Hello, I’m a sleep-deprived high school student. I attend to a boarding school which schedules students to sleep for about 7 hours per day. But since we have so much work to do, we rarely get a full 7 hours. I would sleep 6 hours if I could, but when I have homeworks due next day I can only sleep for 3-5 hours. So the average would be a bit more than 5 hours, I think. And that can’t be increased.

I’ll list my experiences below, please see if I seem narcoleptic...

-(uncontrollable sleep)I had dozed off very frequently(like 4,5 times a day) in class before starting to take something similar to Ritalin(I got it prescribed from hospital few months ago). I’d pinch myself, bite my lips, pull my hair but eventually fall asleep(without much sign of sleeping- teachers wouldn’t notice me dozing off).

-(uncontrollable sleep)I occasionally dozed off while using my laptop or smartphone, while researching something, but that rarely happened.

-(controllable drowsiness)I usually sleep while I’m in a car, but that isn’t uncontrollable(I feel drowsy, but I can control myself not to sleep if needed).

-I am tired throughout the day. I’m not sure when’s the last time I felt truly energetic and alert.

-I space out really frequently. My friends say I look blank almost all the time.

-I experience sleep paralysis often, a few times in a month. Sometimes I get sleep paralysis while sleep on my desk. It happens right before I fall asleep and repeats 3-4 times. In the most severe occasion, it repeated for what felt like twenty or thirty times.

-I dream several times a week.

-I don’t have cataplexy.

-I never fall asleep while I’m doing something enjoyable(although I might feel tired and drowsy).

-all if the above seems to happen even when I get sufficient sleep(on vacation, on weekands, etc.)