I do have very heavy eye lids when I experience cataplexy. Feels as if there are weights hanging on my eyelids. Sometimes it is only one eye. This is the most frequent form I have. I also experience slurred speech. I randomly drop things. I no longer use glass cups or plates.

I have these minor attacks ..when I'm in a good laugh my legs buckle I don't fall it just kinda feels like I'm bouncing a little, sometimes my face feels like it's drooping, kinda distorted, I know it's noticeable becuz of the look on some people faces,thank God it's over quick...

For many years I had mild cataplexy and my experience was when I was either laughing or angry I would feel like my knees were going to buckle under me and I would kind of sway and catch myself so it looked like I was having a difficult time walking in a straight line. I cannot tell you how many times I was asked over the years if I had been drinking or if I was drunk. I now take Xyrem for the cataplexy. It's very expensive and a very strong drug that requires special instruction and is only availed at one pharmacy in the United States but it does work if you can follow a routine and take it correctly.

My cataplexy started with a slight buckling of the knees when I was annoyed or found something very funny. Now it triggers a controlled collapse kneeling position or lying down. I try to lie down because when I’m able to relax completely I recover more quickly.

I have had cataplexy most of my life - I am 74. It comes on when I am laughing. I feel my face start to go limp first, then my legs. I start bouncing and finally collapse slowly to the floor. If it is a really strong one, I will almost lose consciousness and at times start crying. Then I will feel very weak for a time.
I also still have sleep paralysis but none of these symptoms as much as when I was younger. Occasionally, I will find myself on the floor and assume I fell asleep but all of these are worse when I am very tired and/or stressed. They never took my license because I will pull off the road and sleep when I feel a sleep episode coming on. I feel a kind of buzzing in my head and it feels like a door slams shut on my brain for a second. Then, I know I must sleep even for just a few minutes. When I worked, I went to a dark quiet place to sleep on breaks and had a friend wake me when break ended. Even 5 minutes sleep would refresh me enough to go back to work most of the time. I tried drugs early on but didn't like the side effects so I just compensated in whatever way I could. The sleep paralysis was the worst part of it. I read a lot of Poe as a teen. I think he had narcolepsy and he feared being buried alive. As a teen, i told my Mom my fear and she said that couldn't happen now because they embalm you before they bury you to insure that you are dead!