“Narcolepsy, a chronic neurologic disorder resulting from dysregulation of the sleep-wake cycle” (Thorpy, 2016) Thorpy’s quote says it all. Narcolepsy is a sleep problem, where the body cannot maintain sleep or awake for more than a few hours at a time. The reason is lack of brain chemical called orexin/hypocretin, whose purpose is, among other things, to promote wakefulness, but has also been linked to appetite. Having low levels of this particular chemical does not only make one sleepy but creates many other sleep-related problems. (Mieda & Sakurai, 2016). The problem is, this description does not really give any idea of how the symptoms can manifest and how it feels.…
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First experiences of Sleep paralysis and Hallucinations
Dreams have been a big part of my life, even before I started having Narcolepsy symptoms. Hallucinations and sleep paralysis were not new to me, but at around the age of 15, I began to have particularly interesting experiences. In retrospect, these were episodes of sleep paralysis and hallucinations, but I never thought of them as such. Sleep paralysis When laying in bed and going to sleep, I started to feel something I could only describe as an invisible body laying on top of my body. It did not happen every night, but it happened often. I felt my body was being pushed down into the mattress and it was…
