Hi Everyone :) My name is Annie. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Narcolepsy in May of 2013. In all that time I've never tried to talk to someone else who has Narcolepsy. For the first year I was sort of in denial and the diagnosis was kind of surreal. Last fall I started a pretty intense master's program in human development counseling. I moved away from my family for the first time and felt like it was going to be okay because I was in love with a guy here. Counseling school forces you to examine yourself under a microscope and that's hard for everyone... but adding being away from my family for the first time, having and losing the closest thing to a real relationship I've had in my whole 30 years on the planet, and the baseline stress of being constantly sleep deprived was too much.
I took every academic opportunity I had to research Narcolepsy and how it affects people. I think what I found explains a lot of difficulties I've had in my life. I've always been so moody and anxious to the point of paranoia at times. I'm horrible at regulating my emotions and following social protocol. A lot of times I can't think straight and I end up making impulsive decisions that wreak havoc in my social interactions. I've always been so hard on myself. So much was expected of me growing up and everything was always so much harder for me than for everyone else around me. I wasn't diagnosed until I was 28, so over about fifteen years I came to believe I was weak, weird, immature, bitchy, and I must not be trying hard enough.
I guess I've been avoiding reaching out for support from fellow Narcoleptics because I'm scared all of those things are still true and no one else with Narcolepsy is such a mess. I feel so isolated and I'm afraid that even fellow Narcoleptics will reject me. But I'm trying to be brave here. I'm really hoping that someone can relate to some of my experience. I don't want to be alone in this anymore.
I’m sooo glad that you found us. And that you are talking about how you feel. We all deal with this in our own way’s. But with that being said we all deal with the crazy emotional rollercoaster. When people ask me how I live like this. I have to laugh 
cause my first thought is “just like you” lol. But what I tell them is. 1. I just do. 2. One day at a time. 3. I am who I am. 4. With love and support. 5. I get to change my dreams at night. 6. I enjoy the small thing’s. It’s not always easy and I very much have my low day’s. But I don’t worry if I have to sleep when we go out to eat. My family just Acts the same they just make sure I set down first. Other people get worried when they first see me go to sleep. But then they watch how we are responding to it and then they go back to what they where doing. I have my low time’s and lose my strength. But as soon as it comes back I can start doing more. Everyone knows when to stay out of my space. Normally it take’s someone about three time’s being told “my space” to start reading my body language. So, they know when I’m ok with them in my space and when to move away again. Again it is sooo awesome to have you here