I'm a 39 year old man. In my teens I started having trouble falling asleep at night, and trouble waking up in the morning. In high school, I would sleep through the first half of the day, then take long naps (2 hrs) after school.  At age 23 I had a sleep study done and was diagnosed with phase delay syndrome and narcolepsy. Ritalin initially worked amazingly. With time, it worked less well. I now take Provigil in the day and diphenhidramine at night.  Both work okay.

Over the last couple years, I've developed new symptoms.  I take diphenhidramine at night.  (If I don't, I can't sleep.) When I go to sleep, it feels as if I go immediately into REM sleep.  I do this whenever I go to sleep - at night, naps, falling back to sleep in the morning.  Also, as strange as it sounds, I feel as if I dream, vividly, while awake.  (I say "I feel" only because this sounds so strange.  But really I'm certain I dream while I'm awake. I can't really describe it.)

One other thing - a past girlfriend told me when falling asleep my breathing would change.  Instead of smooth inhaling and exhaling, in a continuous sequence, she said I would almost hold my breath briefly after inhaling, then exhale.

So, what is this - going immediately into REM sleep, skipping the first 4 stages of sleep; dreaming while awake, but while coming in and out of sleep; erratic breathing?

thanks