Imagine that, all of a sudden, someone kidnapped you and made you the captain of a large ship. Unfortunately, you’ve never learned how to sail. It’s foggy, and you’re desperately trying to steer through shallow channels, to maneuver through the currents while avoiding reefs and icebergs. At the same time, with no experience, you’re supposed to give orders to the crew about when to tighten the rigging, and when to let it loose, when to put out the oars, and when to throw ballast overboard. You’re standing with two feet on dry decking, but you’re so overwhelmed you feel like you’re drowning in the sea you’re supposed to be navigating. Continue reading “Captain of your health (part 1)”
Category: Medical information
Waiting for the knight in shining armour…
It’s the classic tale.
Princess gets in trouble. Knight in shining armour comes charging in to save the day. Everyone lives happily ever after.
But when you grow up, you realise that’s not how it works in real life.
Especially in the medical system. Continue reading “Waiting for the knight in shining armour…”
That little word, ‘tired’
English is a funny language.
One bear, two bears. One horse, two horses. But one mouse, two… mice. One goose, two… geese. One octopus, two… octopi?! (I guess neither ‘octopuses’ or ‘octopeese’ would have worked…) Fish and sheep? Doesn’t matter how many. One fish, fifty fish. One sheep, a million sheep.
And what about that whole, ‘i’ before ‘e’ rule? Yeah, that works great: except when you want to run a feisty heist on a weird beige foreign neighbour… Continue reading “That little word, ‘tired’”
Warning! Warning! Sensory overload!
“SHUSH!” I yelled at my computer, frantically trying to turn off the background music I’d been playing while I was studying. It was too late. My brain was overloaded with messages. I passed out, falling off the chair and tearing the ligaments in my knee. I was 17 years old.
That was the first time I realised that Dysautonomia affected my body’s ability to process things happening in the world around me (known as stimuli). Continue reading “Warning! Warning! Sensory overload!”
What is this madness?
When a newly diagnosed friend was confused about the difference between Dysautonomia and its subtypes, I looked for an infographic to explain. I was astonished when I couldn’t find one – it seemed like a really obvious thing to have a visual representation of. So I whipped one up for her, and posted it on my blog, thinking maybe it would be helpful for others too.
Less than 24 hours later, that infographic post has OVER ONE THOUSAND VIEWS! Continue reading “What is this madness?”
Dysautonomia: the umbrella
People often find it confusing when I use the words dysautonomia and POTS interchangeably in a conversation. They’re like, “Hang on, which one is it that you have?” I know that a lot of newly diagnosed patients struggle with this too, so I thought I’d make an infographic to explain. Continue reading “Dysautonomia: the umbrella”
What is Dysautonomia?
Dysautonomia is a condition where the autonomic nervous system (ANS) doesn’t work properly. But what is the autonomic nervous system? Continue reading “What is Dysautonomia?”
Reflections Of A Bear 