sixty to eighty percent of people with
narcolepsy suffer from cataplexy. It can be triggered by surprise, fear, anger, or laughter. The effects include slight feelings of weakness and sagging facial muscles, head nodding, buckling knees, loss of arm strength, and mumbling or "garbled" speech. But it may also lead to immediate total body collapse ... these attacks may last from a few seconds to half an hour or so. There is no loss of consciousness.