British woman's rare condition of Cataplexy makes her fall asleep every time she laughs

In a rare situation, a woman starts to feel weak and sleepy every time she laughs. The 24-year-old woman, identified as Bella Kilmartin has been diagnosed with a sleeping disorder called narcolepsy that causes the woman to start feeling weak whenever she laughs. The problem is indicated by overwhelming daytime drowsiness and sudden attacks of sleep when she was young. 

Cataplexy health condition

Bella also has a strange condition of cataplexy where her muscles start to feel weak suddenly and are generated by strong emotions like laughing. Due to this exceptional disease, she has fallen asleep in various places including nightclubs, workplaces, and even in a swimming pool. Bella explained that the effect is more when she is not expecting something to be funny. She further added that even though she is fully conscious and aware of what's going on, she cannot move her body when she laughs. Initially, it was thought that her weakness is coming from her stress of exams. Later, in 2015 Bella started seeing a specialist when the disorder was diagnosed. 

Bella mentioned to LADbible. that initially, she used to feel light-headed when she laughed, later she started feeling sleepy and now her muscles have started to feel weak. This would not have been the situation if the disorder was found earlier. The condition also caused several accidents for Bella including falling down the patio steps and giving up driving lessons. 

Later, Bella started to come out of feeling droopy when she stopped laughing however she still feels weak and cannot stand straight. In the beginning, she would feel physically sick in sharing her story but now that she has heard other people's experiences, she feels comfortable in telling hers. 

Like the rare situation of Bella, there are several such unusual disorders that are found in several people but this is surely a unique case of study.