A WOMAN has revealed her rare condition which makes her “pass out” whenever she laughs, cries or is hungover – and once almost drowned in a pool because of it.

Chelsea Coombes, 27, first noticed something was wrong when he was 17 and felt his face fall after laughing.

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It continued to happen as she laughed and it got worse, causing her head to shake and her mouth to close.

Chelsea went to the doctor at the time and was told he probably had a sleep disorder. narcolepsy and cataplexy – a sudden, brief loss of muscle tone – but failed to obtain an official diagnosis.

But Chelsea has gradually gotten worse and said her episodes are triggered by her emotions, such as when she laughs, cries and when she is hungover.

He is often able to laugh at the symptoms, but finds it “scary” when he nearly chokes after losing control of his muscles while laughing.

Chelsea, a social media creator from Kibworth, Leicestershire, said: “It’s like a weak dizziness.

“My eyes will blink. My leg will shake and my head will start moving.

“I’m still conscious, it’s like my brain is drunk.

“At some point my head shakes and my eye looks the other way.”

Chelsea first noticed something was wrong when she was 17 years old.

She said: “I was at my aunt’s house. I remember laughing and one side of my face fell.

“I thought ‘what the hell? I think I just had a stroke.’

“I laughed again and it happened.

“When it started happening I was falling asleep everywhere.

“I still fall asleep very easily.”

Chelsea would continually find that she had a momentary loss of movement when she laughed and went to see her doctor.

She said: “At first they thought it might have been a non-epileptic disorder.”

Chelsea underwent several tests and saw a neurologist who believed it was narcolepsy and the associated condition, cataplexy.

She “gave up” on going to the doctor after tests turned up nothing and has yet to receive an official diagnosis.

Over the years, Chelsea’s symptoms have worsened and different emotions have begun to trigger him.

She said: “Laughter is the main one.

“Sometimes I get it when I cry or when I’m hungover.

“Years ago it happened to me when I was carrying teacups and I was laughing. Now carrying teacups is a trigger.“

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Chelsea describes the lack of muscle tone as similar to fainting, but she is conscious.

His the condition has now worsened and can lose muscle tone up to 100 times a day.

Chelsea said: “It’s gotten to the point where it’s part of me now.

“If I have a gift for someone, I get really excited and then it can happen.

“When it’s worse, my legs hurt.

It’s gotten to the point where it’s just part of me now.

Chelsea Coombes

“Any strong emotion happens.

“But I can have a whole day where I’m laughing and it doesn’t happen.”

If Chelsea is out in public, she usually knows to get on the ground if she feels it happening. She says she often has strangers checking to see if she’s okay.

She said: “I went on vacation and it happened in the pool and people had to grab me, that is very dangerous.

“That’s been pretty scary.”

Chelsea also doesn’t know how to drive and is worried about when she will be able to start a family.

She said: “I don’t have kids yet, but I really want them.

“What if I’m holding my baby and I pass out?”

Chelsea has returned to the doctor to get tested and get an official diagnosis, and to see if they can help.

But she shares her condition and episodes on TikTok to raise awareness and show other people with the condition that there is nothing to be ashamed of.

Chelsea said: “You don’t have to hide.

“I’m not a very serious person.

“I don’t take life seriously.”

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