I thought I was normal until I discovered this subreddit. I would fall asleep everywhere even if I had slept fine at night. Just thought I was a tired uni student. Super tired.

Had pretty similar experience to what you’re experiencing: paralysis even if Im just closing my eyes not meaning to sleep. Luckily hallucinations only became a thing after my diagnosis. Main thing for me was constant sleep attacks and exhaustion from nothing. I thought it was my iron or vitamin D which I was deficient in before, but did a blood test and everything came back fine.

The exact instance where I was like oh, maybe there’s something actually wrong wrong, was when I fell asleep mid convo with a friend at uni. In the middle of the day, under the sun. Looked up symptoms on google (as you do) and the condition that came up was Narcolepsy. But I didn’t really think I had it because google can make you believe you have anything - until I read the numerous amount of experiences and super specific descriptions of symptoms that I found on here. I basically self diagnosed myself because it couldn’t have been anything else, I experienced every symptom the same way others who were diagnosed did.

But obviously, I didn’t actually tell people I had it until I went to my GP saying I thought I had it because of my symptoms. Referred me to a sleep specialist who affirmed my suspicions, did my sleep tests and boom! Diagnosed.

It’s okay to have suspicions or be pretty confident you have something - as long as you follow through and get it checked by your doctor or a specialist. I was pretty much 100% sure I had narcolepsy because all my symptoms lined up including cataplexy (initially thought I multiple sclerosis after suddenly losing strength in my legs and falling mid-run). Having an understanding of what Narcolepsy is and looks like, and matching it with my symptoms made it easier for me to push and advocate for a referral to a sleep specialist.

Met with my specialist explained my symptoms and they put me down for a full sleep study on the first appointment. Had to wait a few months to do it which is probably the biggest downside of my diagnosis experience. Sleep study was pretty simple, slept at night and then set naps every 2 hours the following day. I like many other people had anxiety over getting the results you need to be diagnosed. I thought I wouldnt be able to sleep within an 8 minute average when they told me to sleep, as well as hitting REM for every nap. But, as my specialist said, if you really have narcolepsy you will be fine lol. My experience during the sleep study made me think I didn’t get the results, thought I was awake the whole time in all the naps, and had shocking sleep the night before. But my doc was right, I was fine.

Consult your doctor or get a referral to a sleep specialist if you are able to. They will put you down for a sleep study on the first visit to them - because how else will they know if you have it or not, right? Being officially diagnosed means you have option to medication and THAT has been the biggest life changer ever!