jbb....OMG! The potty napper! I thought I was the only one! I did that for so long before I was diagnosed. I had one boss that actually asked me if I had a problem, I was in the bathroom so much. And of course, I had no idea if I was in there for thirty seconds or thirty minutes at a time, since I figured I'm just waiting for some dizziness to pass, and it was another eight or ten years before I found out I was actually falling asleep!

I still head to the loo on the occasion a brisk walk around the office doesn't clear my head enough. My current managers know I have N, although I'm sure they haven't made the connection with any seriously long potty breaks quite yet; it ought to be interesting if the conversation ever presents itself. lol

I do have the same warnings it's " sleepy time" But what I did realize until a couple of years ago is that there has been times either I dream it happened or kinda like a black out but I dont know it happened . Someone will insist they told me something and I would argue to my death they didnt! I could argue conversations I had what they were wearing where we were at when it took place. It never happened !I always thought people just didnt listen to me...this happened alot in my life I didnt put 2 and 2 together until it happened a couple of times w/ a close friend that I trusted my first reaction was oh no now she is doing it to she doesnt listen to me anymore. Then it hit me like a ton of brick's I'ts me. This took some time to swallow the fact that some times I dont know what's real or did I dream it? Looking back on my child hood my siblings teased me all the time by saying I dont know maybe you drempt it. Oh and about the mascara dont feel bad I used to swear I was alergic to the sun and it put me to sleep this was before I new I had Narc.

Mascara I actually do have problems with, but it's the rubbing my eyes because they are itchy that makes me sleepy.

I could never figure out why I'd get so sleepy in bright light or complain when I'd come home and all the lights were on...but yep, that does it too...my mom thought I was "allergic" to the sun forever! These days, finding the balance between light that's so bright it makes me sleepy and light that's so dim it makes me sleepy is a trick in and of itself.

Once, after getting an epi shot during an asthma attack, I nearly passed out on the way home from the ER...my mother almost brought me back to the hospital. That should have been a clue.

hahahha.... i like hearing everyone's stories too. i DEF know when i'm about to go... but that doesn't mean i can control it. i only just started taking my meds b/c i got into a car accident when i was trying to not let myself doze off while driving. i literally started on my meds about 3-4 weeks ago and take small doses once a day... so i still have problems w/attacks maybe once a day now only, just not as much. i remember when i was in college, 8 years ago, i was driving and i felt myself starting to fall asleep and i asked my friend who was the passenger to ask me math problems that would require me to think b/c just talking to her didn't help. i would go into reactive mode/half sleep and not even remember anything we were saying to eachother. and i did that for 7 years until i got into a car accident. i am lucky i'm still alive. and- i'm lucky for the car accident b/c that is what finally prompted me to see a doc about this.

i thought it was just my crappy sleep habits in college that made me fall asleep in class. but- then when i worked the past 4 years and had 9 hours of sleep a night.. and still fell asleep like 4-5 times a day, i thought it wasn't normal. just this past weekend i had my drowsy eyes thing going on while i was at a table talking to my parents and another family and i couldn't stay up. i wouldn't let myself fall asleep in front of them since i was at their house and i couldn't leave b/c my parents and i drove there together. it's the worst when u have to force yourself to stay up and you can't. usually, if i was more comfortable w/who i'm with, i just nap. no big deal. we left and my mom said... u need to take your meds cause she could see my droopy eyes the entire time. it made an hour conversation seem like 5 hours since i was half asleep throughout the whole thing. even standing up and walking around the kitchen didn't help. and talking to the other family. it's soooo embarrassing. i used to do this in meetings w/clients at work too. and i refused medication. i would send emails out in my dozing mode and then fully wake up later and wonder if i actually really sent an email. i often did.... and would have to re-read it to make sure it was coherent.

now i'm on nuvigil. i am bewildered by the fact that i can read for more than 15 minutes w/out falling asleep and having to read it all over again. i'm bewildered that i can even go a whole 4 hours without nodding off or falling asleep the entire span. i hit the pillow last night and actually lay there for over 5 minutes "trying" to sleep. that is unheard of for me (the sleep tests i took showed me falling asleep between 4-45 seconds for all 5 naps.... w/rem sleep onset between 1-3minutes). i kind of like the fact that i can nap though... and wake up feeling super refreshed.... and usually not even know how long i've been sleeping for. 5 minutes feels like a lot b/c i hit rem sleep in that short of time.

siiiiiiiigh. life of a narcoleptic. =P

I know when i am tired, and if i can, i lay down to nap. I used to try to fight it and i would end up sleep deprived and eventually crash for 12 to 14 hours of sleep to recoup. I have had PMDD since I was about 22 and i learned to cope with it as my down times were predictable due to hormonal cycles. 7 years ago I had a "flu"" that i never seemed to fully recover from, i needed naps every afternoon and not just during my PMDD times. They said i had chronic fatigue syndrom but now they suspect i have n w/ cataplexy as i have had 6 "rag doll" spells in the past 2 years. I stopped driving when i realized that I may not have the usual 6 seconds notice that I am about to collapse. And it was good that i did because 2 weeks after i decided not to drive i had a spell that only gave me 2 seconds warning. By warning I mean that I get woosy, if i am sitting i tip over, standing i go limp to the floor.

To answer your question, I have never just fallen asleep without warning/feeling tired, heavy lids, reduced cognitive ability. The cataplexy is the one that comes on very suddenly.

I don't wear makeup except on special occasions and never eye masc. with as much as i sleep (2 to 3 naps per day) I would look like a raccoon. lol.

For years people have tried to make me get on a sleep schedual, meaning sleep only at night. Has never worked, i can't make it through the day without becoming cranky that i have to stay awake. Now i just sleep when i am tired, no matter when that is, morning, afternoon or night. I often spend a couple of hours in the middle of the night up doing housework or other things. I find I am the happiest and most productive when i let my body have it's way with what sleep it feels it needs. I hope to get onto meds soon and have improvement. Good luck to you, and take care, Cher

Yes, I also know when it is going to happen. I feel it in my eyes. When it happens I have to go to sleep right away. The funniest one time was on my way home from work. I was also using those teeth whitening things. Needless to say. I pulled over in a safe area and abruptly fell asleep. When I woke up (seems to be always 20 min.) I looked like a rabid dog. Didn't take out the whitening strip and I had foam running down the neck. I don't wear mascara, due to the fact I'm always tired and I rub my eyes.

HEY.........
HELLO EVERY ONE:)
ON THIS NOTE=I CAN FEEL IT COMING,AND SO MUCH THAT IT FRIGHTENS ME TO WHERE I DON'T EVEN EAT I SKIP BREAKFAST AND EVEN LUNCH TO HAVE A MILDER EFFECT ON MY SLEEP ATTACKS....
CHEERS

wow well on occassion i know when im going to go, but its very rare normaly im out like a light no matter what im doing, it can be fun in supermarkets when i come to i see all the staff in a panic lol but for it dosent matter what im doing ive fell asleep when i took daughter swimming that was in early days now i just dont go lol
on a bus woke 2 hours l8er making the same trip 6or 7 times lmao
so it a bit af a shit realy and can get sooooooo frustrating

i have a heavy feeling in my throat and near the back of my head, i start sniffing a lot and moving in my seat, trying to staywake, i need help to stop these small attacks during evening hours, i cant study when i need to or do homework, i cant even finish 1/3 of a page of notes before nodding off

tired nurse am lmao here that was funny

Sometimes I know. Sometimes I don't know. It almost cost me my job. I would feel extremely tired. My eyes would burn but far as I know, I'm awake because I kept working. But my boss sat and watched me and she said I was out for ten minutes. That was my wake-up call. That's when I went in for a sleep study and got diagnosed!

I did begin to notice trends though! My office is cold so I usually used blankets on my lap. Big no no! Made me to comfortable. Also listening to music really does me in and if I slouch, I'm a goner. I also noticed if I lean forward a bit when working over reports that it makes me worse to. It took me faceplanting into my keyboard and sporting the Windows symbol on my forehead for most of the afternoon to make a mental note: DO NOT LEAN FORWARD WHEN IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO MY KEYBOARD!

I've fallen out of chairs. I've fallen off of the toilet (That was embarrassing as a few family members came in when they heard the thud to make sure I was okay). Brightest pink blush caked onto my cheeks couldn't compare. And my word of caution if you have kids and take them to the park. DO NOT SIT ON A SWING! Even just to chat! I got a mouth full of woodchips learning that one!

Also when I'm active most of the day, like really up and moving and just exhausted, I'll sit down and take a rest. Like going to an amusement park. All those lines. I fell asleep on the Tower of Terror at Disney. I also fell asleep on the Aerosmith Rockin' Rollercoaster. Of all things, a rollercoaster. Thank god for locked seats! I also do not recommend sitting down on any of the show beds or furniture in department stores.

And bus rides with complete strangers I avoid. The motion of most vehicles (unless I am driving or my husband is driving) puts me to sleep. I stopped using bus transportation when I fell asleep and woke up to a face full of some male strangers lap. Now when I drive, there's no way in hell I'm falling asleep. I'm to paranoid of the people driving around me. And when my husband drives? He's crazy. We drove to Florida which is a 17 hour drive and I didn't sleep even a minute because I HAD to watch the road. Had to make sure he was driving okay. I had to see if I needed to grab onto the 'OH SHIT!' bar or not.

Whether mild or extreme it poses serious hazards and limitations on what PWN's can do so I have been documenting my experiences and what led up to them so that I can avoid putting myself in that position again in the future. As always though, something new comes along and my feet come out from under me and I'm eatting...something. Never to sure what...but something.

I too know when I'm gonna fall asleep most of the time. I can feel it starting to come on and my eyes having to work hard to stay open. When I'm really tired I fall asleep without warning, but i pretty much already know its gonna happen because it always does when im that tired. Also, now that I've been taking nuvigil, when it wears off, i have experienced more falling asleep without warning because my theory is that my body isnt used to fighting off the sleep like it used to always do.

i really like this thread, i find it really interesting how it affects everyone and the similarities!

I have warning usually, my eyes water if i fight it too much, and i cant for the life of me keep em open. I remember pulling over in a walmart parking lot and passing out...woke up an hour later with the car running and not really remembering driving in there and arriving..i was thankful i at least put the car in park first!

I also start zoning, if im tryin to study or write something for school, i fight it hard, my eyes feel SO heavy and i end up re-reading the page 4 times before i finally cant hold out anymore.

Oh and i also get really cold shortly before...i tend to be cold anyway (oddly enough the desipramine helps w/ the oober-cold i usually am when i wake up) .. i remember we'd goto my grandmas for dinner, id pass out on the couch after and theyd wake me and id be SOO bone-chillingly cold when i woke up.. my sister use to joke that i must keep my hands in the freezer when i sleep lol

ha! and the sun puts me to sleep too. i think thats partly why night shift works better for me..lol sun comes up, i pass out.

I have both. I have times where I know I'm tired and I can jerk myself out of it. Go for a walk, get some fresh air. Then there are times that I do like MarilynLiz... I have the kind where I fall asleep but I don't look asleep. I've done that in important meetings at work even, it's very embarrassing. Those cause me to get lost or I have to ask somebody to repeat themselves, sometimes two or three times! I stare off into space.