watching_willow

Not exactly so. DMT is naturally produced and secreted by the Pineal Gland.

Yes, an extremely high dose of psilocybin will give a DMT-like experience, but the overall experience is VASTLY different, as is the mechanisms of action.

DMT is short acting (if inhaled, the tea is infused with an MAOI which slows the degradation of neurotransmitters causing it to last longer) and acts on specific receptors which we have not even fully discovered yet.

Psilocybin is also not yet fully understood, but acts in a very different psychopharmacological way.

Source: receptors, neuroscience, dreams, parallel universes & shit

Thanks for doing this! Spreading awareness of disorders is always good. Im sorry you have to struggle through this, I know what its like; perhaps not narcolepsy, but I have a weird inconsistent insomnia that has been ruining my nights for many years.

I have some things to share with you. Have you tried taking melatonin before bed time? Melatonin suppresses REM sleep putting you in the deeper stages of sleep, which are necessary for body rejuvenation and restoration.

From the (daytime) sleep study you posted, indeed it shows you have the sleep that of which a narcoleptic would have.. but it also shows that you have almost 0 slow wave sleep (stage N3-N4) which is when your body goes through "R&R" almost, this would be troubling if this was a night time sleep study. If you havent done one, I recommend you do, to evaluate your sleep during the night... as if you fix that, you can fix your daytime sleepiness as well -to a degree. You get REM onset is very early in the morning which is interesting, and even more interesting, you no longer get REM you only nod off into stage N1 and a bit into N2. You also have numerous arousals/awakenings.

You're lucky though, if you were like your cousin who also has cataplexy (sudden loss of muscle tone due to sleep paralysis), your sleep study would show alot more random REM cycles. This is dangerous because you could be driving, talking, eating, in class, -you name it- and all of a sudden you get sleep paralysis and you just pass out. I found this video with a quick search for those interested to see what its like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA6FeiGgLF0

Glad your school work is up to speed. Stay in school. Excel in life. Learn to use your narcolepsy to your advantage. Learn about lucid dreaming. The mind is very cool indeed. More cool if you can control your subconscious.

Peace

Im not OP, but I can answer your question...

Depends on what stage you fall into. From his posted sleep study, his first "nap" he spends lots of time in REM. In REM sleep you experience "dreams" , which may or may not be "nightmarish" in nature. Things like that are characteristic to each individual. If you fall into a deeper sleep, you are less likely to dream.. not saying you cant, but less likely, and even more less likely to recall any of the dreams once you awake.

If he had narcolepsy with cataplexy like his cousin, the answer to you question may be "yes", because by definition cataplexy is the sudden loss of muscle tone caused by the onset of sleep paralysis which is brought on the body by the body entering REM.

Sleep paralysis happens every time you enter a REM cycle at night. Which is roughly every 90 min. Sometimes though, for some reason, you are conscious of a stage of sleep transition called "hypnagogic/hynapomnic" hallucinations, which are essentially the hallucinations brought on the body by the entering of sleep paralysis.

When you are for whaterver reason awoken directly from REM, your mind/consciousness may be awake and alert, but your body (most muscles) still have yet to get the "we are awake" signal from the brain, causing you to feel unable to move or scream or anything. You may not see people watching you or whatever, because the hypnagogic hallucinations are different for each individual. Most hear a loud auditory hallucination. Those are what I have experienced. Like water running through a creek, or strong winds howling.

experiencing sleep paralysis is normal, and does not mean you have or may have narcolepsy. If you find yourself falling asleep randomly during the day, then... maybe.

Hope this helps

No problem. if you have any other sleep questions I will try my best to answer. Its not like Im procrastinating or anything.....

Im supposed to review the entirety of biology (2 yrs worth) in the next 8 hours. Let the games begin