Narcolepsy awareness is on FIRE this fall! This is thanks to the narcolepsy PSA series airing on national TV, The Daily Edition segment in Australia and Sarah Wheaton’s video of cataplexy (a symptom of narcolepsy) going viral on Reddit. As a narcolepsy spokesperson and author, it’s great to see narcolepsy gain international media attention. I hope we can continue promoting truthful awareness of the real symptoms of narcolepsy – not stereotypes.

I can’t thank Sarah Elizabeth Wheaton enough for bravely sharing her experience. Watch narcolepsy video – Sarah shares her narcolepsy experience with the Today Show below or here:

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Read INIDE EDITION interview with Sarah Wheaton sharing her narcolepsy experience 

Watch viral narcolepsy video: Sarah Elizabeth Wheaton’s original YouTube video of Cataplexy

Please note: Not all people with narcolepsy fall asleep anywhere at anytime – with treatment and naps, many people are managing symptoms and able to drive and work. For me, my sleepiness is mostly invisible, an internal struggle that does not generally result in instantaneous dropping asleep mid-sentence. However, cataplexy is a symptom of narcolepsy in which emotions can cause my eye-lids to close, my neck to give out and my body to collapse, which may look like I’m falling asleep – but I am actually paralyzed while awake.

In my awareness efforts, I try to explain the difference between sleepiness and cataplexy because I suffered for years without considering “narcolepsy” because I thought narcolepsy was falling asleep anytime/anywhere, which wasn’t my experience. Let’s keep the great narcolepsy news going!

Of course, it makes my heart ache to read that young Sarah almost fell asleep during her interview with INSIDE EDITION.  Media interviews give me such a rush of adrenaline that I can’t imagine this for myself, but I usually crash afterward. Sending wakefulness to Sarah and hoping she finds a treatment regimen that may provide some more relief.

Learn more about the real symptoms of narcolepsy in video series here: