This week I spoke to Lette from Irish Dysautonomia Awareness. Lette suffers from Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) , Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) , Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction (SOD), Neurogenic Bladder Dysfunction and Gut Dysmotility, to name but a few of her conditions. You can find Lette on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Lette and her baby, Boo.
Hi I’m Lette. When I’m am able for it I love to play retro video games, photography, drawing, craft, listen to music. I like to internet hop and watch shows like Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, The Expanse and Black Sails with my wonderful husband and our little dog Boo.
So now we know a little about Lette, let’s have a read of her Friday Feelings entry.
“Dear Diary…
It’s another Friday, they have begun to all feel the same these days, days melting into weeks, melting into months that float by me at high speed and I still seem to be stuck here in my bed, in a dark room, feeling putrid!
Motivation seems to have upped and all but disappeared. I think of all the things I have achieved throughout my life before I got very sick and everything went downhill in 2011. I got my art degree, my Masters of science, worked as a fitness instructor, (can you imagine?) as a wedding and events photographer and videographer, as a teacher in adult education and as a lecturer in third level. That was just education and work, when I had the proper use of my legs and body, my husband and I used to just love going hiking through the wild woods and lakes of Killarney with the dog and cameras in toe, I loved to drive and cycle and swim and walk aimlessly through fields for hours with the camera just because I could and I felt immense joy in looking back at and sometimes editing the photos and the memories I had captured while out.
I used to love drawing, animals especially and now it has been so long since I lost myself in any art. I forget what it’s like and I miss it but the energy is never there in recent times for me to act on that longing.
I don’t do any of these things anymore, I find I am spending more and more time in bed as I am just not capable, the majority of the time, of being upright. Either I am in severe pain with my gut issues or severe pain in my hips and shoulder joints, or the worst pain at the moment is coming from the back of my head / base of my skull / top of my neck pain which causes white blinding headaches where I can do nothing but lie in a dark room and moan. No phone, no laptop, no reading, no entertainment. Just darkness and constant pain and nausea or POTS issues where my blood pressure is so low I can hardly turn over in the bed. It wears you down.
The only time I get out these days is not to visit friends or family like I used to regularly do, but instead to go to hospital and consultant appointments and even then I have to reschedule many because I am too ill to go!
I’m getting gloomy but I don’t mean to be, because something different happened yesterday. I had to update the house insurance! What? Bear with me! Honestly, it gave me a sense of purpose, for all of those 15 or so minutes I had something, relatively important, to do and it felt good!
This morning I helped make the breakfast with the husband, put laundry washing on, picked up the Nintendo DS for the first time in ages and played Earthbound and I even had a shower. This may sound utterly silly, but to me, these are huge achievements! The shower is a funny one, I actually have to way up my energy for the day against the effort of a shower and believe me, I may not have the energy for days. It can get a tad funkay in fairness!
So while many friends of mine will be going out on the town later tonight or this weekend and I know a few others who are jetting off on a few days holidays in Europe, all I can achieve is having a freshly washed dressing gown, a nice shower, fresh fluffy socks and a hot cup of tea! Where once I would have drowned my sorrows in that cup of tea, tonight I am smiling because I know its ‘the little things’ that should and do count the most.
I have so much to be happy for. My wonderful husband, our amazing dog, my loving family and friends, the generosity of strangers who have helped with my medical fund, a relatively successful blog and related social media links, my talents have gotten rusty but I can get them back if I just try even one new thing every day.
Anyone can achieve anything if they just try and thats alright with me!”
A big thank you to Lette for taking part in our Friday Feelings blog.
Do you relate to Lette’s entry? Do you find joy in achieving what most people would take for granted in being able to do? Comment below and let us know what you thought of Lette’s entry.
Want to write your own Friday Feeling entry?
Send
A high res photo
A short paragraph about yourself
What illnesses you have
Your diary entry with the following topics in it:
It’s Friday, many people will go out tonight for a few sociable drinks with their friends. What do you do on a typical Friday night?
How are you feeling at this moment about your chronic illness?
How do you feel about the future in regards to your illness?
How do you feel about the way people view your illness?
and links to your blog and social media to evienevin87@yahoo.ie
Be sure to put “Friday Feelings” in the subject bar.
As I’m writing this it’s Rare Disease Day. I have a rare disease called Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. This condition is believed to affect 1-5,000/10,000 people. Although, many experts now believe it may not be rare at all, just rarely diagnosed. The new diagnostic criteria (released on March 15) may lead to a more concrete number.
Anyway, so I said earlier on in the week that I would explain my absence from social media and why my blog was late and it just so happens to fit in nicely with Rare Disease Day.
Taken from the Journal.ie:
The National Rare Disease Plan for Ireland up until 2018 was launched in 2014 by the former Health Minister, James Reilly.
The key recommendations include creating both a Clinical Care Programme and a National Office for Rare Diseases.
The Minister said, “This is a very important plan because we have 8,000 different rare diseases in a small island like ours. It’s very difficult for patients to get a diagnosis and then indeed treatment.
So we had a young man here earlier who had his picture taken who is having is treatment in the UK at the moment for his rare condition.
Reilly explained how this plan has looked at “how to shorten that journey and reduce the frustrations that people experience trying to get a diagnosis, and then indeed organising the treatments.”
The former Health Minister said a designated Clinical Care Programme for rare diseases will improve specialist services and allow for the development of a joined up model of care for patients. While the National Rare Diseases Office will identify Centres of Expertise for various rare diseases, provide a helpline function for patients and families and provide surveillance of national rare diseases.
James Reilly added: The significance of this plan cannot be overstated because it provides us with a roadmap for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases. “I fully endorse this plan as the means to positively shape how we look after people with rare diseases in Ireland”.
So at present, there are 8,000 diseases affecting millions of Irish citizens. Although we might be genetically rare, together we are actually very common. 1 in 10 people in the UK have a rare disease.
So three years later has anything changed for rare disease patients? From what I can tell? No. Well at least nothing for anyone with my condition. We still have no Clinical Lead Consultant, no schemes to help us get Treatment Abroad. The current Treatment Abroad scheme only covers referrals to public consultants. All the experts in the Hypermobility Unit I attend are private. There is still a huge lack of awareness amongst medical professionals. The length of time to get diagnosis is still too long or it never happens at all. Approximately 90% of patients I surveyed learned about Ehlers Danlos Syndrome before the diagnosis was confirmed. So it’s the patients that are essentially doing all the work. My own story to diagnosis reflects this.
As I’ve said my reason for being late with this blog fits in nicely with the reflection of how rare disease patients are treated across the world but particularly in Ireland.
I was called by the wonderful Professor Rodney Grahame Friday two weeks ago. He asked me to come to London the following Wednesday to be examined as I am having some rather bizzare symptoms. Just before I get a migraine/headache one of my eyes bulge, the headache starts shortly after and my nose begins to pour a water-like fluid.
My eye at the beginning of an episode. Note my right eye (your left) is bigger than the other one. It will get slightly bigger as time goes on.
Professor Grahame had never come across these symptoms before which, for him would be rather rare in itself. He said I should go ahead and have my upright MRI and I only got my appointment times the following Monday. I had to fly to London the following day to be at Professor Grahame’s clinic on Wednesday morning.
The flights were phenomenally expensive and on top of all the stress of sorting out flights and accommodation, I had to leave my daughter for the very first time. She is almost 2 and we had never been apart longer than a few hours, let alone 3 nights and two days. We cosleep and breastfeed so we are very connected. I had to organise getting a breast pump so I wouldn’t get mastitis, plugged ducts or reduce my supply. Luckily, I am apart of a very close knit breastfeeding community so one lovely mummy donated a snazzy electric pump to hold on to as I’ll be over and back from London for the next year at least.
So on Tuesday my Dad and I flew to Heathrow via Cork airport. I brought my wheelchair with me as I was approaching that time of the month which makes me more prone to dislocation and soft tissue injuries. Plus going around London for 2 days was going to be tough on me anyway.
Me arriving at Earl’s Court Underground
We stayed in Earl’s Court as per usual as it is a handy spot in the centre of everything. We were one tube stop away from the upright MRI clinic, Medserena on Cromwell Road and just 15 minutes from St John’s and St Elizabeth’s in St John’s Wood. Earl’s Court is also only one stop away from Kensington which is where all the big museums are such as the the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum.
On Wednesday I got to meet the wonderful Jared, Sarah and Annabelle Griffin of Annabelle’s Challenge before my appointment with Professor Grahame. I’m speaking at the Vascular EDS conference Jared is organising in May. We also combined forces and launched the REDS4VEDS campaign worldwide to raise awareness of Vascular EDS.
From left: Jared, Dad, Me, Annabelle and her friend at St John’s Hospital.
At noon I met with Professor Grahame. I am thrilled that he managed to squeeze me in during his last week of clinic as he is retiring from the Hypermobility Unit. He examined me and looked at the photos of my bulging eye.
He questioned whether I might have a problem with my Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF) and we also wondered whether I might have a Chairi Malformation as I have had weakness and other issues linked to Chiari for years.
Luckily Dad was on hand to show him a photo of my eye bulging and gave my medical history as a child specifically mentioning the weakness on my left side and my problem with going anywhere with artificial light and crowds as a child. I know now that it’s sensory processing disorder but nobody has put that down on paper as yet.
The next day we went to Medserena for my upright MRI. Two very dear Zebra friends of mine warned me that this wasn’t going to be as easy as a supine MRI and that both of them had never fully recovered from the scan. I really underestimated their warnings.
Professor Grahame had actually rang the clinic to make sure I was seen the day after my appointment with him. He ordered a scan of my cervical spine and craniocervical junction.
The staff at Medserena was very accommodating and polite, you didn’t feel like a client, you felt a visitor to someone’s home, not a cold and sterile clinic.
I went into the dressing room to put my valuables in the safe. Luckily, I had dressed in a loose top and a pair of leggings so I didn’t need to put on a gown. Just before I went in I took my Tramadol and Midon as suggested by the friends who had undergone this scan before.
Nervous, I found myself thinking about my children and husband. I pictured Olivia crying for mummy’s milk and Alex looking for cuddles in the middle of the night. I should be at home with them tonight, not hundreds of miles away across the ocean.
I sat down in the machine, luckily I got to sit as I was expecting to be standing. The scan wouldn’t have lasted that long if I was to stand because of my Orthostatic Intolerance.
The first position I had to look straight on. Because the scan takes 1.5 hours in total., the radiographer put a film on for me to watch. I had a choice between Skyfall or Tarzan. Didn’t matter to me either way as I didn’t have my glasses on, I could see diddysquat.
So, after the first position it was time to flex my neck downward, then upward and then right. There were a few occasions we needed to repeat scans as my images came out blurry. I had no idea why as I had stayed as still as I could. It’s ridiculous how still you have to be in an upright compared to a supine MRI. You can’t cough, you have to be breathe shallowly and you can not swallow. So you sit there five minutes at a time with saliva pooling in your mouth and your neck flexed in a position for five minutes.
When it came to my last position (neck turned left) I was in agony. After two attempts of this position, we had to give up. I was visibly in pain and it showed in the scans as they were very blurry.
Once I gathered my things in the dressing room, I went back into the reception and burst into tears. Not because of the pain-it’s not often that pain will make me cry now. No, it was my “fight or flight” mode gone into overdrive. I was so overwhelmed with the whole situation. Since the MRI finished at 5.45 (I went in at 3.45) my back, shoulder and neck had been giving me trouble. Two weeks later the problems persists with swallowing becoming uncomfortable and slightly painful.
The lovely receptionist brought me some juice and chocolate for my shock. I was a mixed bag of emotions. I felt like I had been something very traumatic had just happened to me. For those of you who’ve not gone through this, it might sound dramatic but those who’ve been through this know my feelings are perfectly valid. The radiographer gave me a CD of my scan images and we left.
I’m sure for people without my issues, the MRI isn’t as draining or painful. But with the problems I have with my neck, it was torture.
That night I took a sleeping pill and slept from 9.30 until we had to get up for our flight at 7am. I had a headache like I was hungover, my whole body ached more than usual. This scan really did a number on me. But, I was going home. I’d see my babies and my husband and sleep in my own bed tonight.
The Aer Lingus staff were amazing on the flight home, very pleasant and very accommodating. Even though we were 30 minutes late taking off, we arrived just shortly after our arrival time. I was brought to the front of the queue in my wheelchair for every point in Heathrow and again in Cork, much to Dad’s amusement and delight.
When we came through the arrival doors of the airport the children saw me. Alex came bounding over and it took Olivia a second or two to realise mommy was home. She then came running over. Of course, it didn’t take her long before she climbed on my lap and latched on. Hubby came over with a big bunch of flowers to welcome me home. I have been on many trips before but never had a welcome party like this. My heart swelled.
The journey home was tough as the roads in Cork are abysmal especially after Hurricane Doris had come sweeping through.
I landed myself into my usual spot when I got home, on the couch. I’ve been quite ill since and have only managed to leave the house a couple of times in two weeks.
I received my report from Professor Smith in Medserena last Wednesday. Thankfully no Chiari was noted.
Images from my upright MRI
The report was very detailed being four pages long. Here’s the Professor’s conclusion:
In the cervical spine there is reversal of the normal cervical lordosis in the neutral position with evidence of instability at the C4-5 and C5-6 levels.
There is no evidence of basilar invagination or of cerebellar tonsillar ectopia.
Whilst the atlas is normally aligned over the axis. There is deviation of the odontoid peg to the left in the presence of intact ligaments of the craniocervical junction ligamentous complex.
On looking to the right and to the left the odontoid peg moves to the contralateral side indicating an element of laxity of the ligaments.
I am awaiting a call from one of my consultants to discuss the results and a course of treatment for my issues.
I return to London on April 9th this time for Autonomic Tests and physiotherapy. The children will be coming with me this time to be assessed by their physio too.
It’s downright criminal that we need to disrupt our lives even more and travel abroad to access experts and have these tests. They are nothing overly complicated and could easily be done here in Ireland but nobody does them. There are physiotherapists in Dublin who could look after the children but it is actually more hassle travelling 3 hours to Dublin than it is flying 45 minutes to London. At least we know the children are in safe hands there.
I came across this image a few days ago while writing this blog and it really does ring true. This statement does not ring true to the doctors who look after us in the UK, of course but to the medical professionals who have no urge to learn or help those of us with Ehlers Danlos.
The theme of my talk at the Vascular EDS conference is about this very topic. Patients become the real experts when it comes to their condition. We know more about it than doctors who have trained for a decade or more.
I am the driving force behind my own medical care. For years I let doctors fob me off and dismiss my issues as nothing more than depression.
Luckily I have a great GP now who listens and does exactly what I ask her to do. I’m in charge of my own referrals, meds and treatments. She trusts my gut and knowledge. I am so grateful to have her, I know so many others who are not quite as lucky.
As I said, we are back in London in April and this visit is going to cost us 5,000 Euro.
I have friends helping to fundraise through coffee mornings and the likes.
My GoFundMe has been our main source of treatment money so far and I’ve been blown away by people’s genorosity.
This week I spoke to Caroline from Living with PoTS . Caroline suffers from Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS). PoTS is a debilitating type of Dysautonomia and is often found in people with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. You can find Caroline on Twitter.
I’m Caroline, I’m a final year Uni student in Yorkshire, studying Psychology and Education. I love reading, especially Harry Potter, baking and crafting, and my dream is to live abroad and work with disadvantaged children. I’m relatively new to both the chronic illness and blogging communities, having suffered with PoTS like symptoms all my life, but only just figuring out what it is. I’ve been amazed by how supportive everyone is.
So now that we know a little about Caroline, let’s look at her Friday Feelings entry.
“Dear diary,
Friday night again, well 4pm. I’m in bed, exhausted from the week. Tonight is worse than most, Friday is food shop day, and dragging a week’s worth of stuff back on the bus means the pain is worse than usual. Later my flatmates will be going out, I’ll be lying in bed trying to sleep, constantly being woken up by them. Eventually I’ll probably give up and turn my laptop on. If it’s been a bad week, I’ll stick a DVD on, if it’s been a better week I might try get through some of the mountain of work I’ve been avoiding.
Right now I’m still getting used to my chronic illness. I’ve been suffering for years, but always just assumed I was lazy, or hadn’t eaten enough, or a million and one other excuses. Although having a reason is a relief, it’s scary. It’s here to stay and I need to learn to live with it. I’m sure one day I’ll know where I stand with it, I’ll have a diagnosis and a symptom management plan, and I’ll feel more in control, but that day is not yet.
The future is overwhelming. In July I’ll graduate, and have to enter the real world. I’ve always known what I wanted to do, I never even considered that I might be too ill to do it. So right now it’s back to the drawing board, desperately searching for a job I can do, without having to move away from the doctors I’ve only just met, who will be supportive of my illness. My degree has 3 contact hours a week, so I have no idea how I’ll cope with work, I don’t even know how I’ll cope making tea tonight, or having a shower. Long term planning is nothing short of impossible.
I wish people would stop telling me to be positive. I am positive. I’m also realistic. When I say this illness isn’t going away, it’s not. That’s a chronic condition. When I say it limits what I can do, it does. That doesn’t mean I’m not ambitious. I will find a job and a life that I love, it just won’t be what I was planning, but that’s okay. My condition is part of me, it does not define me.”
A big thank you to Caroline for reaching out to take part in our Friday Feelings blog.
Do you relate to Caroline’s entry? Do you constantly hear that you should be more positive from those around you? How do you deal with it? Comment below to offer some advice to this new Spoonie.
Want to write your own Friday Feeling entry?
Send
A high res photo
A short paragraph about yourself
What illnesses you have
Your diary entry with the following topics in it:
It’s Friday, many people will go out tonight for a few sociable drinks with their friends. What do you do on a typical Friday night?
How are you feeling at this moment about your chronic illness?
How do you feel about the future in regards to your illness?
How do you feel about the way people view your illness?
and links to your blog and social media to evienevin87@yahoo.ie
Be sure to put “Friday Feelings” in the subject bar.
So until Sunday (I know, I know I said I’d have it up during the week),
In 2016 the Dáil has passed a bill to make cannabis available in Ireland for medicinal use, after the Government said it would not oppose the legislation. People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny, the bill seeks to legalise and regulate cannabis products, which are used for medical purposes. Mr Kenny said his bill intended to make cannabis available to those with chronic pain, epilepsy, cancer, MS, Fibromyalgia and, under a doctor’s recommendation, would help to alleviate symptoms of illness.
Minister for Health, Simon Harris said that although he has concerns about some elements of the bill, he will not oppose its progression to Committee Stage. Mr Harris asked the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) to advise him on the scientific and clinical value of cannabis as a medicine. He said he wants to receive that advice from the agency before progressing the legislation any further.
The Minister also indicated that amendments would have to be made to the proposed bill to avoid the unintended effect of making cannabis legal for recreational use.
Minister Harris said he strongly believes that Ireland needs to take a look at policy in relation to medicinal cannabis, saying a number of countries have already taken the steps to make it available. He said he has met a number of patients and patient groups over the last few months who have highlighted their belief that it could relieve pain.
After the HPRA released their report, Mr Harris then released a statement about how things will most likely go ahead in regards to the use of Medical Cannabis. Check out this extract:
“The report stated that patients accessing cannabis through the programme should be under the care of a medical consultant
Medicinal cannabis will be made available to patients in the Republic of Ireland with certain types conditions. I’ve asked my officials now to outline to me how quickly I can put a compassionate access programme in place.
The minister thanked the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) and the members of the Expert Review Group for their work on the report which he described as a “milestone” in the development of policy on medicinal cannabis.
“This report marks a significant milestone in developing policy in this area. This is something I am eager to progress but I am also obligated to proceed on the basis of the best clinical advice. The report notes that this is ultimately a societal and policy decision and I have decided to proceed with the advice of the HPRA and establish an access programme for cannabis-based treatments for certain conditions, where patients have not responded to other treatments and there is some evidence that cannabis may be effective,” Mr Harris said.
The HPRA report advised that, if a policy decision is taken to permit cannabis under an access programme, it should be for the treatment of patients with:
Spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis resistant to all standard therapies and interventions whilst under expert medical supervision. Intractable nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, despite the use of standard anti-emetic regimes whilst under expert medical supervision. Severe, refractory (treatment-resistant) epilepsy that has failed to respond to standard anticonvulsant medications whilst under expert medical supervision.
Now, I am delighted that those suffering from the conditions mentioned above will get relief by using Cannabis but, I have a very big concern. What about those of us with chronic pain? What happened that we have become excluded from the list?
In his letter published on chronicpain.ie, Professor David P. Finn, PhD states:
“We now know from thousands of peer-reviewed scientific publications that the endocannabinoid system plays a key role in regulating physiological processes including pain, stress/anxiety, appetite, learning, memory and cell development.
Multiple laboratory and clinical studies support the effectiveness of cannabinoids for the treatment of a wide range of disorders, including chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and others. Further randomised, double-blind controlled clinical trials looking at larger patient numbers and over longer time frames would certainly be welcome.
Evidence to date suggests that the adverse side-effects of cannabinoids used in a clinical context are mostly mild, and not overtly serious or life-threatening.
We should also remember that cannabis plants can vary considerably, with different strains containing very different contents of THC (the constituent responsible for the ‘high’), and with over 100 different cannabinoids present in varying amounts across different strains, many of which do not have abuse potential but may still have significant therapeutic potential (e.g. cannabidiol)
There is no strong rationale for treating cannabinoids any differently than, for example, opioid drugs such as codeine or morphine, both of which are derived from a plant (the opium poppy), have been mainstays in modern medicine for decades, have abuse potential, and whose adverse effects, dependence liability and potential for harm are in fact significantly greater than those of cannabinoids.”
Professor Finn PhD is Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics in the National University of Ireland Galway and President of the Irish Pain Society.
I take 5,000 pills a year for my pain. 5,000. Let’s say I continue on these doses and I live to the ripe old age of 80. That’s 250,000 pills. A quarter of a million pills. In comparison to some of my friends, that’s a very low figure.
What happens to our bodies when we are on opiates long term?
Long term opiate use can cause veins to collapse
Can cause sedation
Can slow the digestive system (Gastroparesis)
Can cause greater sensitivity to pain (Hyperalgesia)
Can cause muscle rigidity
Can make the immune system weak
Can cause respiratory depression
Can cause twitching of the muscles (Myoclonus)
Can cause Hormonal Dysfunction
Can increase the risk of depression
the list goes on and on. I can’t imagine taking 250,000 pills for the next 50 years is going to do my liver any favours either!
What about Medicinal Cannabis?
Marijuana does have any proven side effects. THC binds to cannabinoid receptors, which are concentrated in areas of the brain associated with thinking, memory, pleasure, coordination and time perception. The effects of marijuana can interfere with attention, judgment and balance. Some studies have produced conflicting results on whether smoking marijuana carries a significant cancer risk but there’s nothing concrete. There is also conflicting evidence on whether long term use of Cannabis effects one’s mental health but again, nothing concrete. Scientists say that it may increase the risk of psychosis but, those studies seemed to focus on the use of Cannabis in teens and young adults recreationally, not medicinally. If someone has evidence to state otherwise, please do let me know so I can amend this.
There is a plethora of evidence that shows Medical Cannabis can be very beneficial for patients with chronic pain. Many of us would opt for Cannabis as it is diverse and doesn’t need to be smoked. It’s also natural so we could cut way back on the manufactured pain meds. Surely it would be much cheaper for the HSE to supply chronic pain patients (who have medical cards) with something that can be grown in abundance than to pay for trillions of pills each year?
Taken from Irish Health, ‘Long Waiting Times for Chronic Pain Patients’, Jan 2016
“Chronic pain affects around 13% of the Irish population, however those affected have to wait an average of two years before seeing a doctor specialising in this area. According to Dr Dominic Hegarty, a consultant in pain management at Cork University Hospital, chronic pain ‘presents a major challenge to the citizens and the economy of Europe’.
Most people affected experience their pain for more than two years and some are affected for 20 years or longer. Chronic pain patients make an average of seven visits to healthcare providers every year, with 22% making more than 10 visits.”
Imagine how these stats would change if medical cannabis was prescribed to chronic pain patients? If cannabis is as effective as the experts say for chronic pain patients, it could mean waiting times drastically reducing as many patients wouldn’t need to see as many specialists.
There is so many things wrong with our health system here in Ireland. Waiting times are abysmal across the board. Many of us finally get to see the specialists, get prescribed a cocktail of meds, exhaust all options for it not to work. The patients are loosing out. What does the Government have to loose by allowing those who have exhausted all options to try medicinal cannabis?
Let me leave you with this, dear Minister. People with chronic pain are three times more likely to develop psychiatric disorders according to Harvard University. So, not only are the Government and HSE footing the bill for pain treatment but for psychiatric treatment also. Three times more likely to develop conditions such as depression and anxiety, is it any wonder why there is such high rates of suicide amongst the chronic pain community?
Please think about the implications of excluding those of us with chronic pain. By allowing us to give medicinal cannabis a try, you’re potentially giving a piece of a person’s life back or saving one.
Sincerely,
A sufferer of chronic pain, a mother of two children with chronic pain disorders and of course, a citizen of Ireland.
It’s Friday and you know what that means? It’s our first Friday Feeling entry! I had this idea after my interview with A Southern Celiac, writing down my thoughts about certain aspects of my illness was therapeutic in a way. So I thought why not give other chronically ill people an opportunity to get things off their chests. Writing things down can help us work through our feelings and I hope that other chronic illness sufferers will comment in support or offer some advice for each of the entries we will have for the next few months. Why Friday? Because Friday is the beginning of the weekend. Some of us may be well enough to go out and socialise with friends but for so many of us that life of going out on a Friday night to a bar or a club is long gone. The weekend for normal people is an opportunity to let off some steam but for the chronically ill it means having more help at home and grieving for the lives they once had, looking at selfies of friends on their great night out on the tiles.
So, this week I spoke to Tamsin aka Ecofluffy Mama. Tamsin suffers from multiple chronic conditions including Pancreatic Agenisis. You can find Tamsin on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. You might already know the EcoFluffy Mama but if not, let’s get to know her a little better before we begin:
Hello there, my name is Tamsin! My blog is a Green Living Blog and I mostly write about reusable/eco friendly products.
I live in the countryside (in the UK) with my Fiance and small boy. I’m 29 years old, but still a big kid a heart. In my spare time I enjoy going for walks with my family and watching Stargate SG1. I love to spend hours in books shops. My hobbies include photography, crochet and soap making.
As you’ve already guessed, I’m extremely passionate about ditching disposable items and a huge advocate for Reusable Menstrual Products. My aim is to spread the word and educate everyone on the importance of: Reusable Products and living a Green Lifestyle.
So now we know a little a bit about the Ecofluffy Mama, let’s have a look at her entry for our first ever Friday Feeling.
“Dear Diary,
It’s Friday night and I’m feeling really quite down. Many people look forward to Friday because it’s the end of the week. They get to switch off, go out for a few drinks and unwind with their friends. Not me, though. There’s nothing special about my my Friday night. Not unless you count the fact I am relieved my partner has finished work for the week, so I now have him home to help support me.
Right now I feel really down about how my health is. I guess I always expected things to improve after my sudden decline in 2014. I remember constantly getting back up after admissions, trying to work out again and be ‘normal’. But it just never happened and I feel really sad about that. I looked back at a post the other day where I said I wasn’t going to let my illnesses define or rule my life. And yet, they have. I feel so helpless and alone, even though my fiance and son are always there.
I’m trying to keep my chin up for what the future might bring. My Doctor is amazing and he’s helped me so much already. But I do worry that we’ll get to the stage where yet again, we meet a roadblock. I should be thankful really. He’s done so much for me in the past year than my other teams elsewhere did for me in two years.
I’ve noticed people treat me differently, and it’s gotten worse. At the start everyone was so kind and supportive to me. One of my close friends supported me so much, including looking after J when I was in hospital. Didn’t take long before she binned me, always making excuses for not seeing me. Am I really that much of a burden? Some have said to me that I shouldn’t feel bad, that those people were never my friends. But I am starting to wonder if that’s true, or if it’s because they find me too much work with accomodating my needs? Some people look at me and question the authenticity of being ill, because I look okay. Well, to a degree. Not sure how yellow eyes looks okay but clearly that doesn’t matter to them.
Friends on Facebook always used to message or comment when they saw I was in hospital. But, not anymore. It’s almost like they’re bored? Perhaps they only bothered at first because they wanted all of the ‘gossip’ on what was going on. It really does hurt my heart.
My illnesses have isolated me so much. I’d love to be out tonight, socialising with my friends. But instead I’m in bed taking my cocktail of pills before turning the lights out.”
A big thank you to Tamsin for being the first participant of Friday Feelings. Always lovely to connect with other like minded moms.
Have you any words of kindness or wisdom for Ecofluffy Mama? I’m sure most of us can relate to the issue with losing friends to our illnesses. Send her some love in the comments below ❤ You can also follow Tamsin on Pinterest and YouTube.
Want to write your own Friday Feeling entry?
Send
A high res photo
A short paragraph about yourself
What illnesses you have
Your diary entry with the following topics in it:
It’s Friday, many people will go out tonight for a few sociable drinks with their friends. What do you do on a typical Friday night?
How are you feeling at this moment about your chronic illness?
How do you feel about the future in regards to your illness?
How do you feel about the way people view your illness?
and links to your blog and social media to evienevin87@yahoo.ie
Be sure to put “Friday Feelings” in the subject bar
February is a special month to me, not because of Valentine’s day or a birthday, but because it is Marfan Syndrome Awareness Month. This is a month where I can shout about my rare condition as much as I like, trying to inform and educate as many people as possible. Conditions like mine don’t get a lot of awareness so awareness days and months are a great opportunity to teach people a bit about your condition. Mine is called Marfan Syndrome and it’s a rare genetic connective tissue disorder.
Think of the connective tissues in your body as glue, they help maintain the structure of the body, internal organs and other tissues, so they are pretty important! These tissues are found all throughout the body as well so Marfan can affect everything from your heart to your joints. It’s a genetic condition so most people inherit it from a parent, I inherited it from my Mum, but sometimes spontaneous mutation occurs which is when the gene just changes. The condition is mainly known for the life threatening heart problems that can occur as a result of it. Marfan causes the tissues in the body to become too stretchy and this means that the aorta, the main artery in the heart, is able to stretch beyond what it should, this is called an aortic aneurysm. Then if this is left to continue further the aorta could tear or even burst, this is called an aortic dissection and sadly both my Grandad and Uncle passed away from one. My aorta is currently stretching towards the point where I’ll need major open heart surgery to replace part of it, my surgeons reckon I’ll need the surgery in my earlier twenties.
That’s the not the only problem that Marfan has caused me though and not the only problem that has/will require surgery. Growing up as a child I only had mild joint pains and joint hypermobility but when I was a young teen I was diagnosed with Scoliosis, the sideways curvature of the spine. At first we thought that it wasn’t going to get much worse but unfortunately it got a lot worse and I ended up needing surgery to correct it. Surgeons spent 6 hours straightening my spine using metal rods and screws, it was a pretty brutal surgery and the recovery was tough. I also suffered a complication though and almost a year after the first surgery I had to go back into the operating theatre to have a screw replaced because it was sitting on a nerve and causing me severe pain.
After that my hips started hurting so off I went to the doctors again, I was referred to see a hip surgeon and x-rays revealed that I had another secondary condition because of Marfan. I had a hip deformity called Protusio Acetabuli which basically means that my hip joint sockets are too deep which is causing early wear and tear and cyst formation in the joint. I had my right hip replaced when I was 18 and my left hip will also need replacing but the 3rd diagnosis that came after that is complicating that situation. During that whole time I also had ever increasing pain in my lower back that was so severe that I had to start using a wheelchair and then a powerchair. MRI and CT scans revealed that I had a large 5.5cm Tarlov cyst sitting in my sacrum, the triangle bone at the end of your spine but before your tailbone. It’s a cyst that grows out of a nerve root and fills with spinal fluid, putting pressure on nerves causing pain and it also cause me severe headaches and migraines. The cyst is also eroding away my sacrum which is leaving me at risk of fracturing it, hence why the left hip replacement isn’t being done yet as the force of that surgery would almost certainly fracture my sacrum.
I also suffer with regular joint dislocations and subluxations as well as severe chronic pain and fibromyalgia. I’ve managed to turn my bad experiences into a good thing over the years though, I use my blog and social media platforms to raise awareness and I’ve also been able to work with some great charities such as The Hypermobility Syndrome Association and The British Heart Foundation. It can be lonely and frustrating at times having a rare condition but I find that the online spoonie and disabled community really help that, even if you aren’t talking to people with the same condition.
The last thing that I want to leave you with is some of the signs and symptoms of Marfan, key characteristics of the condition to look out for: being tall and slim with long arms, legs and fingers, hypermobile joints, small lower jaw, high roof of the mouth, flat feet, breastbone deformities, crowded teeth, scoliosis, lens dislocation in the eye(s), early cataracts & glaucoma and aortic dilation/aneurysm.
You can find out more about Marfan Syndrome and Shona’s experience with it on her blog: Shona Louise.
So last time we discussed how sometimes people forget that life for the chronically ill person is far more difficult than a carer’s. I briefly touched on how relationships can dwindle from lovers to a carer-patient relationship when your signifiant other is acting as your carer. So, with that in mind, let’s look at some ways you and your partner can keep things romantic even when chronic illness tries to intervene. A lot of the things I’m going to talk about can be applied to any couple that may have let the romance die out a little.
Kiss.
When you’ve been with someone a long time, sometimes you genuinely forget to kiss-even if you’re not chronically ill.
“Even just a quick touch of the lips.”
When you’re so busy concentrating on your illness and/or family life it can be easy to forget to just stop and have a moment together.
Do something together at least once a month.
Whether it’s getting in some alcohol free wine/beer, watching a romantic movie or having dinner together-make the time to spend a couple of hours together not talking about family/illness etc. Even a gentle stroll on the beach/ woods while holding hands can be just enough to keep that flame-a-flickering.
Go back to where you first met.
If it’s possible, go back to the place where you first clapped eyes on each other. Try and remember how you felt that day. Recreate your first date. Go to your friends house and help them get you ready.
“Have your partner pick you up or meet you at the place where you had your first dinner/drink together.”
Do something nice for each other.
It doesn’t have to be a birthday or a special occasion to do something nice for your significant other. It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture or anything expensive. Write a love letter and leave it somewhere for them to find. Make a playlist of all their favourite songs or songs that remind you of them. Run a bubble bath, light some candles and let them have some time to themselves.
Massages
Get some nice oils, light some candles and help get those pesky knots out. PLEASE do be careful if you’re massaging someone with a hyper mobility syndrome-last thing you want on your romantic night is to end up in A&E!
Go on a weekend break/holiday.
If you’re like me and are seriously affected by low pressures and crap weather, you might appreciate getting away to somewhere warm (but not humid). A nice week away to the Mediterranean can give you and your partner a break from pain and all the other symptoms associated with your condition.
Renew your vows.
You don’t need to recreate your wedding day-unless you want to. You can simply organise to renew your vows with your priest/registrar/humanist. You can do it alone or just invite your close family and friends.
I love you.
Those three simple words should be said every day. Whether it’s first thing in the morning or last thing at night.
“Let your significant other know that they are loved.”
Just like kissing, sometimes it can be easy to forget to say it. Especially when brain fog is a factor of your illness. Set a reminder if you have to!
Sexy time.
If you can do it and want to, go for it. 90% of the time us spoonies don’t feel sexy or attractive. Sometimes you gotta make yourself look good on the outside to help you feel better on the inside. Make yourself feel sexy by having your hair/ make up done. Have a relaxing bath, shave your legs (if you want), get into a nice nighty or PJs. Do whatever makes you feel good about yourself. Sometimes after all that effort-the last thing you want to do is to do the horizontal mambo but if you still have some spoons left and you’re not in too much pain, use that last bit of energy to make lurve. Remember, you don’t have to necessarily have to “go all the way” sometimes some heavy petting can be just as nice.
Till next time,
Z.M.
x
Don’t forget to share and to follow me on social media!
Recently I’ve read posts from fellow chronic illness sufferers about having to endure ignorant comments from strangers and sadly, friends and family about how how hard it must be for those in their life caring for them without their own difficulties being acknowledged. Now, I’m not saying that life for carers isn’t hard. They have it so tough but, what outside observers tend to forget is that there is a vulnerable person, in pain, unable to look after themselves who have feelings of loss, despair, grief and insecurity. Many sufferers are still dealing with the fact that they are not 100% independent. That can be a very difficult pill to swallow.
For those of you who have had to endure such ignorant comments, this letter is for you.
Do you ever have days where you think: “God, I’m such a burden.” or “I need something but I don’t want to ask for help again.”?
I do. All. The. Time.
How many of us have been with friends or family and listen to them go on and on about how wonderful your husband/wife/partner etc is for taking care of you? Most of them will be somewhat diplomatic but, there are times when you are unfortunate enough to endure a conversation with an ignorant friend or stranger.
You know your spouse/partner is wonderful that’s exactly why you are with them in the first place. You don’t need someone to tell you how hard it is for them to put up with your moods that are a result of fatigue, pain and pure unadulterated frustration. You don’t need them to remind you that you depend on them to help you with tasks that any healthy person could do for themselves.
When someone says: “Isn’t he/she great for looking after you?”
This is what we hear:
“You’re a burden on your husband. You know that, right? If you didn’t have him you would struggle and probably be alone.”
OK, OK. It might sound a bit dramatic but if it’s what you hear almost every time your illness is discussed it grates on you. Words are funny things. When people are already insecure in themselves they can read into things that may not have any ill intent. Chronic illness eats away at our bodies but it also eats away at our minds and self confidence.
You hear how great your partner is more than you hear how great you are for not getting into bed and never coming out of it no matter how much you want to do that sometimes. But that’s the nature of having a chronic illness, isn’t it? People simply don’t get it. Unless you have a life threatening illness, nobody really listens. Chronic illnesses aren’t “sexy” diseases that can be marketed as well as life threatening ones. People don’t get that your symptoms are for as long as you live-there is no cure and there is no looming death sentence.
Yes, it is really hard for caregivers. Especially for parents and partners of people with chronic illnesses. Caregiving can often be a full time job without the pay. But, imagine how hard it is for the person who is being cared for. Having to be cared for can be downright humiliating. You need help getting off the toilet when your hips are giving you trouble, you need to be lifted out of the bath because you’re dizzy. You need help dressing because your so fatigued after having a shower. You need someone to cook and clean for you because you simply can’t. It takes years for people to come to terms with this-if ever.
You shouldn’t have to be considered “really special” to take care of your significant other, isn’t that the whole pointof committing to each other? In sickness and in health etc, etc? Isn’t it part and parcel of choosing to have a child or deciding to spend your life with someone?
I have so many friends who are chronically ill who have their husbands/wives/mothers etc acting as their carers. I know they have had to endure ignorant comments from strangers about whether or not they should have children, that they are a burden on their partner and that their partner is “a really, really great guy that puts up with a lot”. But, I know those same people fight every single day to face their illness and a world that is filled with so much ignorance head on. I also know that these people are so appreciative of everything the people in their support system do to make their lives that bit more bearable. I see them declaring their love and appreciation of their caregiver to the world. But I also know that these same people lay next to their partners on the couch or in bed after a really hard day. They look them in the eye and thank them for everything they have done today to help them endure the pain, the fatigue and all the horrible symptoms they put up with every single day.
Of course you should thank them. They didn’t ask for this life either and yet, they do it anyway and without complaining (well, most of the time anyway). Doing something special for your caregiver every now and then is a nice way to show your appreciation. If your significant other is your carer, sometimes the romance can dwindle and the relationship can go from lover to carer. So it is important to do something together that keeps that passion between you going. Even if it’s snuggling up on the couch and having a kissing and cuddling session. It goes both ways, though. Sometimes those needing to be cared for can feel inferior, childlike, useless,unattractive and yes, a burden. We will explore maintaining romantic relationships next week.
So you, reading this. If you’re chronically ill and have a loved one caring for you remember this; you’re not a burden. You didn’t choose to be sick. You take on the biggest task of all. Surviving.
Life has given you a pretty crappy hand but you’re still here and that should be applauded. You put up with more things in one week than most people deal with in a lifetime. You are good enough. You are not “lucky” to have a parent/partner caring for you. Sure, there are people who wouldn’t be up to the task of looking after a chronically sick loved one but that doesn’t make you any more “lucky”. Luck has nothing to do with it. You fell in love with a good person and they fell in love with you for the same reason. You are not your illness. It does not define who you are-unless you want it to. Being chronically ill does bring out the not so pleasant side of people but it also embellishes all the wonderful traits of you too. You learn to be more compassionate, more appreciative of the little things in life like a walk on the beach or an hour in the playground with your child. You learn to take opportunities-when you can. You learn that saying no is perfectly fine. If you’re not up to it, you don’t do it. Chronic illness takes so much away but it allows us to see the world in a unique way.
Bottom line is your caregiver is a wonderful person but, so are you.
Hope everyone had a nice break over the holiday period and that you’ve recovered from all the travelling, cooking, early mornings and late nights.
In latest news I’m very excited to announce I have been asked to speak at a medical conference in Manchester this coming May. The conference is to educate and raise awareness of Vascular Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. I am truly honoured to have been asked to address medical professionals from all over the world. It’s a massive responsibility to represent the EDS community and I will do my best to explain the struggles we all face.
Anyway, I just wrote this piece for a bit of a laugh. I’m not trying to be a negative ninny (in case somebody doesn’t pick up on my sarcastic tone), I will get around to writing part two of my trip to London shortly. I know some of you were eager to read about prices and places to stay etc.
Hope you enjoy my latest blog!
One day of fun=several days of a flare up.
You’ve taken your meds, you’re feeling as well as can be. You put on your glad rags and you make it into the car. Even doing that much your energy levels start to drop and your pain levels start to rise but God damn it, your going to this party. You’ve been staring at the same four walls for weeks now. Even if you have to walk in with a cane or arrive in your wheelchair, you are going to spread your wings and be a social butterfly for one evening.
You manage to spend an hour or so catching up with friends while listening to how “you look great and you’d never know you were sick by looking at you” when all you wanted to do was forget you were sick for one night. But getting out is worth being someone’s inspiration porn.
You go home and fall into bed. This is where you stay for the next few days only crawling out to use the toilet or to grab a packet of crackers to stop yourself from starving to death.
You have more sets of PJs than actual clothes.
You spend more time at home than you do outside so it’s only natural you’d spend a lot of time in what you’re most comfortable in. While many of us would prefer to get dressed and glammed up to make ourselves feel normal, others just don’t want to waste energy on putting on clothes and make up. A lot of the time you choose between getting dressed or putting on a load of laundry or ya know, eating?
Hey! If these dudes can walk around in their house all day in their PJs, why can’t I?
Your bed is your best friend and your enemy.
When you’re ill a lot of the time your bedroom becomes your place to escape so that you can rest and recover. Unfortunately you do end up spending a lot of time in bed and sometimes it can be for several days. You can often end up resenting your bed. While the majority of society love their beds, people who are chronically ill associate it with being in pain.
You often develop a less than desirable odour.
When you’ve been in bed for a day or so, you develop a very specific smell. It’s a mix of sweat, anguish and food that you’ve spilled on yourself. Getting up for a shower can be very tough on our bodies. Again, it’s about picking and choosing what you spend your energy on. Bathing or making dinner. The kids have to eat. The smell won’t kill em but starvation probably will.
When you do get round to washing yourself you feel somewhat human again. But then you have to go lie down.
If someone were to shake you, you’d probably rattle.
You can never just have one chronic illness. No, no, no. There’s always a domino affect. Your main illness causes all sorts of weird and wonderful sub conditions. Consequently you take a whole lotta pills to keep yourself functioning. You’ve got one cupboard in your house that looks like a pharmacy, you have to brace yourself when you open it as more often than not, something falls out. People are always shocked to see it and know that if they get a headache while in your home you’ll have an array of pills to kick that sucker’s ass.
A successful day for you is getting dressed and actually leaving the house.
Just grabbing whatever has been tossed at the end of your bed and leaving the house to buy food or collect the kids is enough to gush about when your significant comes home from work. Victory is yours!
You get annoyed listening to people crib about having a cold, going to work or having to go to out socialising with their friends even though they are so00 tired.
Many of us can’t work or leave the house when we want so don’t complain and tell us “I know how you feel” because you have a cold. Difference is you’re going to get better. Oh no! You have to go to a Christmas party? My heart bleeds for you.
You have watched anything worth watching already.
Netflix and chill doesn’t mean the same thing to us. It literally means to binge watch shows while doped up to our eye balls on pain meds. Many of us will tell you we have spent many a day watching OITNB while curled into the foetal position because said meds aren’t working.
UPDATE: On March 15 2017, criteria and classifications of The Ehlers Danlos Syndromes were updated for the first time in 20 years. In light of this, I will update my guide (with the new information made available) to highlight new diagnostic criteria and classifications. You can read more about the changes here.
Because there are now 13 types of EDS, I have only covered Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), Vascular Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (vEDS) and Classical Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (cEDS). If you would like me to do another guide to the rarer types, please comment below or email me. I would be more than happy to oblige!
“You’re suffering from Fibromyalgia!” “You’re depressed!” “You’re imagining it!”
The Ehlers Danlos Syndromes (EDS) are a group of conditions that are poorly understood, even by many in the medical professions. It is essentially a defect in the production of collagen, an essential component of connective tissue.
Many articles about EDS contain medical terminology that can be difficult to understand. The purpose of this guide is to put the medical terminology in plain language and help non-affected family and friends understand exactly how EDS affects people and their day-to-day lives. The medical terminology is included in italics. Links to web pages are included throughout the article if you want to conduct your own research.
Why are they called The Ehlers Danlos Syndromes (EDS)?
The name of the condition itself is quite a mouthful! Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (Eylerz-Dan loss Sin-drome) is named after the two physicians, Dr Ehlers and Dr Danlos, who first described this group of connective tissue disorders.
What is EDS?
People with a type of EDS will produce faulty collagen. Collagen is essential for healthy connective tissue, which is found throughout the body supporting and connecting the different types of tissues and organs, including tendons, ligaments, blood vessels, internal organs, bones, the blood and skin.
Imagine a healthy person’s connective tissue as being like regular household glue. People with EDS have collagen that is more like chewing gum; stretchy and not very good at keeping things in place.
What causes EDS?
There are a number of different genes responsible for making collagen and connective tissue, so there are different types of EDS depending on which genes are faulty. There are 13 types of The Ehlers Danlos Syndromes
How did I get a faulty gene?
It is possible that the faulty gene may have been inherited from one parent, or both parents, or not inherited at all. It may be that the defect has occurred in that person for the first time. This happens in 25% of cases.
How I explained it to my 7-year old son.
A carpenter makes a wooden chair. Instead of using wood glue to place the joints of the chair together, he uses chewing gum. Once finished, the chair looks fine. But, as time goes by and the chair is used, the chewing gum doesn’t work very well at keeping the joints together. Without proper glue the chair can begin to get wobbly. I went on to explain that with proper exercise he could help to strengthen his muscles so that they acted like binding around the joints to help support them.
What does EDS feel like?
Having an EDS feels different from person to person, depending on their type, but many describe it as having a lifelong flu. Have you ever had the flu? Do you remember how painful it was having those aches and pains in the joints and muscles? Do you remember how tired and run down you felt? That’s what it’s like for people with EDS only worse and it never goes away. In addition to the daily aches and pains people with EDS also have to deal with very painful headaches, gut issues and then of course there’s the issue of dislocation. Many EDSers can’t go a day without a joint popping out. It can happen simply by stepping off a footpath or picking up a pot when cooking. A lot of people with EDS are also affected by the weather. When it is damp or when the air pressure changes their pain can increase.
How does EDS affect people?
Because collagen is everywhere in the body, there are hundreds of ways EDS can affect people. Any two people with EDS may have very different signs and symptoms, this includes people with the same type. In som,e the condition is quite mild. For others it can be disabling. Some of the rare severe types can be life-threatening.
One of the problems with diagnosing EDS is that many diseases share the same symptoms. As a result, EDS can be easily confused with other conditions and it may be difficult for doctors to recognise. But there are ways to tell if someone may be affected by EDS and need more thorough investigation. Some of the investigations available are listed later.
The most common symptoms of EDS (hEDS and cEDS) are:
“Double jointed” – Hypermobility: joints that are more flexible than normal.
Loose, unstable joints that dislocate easily.
Clicking joints.
Joint and muscle pain
In addition there may be
Fatigue (extreme tiredness).
Injuring easily.
Fragile skin that bruises and tears easily. The skin may also be stretchy.
Digestive problems
Dizziness and an increased heart rate after standing up. (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome or simply POTS for short)
Incontinence of urine in women
Digestion.
If food in the stomach doesn’t move through the body to make its way out it may just sits in the intestines and can cause a feeling of fullness, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, to name just a few symptoms. This condition is known as Gastroparesis. (gas-tro par-eesis).
Nervous System
Another condition than often affects people with EDS is a fault with that part of the nervous system controlling the “automatic” functions of the body; things like blood pressure, breathing, heartbeat, digestion, how hot or cold you feel and the way your organs work and so on. This is called theAutonomic Nervous System.When it doesn’t operate as it should the conditions is called Dysautonomia (Dis-auto-no-me-a). Common symptoms of this are trouble with digestion, dizziness and fainting.
Dysautonomia affecting the heart.
The most common type of Dysautonomia causes dizziness and an increased heart rate after standing up. This condition is called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndromeor simply, POTS for short.
Some sufferers have fairly mild symptoms and can continue with normal work, school, social and recreational activities. For others, symptoms may be so severe that normal life things like bathing, housework, eating, sitting upright, walking or standing can be very difficult. They may feel dizzy or even faint from doing these things.
What are the symptoms for POTS?
People with POTS experience fatigue (extreme tiredness), headaches, lightheadedness (feeling dizzy), heart palpitations (when their heart beats so hard you can hear and feel it), exercise intolerance (feel ill when exercising), nausea (feeling sick), diminished concentration (hard to concentrate), tremulousness (shaking), syncope (fainting), coldness or pain in the arms, legs, fingers and toes, chest pain and shortness of breath. People with POTS can develop a reddish purple colour in the legs when standing; this is believed to be caused by blood falling down in the body because of weak veins. The colour change subsides upon returning to sitting or lying position.
Can you tell someone has EDS just by looking at them?
The short answer is no. Some may have typically blue sclera (whites of the eyes), they may have translucent skin (see through) and you may even notice how bendy they are. But some people may have some of these things and not have EDS.
Many people with the type of EDS that affects blood vessels (Vascular Ehlers Danlos Syndrome or simply, vEDS) do have some facial characteristics. Notice in the picture below that the people have big eyes, thin nose and lips.
Can EDS kill people?
Some people think it can’t but actually, EDS has led to the untimely death of people all over the world. vEDS is considered the most serious form of EDS due to the possibility of the heart or organs tearing.
Many EDSers live a life of constant pain. This pain and misunderstanding from their medical teams, families and friends can make a person feel very sad and alone which can lead to depression and even suicide.
What treatments are available for people with EDS?
Because EDS is considered “rare” there are not many doctors willing to learn about it. Types such as hEDS and cEDS can be somewhat managed through specialised physiotherapy. Joints with weak connective tissue are more likely to dislocate. Exercises to strengthen the muscles around a joint can help stabilize the joint. Your physical therapist might also recommend specific braces to help prevent joint dislocations. Occupational therapy is also useful to help manage everyday life. Pain relief is very important for people with EDS.
EDSers should also be under the care of a Rheumatologist (a doctor who looks after bones and joints), a Cardiologist (heart doctor). There may also be a need for more specialised doctors such as Neurologists (doctors who look after the nervous system) or all of the above plus many, many more. Sometimes operations are required to repair joints that have dislocated frequently and haven’t healed properly.
Do all people with EDS need wheelchairs?
Not everyone will experience EDS the same way, some people can live normal lives and manage very well with physiotherapy and pain relief. Others may need to use wheelchairs or walking sticks to help them get around. Some people with EDS also have Gastroparesis which we discussed earlier and may need to be fed using a tube. Others may only have mild tummy problems. Some people with EDS may have to go to hospital a lot while some may only go to their GP every few months. But, just because one person can live their lives fairly normally, it doesn’t mean they don’t have EDS or that their pain shouldn’t be taken seriously.
Can you catch EDS, POTS or Gastroparesis?
No. EDS and other sub conditions are not contagious. If you know somebody with EDS, don’t be afraid, you’re not going to catch anything from them. So, if you’re avoiding someone with EDS, go make friends with them.
How can I help someone with EDS?
Be there to listen if they want to talk about it. Some people are afraid to tell you how they feel because they think friends and family don’t want to hear them complain. Ask them how they are and if you can do anything to help them. Doing shopping or household chores can be a huge help and it would be most appreciated. If you’re friend or family member has EDS and can’t access appropriate treatment like here in Ireland, write to your local representatives to tell them about EDS and the lack of care that is available. Help raise awareness in the public by sharing articles or pictures about EDS. Experts believe that EDS is not rare, just rarely diagnosed.
I will update the Diagnostic Criteria for cEDS, hEDS and vEDS in the coming days.
*Special thanks to my Dad who helped me edit this guide.*
Do you think anything else about EDS needs to be explained? Let me know in the comments!
Z.M
x
One mother's experience of life with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome
The Zebra Mom 