I have been narcoleptic since high school. I was only diagnosed with it 8 years ago (I am ~40), so I actually lived with it for around ~15 years undiagnosed. In that time, I graduated high school, college, and went into a career.
So, with the preliminaries out of the way, and in a effort to contribute to the AMA comm:
What do they prescribe for this? Stimulants?
Does something set you off? (e.g. getting excited)
Stimulants: amphetamines in the morning, and a strong sedative for night time. I am actually taking a lot less amphetamines since losing more weight and getting healthier. I recently started the sedative, which allows me to take even less by making me sleep longer. Narcoleptics go into REM too fast, which means their sleep cycle is over quick, and it goes quickly past the deep sleep stage, which is really beneficial to the body (and negative to get less of it like a narcoleptic does).
Edit: sorry I missed your second question!
I’m nervous talking to people I’m not close with (co-workers), and it happened a couple of times when I was talking to them, and a couple times laughing, but that is just the cataplexy (weakness in the limbs).
My sleep attacks aren’t triggered by emotions but amount of sleep, amount of stimulation, and environmental factors. These three are like a triangle chart and if any two of them are low (or too much in the case of environmental factors), or any one is extremely low without others compensating with high levels, that is what triggers me. And as I said in another comment, I can do things like manipulate my environment (colder temps, more stimulation) to compensate as well.
Not OP, but they prescribe stimulants to help you wake up and stay awake during the day and sleeping pills to help you sleep at night. Most people with narcolepsy also have some form of insomnia.