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Fall down stairs - Cataplexy?
by And_Searching (no login)
Hi, I'm writing about a scary experience I had not too long ago that *might* be cataplexy but, because I haven't seen others describe certain parts of it, I'm not really sure if it fits. I have other symptoms that could also point to narcolepsy... EDS, night insomnia (even if I only slept for 4 hours in 48 hours), migraines, the tendency to close my eyes when I'm ready to sleep and see images forming based on the thoughts I'm having, brain fog/memory and concentration trouble... but I don't know if I have those things the way someone with narcolepsy does. I also have what seems to be a lack of balance (I have to walk with my feet apart or I tip over), and a test showed that my muscles tend to go tense and refuse to allow me to relax them (this is true of arms and legs, neck, even my stomach), but I definitely haven't heard about those being related to narcolepsy.
Anyway, what happened is this:
I was walking down the stairs from my home door to the sidewalk, when I suddenly lost my balance. My balance is totally shot (no one can figure out why), so I had been a little worried something like this might happen for a while. When it happened, I panicked--like really intense panic--and grabbed on to the railings on either side of me. I remember thinking to myself that I had to grip the railing tightly, and that the fingers of my left hand tightened their grip in response to that thought.
Then I suddenly felt myself change. My thoughts, my panic... it just vanished. I felt calm and unable to think, the way I do in dreams when I start to become lucid or wake up. I think I had this vague sense that something was wrong with me, and that I really needed to try to regain my balance. But my hands slid off the railings, first on the right side, causing my body to swing one way, then the left. I didn't flail or try to catch myself at all, so I guess my reflexes were gone too. I have no memory of the actual fall, though I also don't remember closing my eyes; I think I was staring, looking toward the ground because my head had dropped. I don't remember falling forward.
The next thing I remember is the pain from landing on my knees and fell over onto my left side (because I wasn't able to move my arm to catch myself). It took me a moment to collect myself before I could move and complain about how much falling had hurt my ankle.
Can anyone confirm if this is cataplexy, or something else? Is the total loss of emotion and conscious thought supposed to occur? I appreciate any help.