**wake up!!***

0730 ... My partner gets up and goes to work. I attempt to wake up to say goodbye but I generally don't. I always wake up to find he has tucked me in though :D

1000 ... Generally about this time I manage to wake up and take my meds. It can be earlier if I have to be up - but I would have to set an alarm which I find difficult to wake up with. I always find it harder to wake up when I have my alarm set, I think because it is not the natural end to my sleep - I suppose.

1030 ... I find it easier to go for a shower, I have to let someone know I am going and that I will close the door but not lock it and that they have to check on me to make sure nothing happens while I am in the shower. Some days I am physically unable to stand up long enough to take a shower so I have to have a bath, of course the risk of drowning in a bath is much higher. I know it sounds dramatic but this is how much it affects every part of life - you have to decide exactly how you are going to cope with every element of the day.

1100 ... Breakfast and coffee

1115 ... If I need to leave the house and I am capable of doing this then I like to do so early, of course as a student if I am just not well enough to leave the house on one day, this is the time where I have to e-mail my tutors to let them know that I just cannot manage today. E-mailing to let them know that I am too sleepy sounds silly and it takes a very understanding lecturer to be ok with this, I know it is their job to help students but that does not automatically mean they will - I have met some god awful teachers when it comes to helping out disabled students. (There is that 'D' word again - it doesn't seem apt but I suppose it is)

1300 ...  I have to make sure that I eat healthy and regularly, I can't get too hungry because I have a blood sugar problem, if I let it get too far then I will get very weak and combine that with fatigue and my problems multiply.

1400 ... assuming I am at home this is nap time! You have no idea how much of a mixed blessing this is. If I get too tired I find it difficult to deal with noise and bright lights and I can't think, it is a kind of mental fog that even drugs don't shift. I love these naps for the momentary relief that they give but I hate the fact that I have to have them, this is my life - why should I.... it's not fair!

1500/1600 ... wake up and have another coffee. Lucky me I have IBS so every coffee I have causes me great discomfort but I have no alternative, the drugs only work so much. I know have to get my coursework done or read or finish those odd jobs off that should already have been done.

1800 ... time for something to eat and a quick nap after wards, by this time my flat mates are home so it gets more and more difficult to sleep due to the noise, not that I mind, it is not their fault I have to sleep.

2000 ... By this time of night I am useless - I really can't think at all. I'm not necessarily asleep or finding it difficult to move but mentally this is as far as I go - when I pull an 'all-nighter' it pretty much stops at 2000 hrs.

2200 ... Sleep time ... time to get into my lovely bed and go to sleep. Of course without fail I will wake up through out the night because heaven forbid that my relief last very long. Thankfully I do not suffer too badly from night time hallucinations, only rarely do I get these so I don't have to worry about them too much. (Blessing in disguise?)

 .... The cycle begins again.

Now we need to factor in these elements which occur randomly throughout the day in no particular order. Feel free to slot them into the above framework wherever you want:

1. Cataplectic attack, hopefully I don't fall and hurt myself, my head has taken enough bumps this week already.

    

2. Myoclonic jerks... yes and they do always happen at the most inoppurtune times.

    

3. Too tired to get up, this has frequently happened on a bus or tram so dayriders are good to prevent having to explain why it seems as though I skipped the fare.

    

4. Someone asks me a question but the mental fog takes over and I have barely enough grasp of the English language.

    

5. Where the heck has that pen gone? Yes I lost it, I’m sure I had it around here somewhere ... later on you will find it in a rather odd place ... such as the freezer

    

6. OK I think I have now successfully washed my hair for the third time today ... automatic behaviour - you know you want it!

    

7. What's that? You want to judge me about my supposed lack of interest or question my rather erratic behaviour - walk a mile in my shoes dude!

    

8. Speak the immortal words: "I'm really just too tired to do that right now - just let me sit down, maybe I’ll feel better in a bit" multiply this by the number of hours you are awake for.

    

9. Make coffee ... multiplied by 9

    

10. How many times must I read this journal article before my brain allows me to take this information in - I don't want to fall asleep through Foucault dynamic explanation of the history of punishment one more time - I have other things I need to do.

     

I hope this gives you a vague idea of a day in my life - not everybody with narcolepsy is the same and this is only a quick draft but I think it paints an amusing picture.