If you’re curious about narcolepsy from a first-person perspective, there’s an awesome YouTube channel you should subscribe to.
Sleepy Sarah Elizabeth is creating a video journal detailing her struggles with narcolepsy and cataplexy, and the constant juggling between insurance companies, chasing preauthorization forms, and even trying to find an ice pack after falling off the toilet and whacking her head on the door knob because of a cataplexy attack.
Sarah explains in the video, It Finally Happened – I Hit My Head, that when she tried to stand up after using the bathroom, her left knee went limp from cataplexy. And since she wasn’t having a sleep attack at the moment, she says, “I got to experience the whole incident. Yay.”
Her video, What Narcolepsy Really Looks Like – It Still Sucks, shows Sarah unable to leave her bed because she is waiting for her medication to be approved, and she’s proud that she was able to stay awake for five hours. But, unfortunately, it doesn’t last. In one segment, she falls asleep mid-sentence.
I highly recommend Sarah’s YouTube channel to teenagers and young adults who struggle with sleep disorders.
Sarah is honest, but buffers her reality with an underlying feeling of hope. She relates her experiences with self-deprecating humor and leaves no stones unturned, giving the viewer great insight on how hard it is to function with narcolepsy, and just how important a role medication plays for many people with this chronic neurological condition.
