Dee Daud suffers from an extremely severe case of narcolepsy.
Even walking his dog, which he tries to do three times a day, can turn into an emergency. He will suddenly feel the overwhelming urge to fall asleep and when he does, there is no stopping it. He will drop to the ground and sleep for as long as his body tells him to.
Dee is nearly housebound because he never knows when he’s going to fall down, get hurt, or even get mugged. Luckily, he has a friend, Karen, on whom he relies. Simple tasks can be very dangerous for people with narcolepsy. Dee has hurt himself many times. A recent CT scan showed at one time or another, he has broken every one of his ribs. The excessive daytime sleepiness causes Dee to sleep up to 18 hours at a time. He also has horrific hallucinations. As he becomes more awake, they pass, but sometimes the anxiety of the hallucinations stays with him through the day.
Emotions such as happiness or sadness cause him to have cataplexy and that’s what makes him fall to the floor. Because of this, Dee withdrew from the world. He felt alienated and shunned because people called him “lazy” and “crazy.” He misses being able to have an intimate relationship, saying it’s impossible at this time.
Dee lived this way for 30 years before being diagnosed with narcolepsy and cataplexy associated with narcolepsy. He admits that his life is very lonely, but he’s learning to live with his condition and accept himself for who he is.