Jerrod Balzer

So my doctor thinks my problem with suddenly being unable to move is definitely cataplexy and I’d have to agree for sure. It was being worsened by sleep apnea for half the year, but they now have me on treatment for that. There was a period of feeling super great after getting caught up on all the lost sleep, but now that my sleep is more “normal,” that burst of energy has slowed and cataplectic episodes are more frequent.

The problem: sleep apnea is treated by helping you sleep. Cataplexy is treated by keeping you more awake. So they had to work on one first, then the other.

Here’s a great site on cataplexy: http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Cataplexy

Having just read that this evening, I see now why I can still get more work done late at night. After around 10pm, the chance of having spells, and the lack of concentration that goes with it, decreases.

Episodes are triggered by emotions like laughter, anger, etc. I’ve been finding lately that if I get really annoyed about something, I’d best make sure I’m sitting down.

Anyway, a general episode for me, which are more frequent when I’m tired from either lack of sleep or exertion, begins with blurred vision. My eyes feel like they’re rolling around and my neck turns to Jell-O. If I’m walking, my knees buckle under me. When sitting, I just realize I can’t move at all. If it goes for very long, my arms may drop or my head will slump over completely. I might even roll out of wherever I’m sitting. If I’m standing, I’ll slowly go down, able to stop the fall enough not to cause much damage, then lay on my back. And when I am on the floor, I’ll wallow around when I can, trying to get up the first chance I get.

During it all, I either can’t talk or I can but with slurred speech. Generally, my eyes are open. Sometimes I can move them around while other times they feel frozen, but I’m always aware of my surroundings. I can see and hear, so I’m not asleep.

Afterward, while a bit groggy, I’m usually right back to whatever I was doing, as though it never happened.

During a bad day, I try to just turn on the PS3 and play a game, usually something that’s straight-up fun with very little aggravation, and focus on that until I feel like I can get up and do something.

I looked on YouTube and found a few videos of people having spells.

Here’s one where it looks like a woman is coming out of it, but she’s most likely (as I now know) struggling against it, because it’s a damn horrible feeling not being able to move. It’s something you don’t want to give in to:

Here’s one where two teens are playing around to some Britney Spears. The blonde sees her friend slap herself and laughter kicks a spell on. She drops and while she fights it, her friend starts dancing over her. When it goes away, she jumps up and goes right back to having fun:

This one doesn’t need much explanation, but it reminds me of earlier this year when I dropped a bowl of soup before I could give it to Robin, then laid in it for twenty minutes while she tried to clean the mess and talk to me: