm not a person to have big outbursts of laughter so I can't say "yes" to the typical "Do you drop things when you laugh?" question but I have had moments legs giving out underneath me when I get very stressful news or once when I saw a small child in immediate danger and wanted to run after him to save him and instead of being able to get out of my chair to run after him, I felt total leg and hip collapse as I was rising out of my seat and pretty much watched everyone else run past me to save the child. The most helpless feeling as a mother.
I do understand the dropping of the keys, pens, sodas, etc. It feels a little different than normal "oops, I just dropped something" but I can't ever seem to describe how it's different. I just know it's different. Getting my doc to understand it was different took a little convincing but he was accepting of it. His words were "I've never heard it described like that but I'm convinced its cataplexy if you really feel that's what it is especially if you say you've done some research and feel that is what you're experiencing."
May I suggest you go to YouTube and search for cataplexy. There are some videos there of a variety of people of all ages experiencing a wide variety of attacks ranging from laughter to stress to even a little 4 year old girl just swinging having numerous attacks. There are also a series of people just talking about their narcolepsy that really helped me to realize I'm not alone in my confusion. I'm not the only one out their who has gone 10 years struggling with such tiredness without anyone being able to put a diagnosis to it until now. I'm not the only one who isn't picture perfect textbook with my symptoms and my reaction to the meds I've been given so far..... and so on. I think it'll help you to find info about any other questions you might have and maybe help you to know what questions you might what to be asking as well. I hope this helps even if it didn't answer your specific question. :-)
I'm not a person to have big outbursts of laughter so I can't say "yes" to the typical "Do you drop things when you laugh?" question but I have had moments legs giving out underneath me when I get very stressful news or once when I saw a small child in immediate danger and wanted to run after him to save him and instead of being able to get out of my chair to run after him, I felt total leg and hip collapse as I was rising out of my seat and pretty much watched everyone else run past me to save the child. The most helpless feeling as a mother.
I do understand the dropping of the keys, pens, sodas, etc. It feels a little different than normal "oops, I just dropped something" but I can't ever seem to describe how it's different. I just know it's different. Getting my doc to understand it was different took a little convincing but he was accepting of it. His words were "I've never heard it described like that but I'm convinced its cataplexy if you really feel that's what it is especially if you say you've done some research and feel that is what you're experiencing."
May I suggest you go to YouTube and search for cataplexy. There are some videos there of a variety of people of all ages experiencing a wide variety of attacks ranging from laughter to stress to even a little 4 year old girl just swinging having numerous attacks. There are also a series of people just talking about their narcolepsy that really helped me to realize I'm not alone in my confusion. I'm not the only one out their who has gone 10 years struggling with such tiredness without anyone being able to put a diagnosis to it until now. I'm not the only one who isn't picture perfect textbook with my symptoms and my reaction to the meds I've been given so far..... and so on. I think it'll help you to find info about any other questions you might have and maybe help you to know what questions you might what to be asking as well. I hope this helps even if it didn't answer your specific question. :-)
#4
emilatte
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Posted 11 June 2012 - 11:50 PM
I've always wondered the same thing about myself... like with dropping things or my knees buckling... I thought I was just clumsy but after doing some research it does make sense...
