大象传媒

When I was a junior in high school I had become convinced that an evil spirit cohabited my room with me. Strange way to open a blog post, I know, but bear with me here.听

Starting in middle school I would occasionally hear inexplicable things occurring around me in my bedroom at night. One night when I was in 7th grade, I heard a dog walking around my room, its nails clicking around. It was a week night and I was already tucked into bed, on the verge o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/falling asleep, a YouTube video playing beside me. At that point I didn鈥檛 own a dog anymore, but I was /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/familiar with what its company sounded like. I knew there couldn鈥檛 truly be a dog walking around鈥� but just to make sure, I checked anyway. No dog. A/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/fter bolting to my parents room /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/for sa/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/fety, my con/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/fused parents looked around, /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/figured I was being dramatic, and sent me back to bed. I remember hearing the dog again later that night as I was about to doze o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f. This time it was much closer. I heard nails clicking underneath my bed, and the jingling o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f its metal tag as it settled.听

I guess you could say that /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/from middle school through my junior year o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f high school I was one to keep busy, and without a plausible explanation as to what had happened, I chalked up moments like those to paranormal activity. I played /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/for soccer teams, per/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/formed with theater troops, and joined as many clubs as I could justi/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/fy time /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/for. All my classes started with 鈥淗onors鈥�, 鈥淎ICE鈥�, 鈥淎P鈥�, or 鈥淚B鈥�, and sleep was scattered throughout my day. I was known /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/for being able to sleep anywhere, a 鈥榯alent鈥� that impressed my /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/friends, and at times embarrassed me (and o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/fended my teachers). I was always tired, but what kid wasn鈥檛? Many mornings I鈥檇 walk into class, plop beside a /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/friend and complain about being tired. I鈥檇 usually get a sleepy 鈥淢e too,鈥� in response.听

It wasn鈥檛 until I went to a pulmonologist appointment in my junior year o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f high school that my story changed. I have asthma, and the clinic I visited specializes in pulmonary and sleep care. Unbeknownst to me, I was handed a narcolepsy screening test on my way in. At the end o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f my appointment a sleep specialist slipped into my room to discuss my screening results (apparently saying yes to more than 3 o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f the questions was a red /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/flag). She asked me some questions about what my li/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/fe looked like, and assessed some o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f the major symptoms o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f narcolepsy that I seemed to be presenting. She asked me i/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f I was tired, and I told her no, because I had actually taken a nap in the car on my way to the appointment (narcolepsy is highly associated with Excessive Daytime Sleepiness , aka EDS). She asked me about my sleep habits, which were disordered. She asked me about sleep paralysis, which I hadn鈥檛 experienced yet, but I sometimes heard creepy things at night (I would come to learn that this symptom is called a hypnagogic hallucination , another symptom o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f narcolepsy). The doctor thought I would bene/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/fit /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/from undergoing a sleep study, and I underwent one not long a/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/fter.听

Later that year, I was brought into the sleep clinic to discuss the results /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/from my sleep study. I wasn鈥檛 too surprised upon being in/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/formed that I have narcolepsy type II, as my lived experiences seemed to line up with many o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f the symptoms. But the conversation we had was still surprisingly di/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/ficult. My doctor told me that there is no cure /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/for narcolepsy, as well as something along the lines o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f, 鈥測our chronic disease is covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act.鈥� That sentence was a lot to process. Yes, my strange experiences /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/felt rea/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/firmed and I didn鈥檛 /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/feel crazy anymore, but now I was being in/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/formed that my health condition is not only chronic, but also cureless, and a disability. For several years /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/following my diagnosis I struggled a lot with those labels, and my con/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/fidence took a hit. I wondered how this would translate into my adult li/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/fe in the /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/future, as I didn鈥檛 know anybody else with narcolepsy. How was I going to handle college? Would I be able to reliably wake up to my alarms /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/for a 9-5 job once I started living on my own? Could I be able to one day serve as a /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/functional mother, balancing my sleep and a needy baby? The implications were scary and concerning; I was a/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/fraid o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f the consequences o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/failure.

Accepting my limitations hasn鈥檛 been easy, but getting medicated, working brie/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f naps into my day, receiving accommodations, and improving my mindset has been a total game changer.听 Connecting with the narcolepsy community has also helped me /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/feel less alone (shout out to Project Sleep! ), more in/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/formed, understood, and less intimidated by my disease. Thanks to the many people in the narcolepsy community sharing their stories, my /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/fears have been eased. In 2020 I received the Jack and Julie narcolepsy scholarship , and got tips on how to succeed in college /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/from past recipients. I saw people with narcolepsy thriving as a lawyer , as a /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/famous late night talk host , and one is even an NFL player! I saw moms with narcolepsy sharing their pregnancy stories and giving advice to /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/future mothers. Narcolepsy became less o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f a summary o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f who I was and more so an aspect o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f my li/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/fe. I have brown eyes. I鈥檓 5鈥�5. I have narcolepsy.听

September 22 is World Narcolepsy Day . I decided to share my story in order to raise awareness about narcolepsy symptoms and to emphasize the importance o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f sleep. My story changed relatively close to my onset o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f symptoms鈥� 3 years鈥� but many people living with narcolepsy won鈥檛 get diagnosed until about an average o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f 15 years a/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/fter their onset o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f symptoms . This rare disease occurs in 1 in 2,000 people , and sometimes the symptoms are misinterpreted, resulting in a misdiagnosis. I/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f you see yoursel/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f in my story, please get in touch with your healthcare provider.听

Sleep is o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/ften unprioritized by many college students. Lack o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f sleep and poor sleep quality has been associated with reduced memory , as well as impaired emotional resiliency . According to the Sleep Foundation, adults should aim /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/for 7 to 9 hours o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f sleep each night . You can鈥檛 literally 鈥渃atch up鈥� on sleep over the weekends, so plan your week care/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/fully to ensure that you can get assignments and studying done within a realistic time/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/frame, within reasonable hours. I have learned that, at the end o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f the day (wink), allowing onesel/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f adequate time to rest is both an act o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f sel/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f care and o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f sel/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/more-than-tired-world-narcolepsy-day/f love.听