My first thought whenever I’m diagnosed with a new illness is Did I cause this? Of course, the answer is almost always, No. However, with my Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), there is a lingering feeling that I my own actions lead to me developing this condition.
Like many people with a chronic illness, I had to wait many years to start treatment. I naively thought that medication would solve all my problems as that is what my doctors led me to believe. The medication that I took initially did not solve all my problems as they were designed to treat my symptoms and not the underlying cause of my illness.
POTS is a form of dysautonomia (a dysfunction of the nervous system) and is usually diagnosed using a tilt table test, but it can also be diagnosed with an active stand test. The average diagnosis time for POTS is 5-6 years, but can be diagnosed within 6 months of the first onset of symptoms.
Fatigue has always been one of my most debilitating symptoms. Unfortunately, it is also the one that has been the most poorly managed by my doctors.
So you're a Spoonie, now what? Here are my five top tips for your new life with a chronic illness.
This is a question that I asked myself when I started doing research into chronic illness. It took me a long time to accept that fact that I had a chronic illness and that I would probably be sick for the rest of my life.
