Longitudinal research in adults suggests that there may be a remission of cataplectic severity after symptom stabilization. This article reviews recent research on the clinical characteristics of cataplexy. Cataplexy is the sudden loss of muscle tone in either the face, neck, trunk, and/or limbs, leading to a loss of voluntary muscle control. It sucks ass but I’m so glad I joined this sub because I love being able to commiserate with others who have similar experiences.Narcolepsy is a central disorder of hypersomnolence with symptoms of excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep paralysis, and cataplexy. However, I’ve noticed that when they do happen my attacks have worsened over the last year which is hard to explain to people who have known me for a while because they seem to think I’m exaggerating it for the sake of attention? Point is, I completely understand what you’re talking about. As for cataplexy, mine only shows up when I laugh and therefore isn’t incredibly severe. Combined with the aforementioned inability to function on a basic level, being surrounded with that attitude has led me to develop an honestly horrendous relationship with food and eating. But i live in a very portland-ish town so when it comes to things like having autoimmune issues, people are quick to tell me just what aspect of my diet caused that. I’m really lucky to have figured out my narcolepsy while i’m still living at home (i’m 17, going to college next fall) and to have a really supportive family. My frustration with dismissal are especially prominent when it comes to the autoimmune part. It’s not and never has been a specific label for anything). I’m honestly just so sick of my very real and debilitating symptoms being dismissed because I’m not someone else’s version of “neurodivergent” (which btw, is a term that literally only makes sense when talking about a broad spectrum of experiences. I cannot physically keep myself awake, let alone function on a basic level without meds or excessive amounts of mental and physical energy. Which is occasionally frustrating on its own but becomes 20x more frustrating when they’ll mention something like executive dysfunction and then procede to say “i don’t think y’all know what it’s like tho.” Like hello.? Bro.

I have one friend in particular who’s obsessed with their supposed “neurodivergence” (unspecified, i don’t think they even know what they think they have). Dealing with that shit from people you Love is REALLY HARD, and sometimes straight up heartbreaking. Not to mention, the perpetuation of that mindset and dialogue by otherwise reasonable, rational people is the whole reason we still have a War on Drugs, which, in my humble opinion, is the biggest setback to human progress since the burning of the Library of Alexandria in 48 BC. And keeping in mind the fact that I didn't do anything to treat this without doing hundreds of hours of research and multiple (very uncomfortable, very stressful) diagnostic procedures, a little bit of compassion and understanding and research can go a LONG way. Ego is a huge problem for some people, i guess. It's at best disingenuous, and at worst malicious. Some of my friends are actually going so far as to tell me that treatments i'm using to manage my symptoms are causing them, even though I started the treatments because the symptoms of my disorder became unmanageable and started destroying my mental health, self esteem, and quality of life. So much for kindness being repaid in spades, huh? but despite that, and quite frankly, in stark contrast to it, almost everyone wants to give me their opinion on how I should be treating my disorder, or how my lifestyle caused my autoimmune disease. It doesn't seem like very many people did that for me. It's really crazy too, because every time someone i Love or care about is diagnosed with a disorder or disease, or critically injured, i IMMEDIATELY research the fuck out of it to figure out how i can help or at least be sympathetic. It's an autoimmune neurodegenerative disorder.

And it's not a psychological disorder like the majority of folks seem totally convinced of. its not like a tonic-clonic, or 'grand mal' seizure. And even though it looks like im having a seizure with cataplexy, it's a non-electrical event. i personally don't experience the last 2, but i have severe cataplexy and sleep fragmentation and moderate severe EDS. For anyone who is curious about what we're going through, Type 1 Narcolepsy is a pentad of disorders which consist of EDS (excessive daytime sleepiness), Cataplexy (emotionally induced 'seizures'.it's just easier to get people to grasp the gravity of this aspect of the disorder using this terminology, i've found), Sleep Fragmentation, hypnagogic/hypnopomic hallucinations, and Sleep Paralysis Which exist on a spectrum.

Type 1 narcolepsy with cataplexy