'I fall asleep six times a day – people think I'm lazy'

Belle Breukelman finally discovered why she kept nodding off in public

- ALI GRAVES & RHONA MERCER

Mum Belle Breukelman has fallen asleep in changing rooms and even nodded off on dates in restaurants. The 29-year-old suffers from the debilitating condition narcolepsy – which affects around 30,000 people in the UK – but she has been accused of being drunk or on drugs when she struggles to stay awake.

Belle, who is mum to 10-month-old Billie, naps up to six times a day, sometimes for 25 minutes a time. Without medication, she would fall asleep every time she sits down.

She explains, “My sleep attacks come on without warning. When out shopping, I’ve had to jump into a changing room and lie down to nap. I’ve fallen asleep on dates, I’ve had people assume I’m drunk and out of control. My doctor thought I was a drinker or smoked cannabis and when I was younger they blamed me for ‘staying up too late on my phone’.

“As a mum of a young baby, it can be really hard. Sometimes, I will be feeding Billie her dinner and start to fall asleep.

“I can feel my eyes getting heavier and I start to feel cold, so I lie down, before I fall, and snooze. My daughter is used to this now and thankfully smiles when I wake.

“I manage to work around my condition and sometimes I put her to bed unbathed rather than trying to bathe her in a sleepy state – it’s too dangerous. I’d never put her at risk.”

Belle, from Oxford, first started suffering from the condition at 15 when she struggled to stay awake on car journeys – by 16 she was frequently napping in the classroom at school.

“Falling asleep in front of people was awful. It would happen on school trips and every time I sat down in class. They would poke fun at me and say, ‘Oh, she’s going to sleep again!’ It was so upsetting and embarrassing.