Another sleep disorder or narcolepsy?

I have had a troubled relationship with sleep my whole life. When I was a kid, I tossed and turned and my brain would not turn off. I had extremely vivid nightmares to the point where I could feel pain in them. These nightmares have followed me into adulthood, and I have anywhere from 1 to 10 dreams a night.

As a teen, I hated sleep. I had insomnia, or what seemed like insomnia. I would pull all-nighters because I didn’t want to sleep. I would fall asleep in class all the time.

As an adult, primarily over the last three or four years, I have not been able to get sleep that makes me wake up feeling refreshed. I have night sweats, I can sleep literally 24+ hours and feel like I never slept. Sometimes I’m not sure if something that I remember really happened or not. The nightmares are still there. Not even meds help them.

I also have signs of cataplexy. When I laugh, I get weak to the point of sometimes sliding off a chair or needing to hunch over or sit down. Similar things when crying.

My sleep doctor did a sleep study and a Multiple Sleep Latency Test. During one of the five naps, I went into REM sleep. Two naps with REM sleep are required for a narcolepsy diagnosis. I fell asleep in between naps and dreamt while I was sleeping, but the equipment wasn’t plugged in for the time I was supposed to be awake.

My doctor is treating me for possible narcolepsy with cataplexy. Has anyone heard of these symptoms before? Does anyone have similar experiences? What did it turn out to be?