Narcolepsy Navigators Podcast

Leave a review! Liz is a speech and language therapist. Christine is a former chartered accountant. Both were diagnosed with narcolepsy type 1 — and both have had to fight, again and again, for accommodations they were legally entitled to. In this episode, Liz and Christine sit down for an honest career chat: the university meeting where Liz was told she'd never qualify as a therapist, Christ...

Leave a review! Mel has narcolepsy without cataplexy. Jeanna has Tourette syndrome. They met in a Walmart parking lot, went viral for a motorcycle ride the internet still argues about, and somehow became each other's safest place — through a cancer relapse, childhood trauma, and a lot of dark humor. In this episode, hosts Kerly and Sakhara sit down with Mel ("Mel of the Mountains")...

Leave a review! At just 16, Chloe has already lived through what most people spend decades trying to understand about themselves. Diagnosed with narcolepsy type 1 in seventh grade after a mysterious two-to-three month stretch of sleeping nearly 20 hours a day, Chloe went from straight-A student to fighting for her own accommodations — and came out the other side with a clear plan to become a sleep...

Leave a review! What is the exact dollar value of staying awake? In this special episode, we dig into a real independent evidence report on Orzeyful (oporexin), a newly FDA-approved drug for narcolepsy type 1 that works completely differently from anything currently on the market — it doesn't just manage symptoms, it replaces the missing brain chemical behind the disease itself. We break down...

Leave a review! It took Michelle Chadwick 20 years to get diagnosed with idiopathic hypersomnia (IH)  and when she finally did, she found almost nothing online to help her make sense of it. So she built it herself. In this Advocacy Series episode, hosts Kerly and Christine talk with Michelle Chadwick, founder of Hypersomnias Australia and creator of the world's first Global Idiopathic Hyperso...

Leave a review! What happens when you crack open the backend analytics of a podcast built for one of the rarest, most invisible patient communities on earth? In this special episode, we dig into the data behind Narcolepsy Navigators — the downloads, the device stats, the surprising cities driving our global audience, and the uncomfortable tension between chasing scale and staying true to the exhau...

Leave a review! What happens when your teenage son stops closing doors, watches the same movie three times in one day without remembering, and disappears from his own life for weeks at a time? In this episode of Narcolepsy Navigators, hosts Kerly and Ross sit down with Jonathan Lyons — a father from Florida who's spent the last eight years advocating for his son, diagnosed with Kleine-Levin S...

Leave a review! Imagine falling asleep for two months straight — losing your memory, your personality, even your sense of time. That's life with Kleine-Levin Syndrome (KLS), one of the rarest sleep disorders in the world. In this episode of Narcolepsy Navigators, hosts Kerly and Sakhara sit down with Saphronia Young, a former elementary school teacher from Texas living with both KLS and Narco...

Leave a review! What does it look like to build an extraordinary life with narcolepsy — without medication? Welcome to the Narcolepsy Navigators Advocacy Series, where lived experience meets powerful storytelling. This week, Kerly and Liz sit down with David Kuhn: a 27-year narcolepsy survivor, elite master fitness trainer, licensed massage therapist, and founder of the Facebook community Narcolep...

Leave a review! Narcolepsy Navigators launches its Medical Series focused on the medical side of narcolepsy and common comorbidities. Host Fred (currently undiagnosed sleep disorder) and co-host Bernadette (narcolepsy type 1) interview Dr. Caitlin Chasser, a family doctor turned sleep and menopause specialist, who describes her own insomnia linked to premature menopause and the lack of sleep educa...

Leave a review! ⚠️ Content note: This episode includes discussion of childhood sexual abuse, suicidal ideation, and mental health crisis. Please take care of yourself first. 🎙️ EPISODE GUEST: Alejandro Bruner Solas — Program Manager, PWN for PWN | Narcolepsy Type 1 Warrior | Psychedelic Health Advocate | Colorado In one of our most powerful episodes to date, Kerly and Liz sit down with Alejandro B...

Leave a review! Episode Summary: What happens when a brand strategist — someone who's built campaigns for Aerosmith, Lenny Kravitz, Samsung, and Levi's — suddenly finds himself standing in front of a wall of machines keeping his newborn daughter alive? For Steve Lewis, it became the beginning of the most important work of his life. In this episode of the Narcolepsy Navigators Advocacy Se...

Leave a review! In this powerful episode of Narcolepsy Navigators Season 4, we sit down with Amelia, a 28-year-old from London who discovered she had narcolepsy while playing cards on a skiing holiday. What started as uncontrollable laughter turned into a life-changing realization when her hands and neck kept dropping—classic cataplexy symptoms. Amelia shares her raw and honest journey from being...

Leave a review! Meet Vincent Arthur - a 21-year-old race car driver from Charlotte, North Carolina, who's proving that narcolepsy type 2 doesn't have to slow you down. In this inspiring episode of Narcolepsy Navigators, Vincent shares his powerful journey from struggling with undiagnosed brain fog and excessive daytime sleepiness in 2019 to becoming the first race car driver sponsored by...

Leave a review! Can you have a successful pregnancy and thrive as a parent while living with Narcolepsy? This week on Narcolepsy Navigators, Kerly and Liz sit down with Ashley from North Carolina to answer this very question. Diagnosed in 2019 after over a decade of symptoms, Ashley shares her incredible journey through pregnancy and the first 20 months of motherhood. She opens up about the surpri...

Leave a review! In this powerful and emotional episode of Narcolepsy Navigators, we travel to South America for the very first time to share the story of Javiera Santamaría, a 28-year-old nurse from Santiago, Chile, living with Idiopathic Hypersomnia (IH). Javiera opens up about her early symptoms, dangerous sleep attacks while driving, years of self-doubt, and the life-changing moment she finally...

Leave a review! In this episode of Narcolepsy Navigators, we sit down with Cloud, a narcolepsy advocate from San Diego living with Narcolepsy Type 1 with cataplexy. After years of struggling with unexplained exhaustion and symptoms that began in adolescence, Cloud was finally diagnosed at age 30. But diagnosis wasn’t the end of the journey — it was just the beginning. For nearly a decade, Cloud in...

Leave a review! Hot Flashes, Anxiety, Insomnia:The Menopause Sleep Crisis: Insights with Dr. Caitlin Chasser  Narcolepsy Navigators launches its Medical Series on narcolepsy and overlooked comorbidities, with host Fred (undiagnosed sleep disorder), co-host Bernadette (narcolepsy type 1), and guest Dr. Caitlin Chasser, a family doctor specializing in sleep and menopause. Dr. Caitlin shares how her...

Leave a review! This Bonus Episode is now available to everyone in celebration of Black History Month!! In our latest episode of Narcolepsy Navigators’ Medical Series, we sit down with Dr. Chris Allen, board-certified pediatric neurologist and sleep medicine specialist, founder of Quality Sleep and Neurology PC in Michigan. Dr. Allen brings both medical expertise and lived experience to the conver...

Leave a review! Narcolepsy is often misunderstood, dismissed, and dangerously underdiagnosed — especially in women. In this powerful Advocacy Series episode, we sit down with Dr. Anne-Marie Morse, a neurologist with specialized training in child neurology and sleep medicine, to talk about what real advocacy looks like, why diagnosis delays can stretch nearly two decades, and how patients can recla...

Leave a review! In this episode of Narcolepsy Navigators, hosts Kerly and Sakhara, both living with narcolepsy type one, are joined by Dr. Jill McGarry, a clinical psychologist with 28 years of NHS experience. They delve into the importance of holistic health and mental health for managing narcolepsy. Dr. McGarry discusses strategies like energy level management, routines anchored by consistent wa...

Leave a review! In this episode of the Narcolepsy Navigators Podcast, hosts Kerly and Iris introduce their new Advocacy Series aimed at spotlighting changemakers, advocates, and everyday heroes in the field of narcolepsy. They welcome Matt Hornsnell, a sleep advocate diagnosed with narcolepsy type one and obstructive sleep apnea, who shares his extensive experiences in advocacy, public speaking, a...

Leave a review! In this powerful international episode of Narcolepsy Navigators, we sit down with Jayson, a PE teacher, endurance runner, and advocate living with Narcolepsy Type 1 with cataplexy in Taiwan. Diagnosed as a teenager after repeatedly falling asleep in class, Jayson grew up navigating stigma, academic pressure, and deep misunderstandings — especially within a culture where performance...

Leave a review! In this powerful episode of the Narcolepsy Navigators Podcast, hosts Kerly and Liz kick off a new advocacy-focused series spotlighting changemakers in the sleep disorder community. They’re joined by Claire Wylds Wright, a UK-based advocate whose journey into advocacy began when her daughter was diagnosed with narcolepsy at a young age. What started as a search for answers quickly e...

Leave a review! In this powerful and eye-opening conversation, 18-year-old Wendy shares what life is really like growing up with narcolepsy type 1 with cataplexy. Diagnosed at just 13 years old, Wendy opens up about sleep attacks in class, cataplexy triggered by laughter, hallucinations vivid enough to call the police, and the emotional toll of being a teenager who never gets to “just be a teenage...