Confessions of a Narcoleptic

I met with our family doctor yesterday morning to get the results of my sleep test– earlier in the month, I spent the night and most of the next day at a sleep clinic to see why I can fall asleep at any point of any day at the drop of a hat. Well, I’ve learned that I have narcolepsy, a sleep disorder characterized by sudden and often uncontrollable, though often brief, attacks of deep sleep.

During my time at the sleep clinic, they tested my ability to fall asleep for naps on the even hours – 8 a.m., 10 a.m., noon, etc. I fell asleep every time, and it took me an average of two-and-a-half minutes to visit dreamland, whereas “normal” people take upwards of 10-15 minutes to fall asleep for naps, provided they’re able to so when commanded.
The truth of the matter is that I actually feel refreshed – emotionally, not mentally or physically, of course – by the news. I feel a bit like Theo Huxtable did when he was diagnosed with dyslexia on “The Cosby Show” – he and his parents were ecstatic to have a name to what it was that was ailing him.

Narcolepsy is incredibly annoying and debilitating, not to mention potentially dangerous, but at least I can now curse it by name and decide how best to treat it versus having to continually live with the loop playing in my head wondering what the hell was wrong with me – those lingering feelings of self-doubt would be enough to make a “normal” person exhausted.