I am an ordinary guy. I always have been. Since I was born, there hasn’t been a single remarkable thing about me. On the other hand, I never had any big problems. Let’s put it this way: if they made a movie about my life, 99% of the audience would want their money back at the end of the projection. My life truly has been this boring. I have a couple of great friends, I get along with my family, I am not too dumb, I am not a genius. I can tell a joke, but no one’s sides are going to split. If there ever was an Average Joe, then it is me.
And to tell you the truth, I was quite content with it. I didn’t mind it. As the guy from the Office said, “I am on a three right now. I could roll the dice again. It could turn out to be 6, but it can also turn out to be 1.” Or something like that, I don’t remember it precisely. In the period between 16 and 22 I put on a few pounds, like most guys do. You are just not active and you sit much more. So that was also quite ordinary.
However, when I was 22, I stopped being your true Average Joe and I became your Average Joe with Narcolepsy. It turned out that I developed narcolepsy for some unknown reason and I have been living with it since then. And it is an average narcolepsy. Not too mild, not too serious. I am lucky I didn’t also develop cataplexy, so that’s a plus.
And like the most people do when diagnosed with narcolepsy, I started taking Ritalin.
And like it does for the most people, it worked great for me too. The excessive sleepiness has gone, I got my sleeping in order and I am pretty much free of any symptoms. In addition to this, Ritalin also helped me lose a few pounds. The thing is that its effects on the certain chemicals in the brain, besides treating narcolepsy, are also great for losing weight. Now, I am not suggesting that you should start using Ritalin as a weight loss pill, but it sure made me lose a few pounds. So, a double benefit from Ritalin. I just hope I didn’t bore the living hell out of you with my unsensational story. But that is what most stories are like.
