Disabilities and diseases - Do you have one?

[Finn 7 five 11]

Disabilities and diseases - Do you have one? Would you like to talk about it?

 

The inspiration for this topic comes from my own experiences, and the purpose is to perhaps find support from others with similar afflictions - or a lighter word, illnesses, but also to educate and provide awareness about how an illness can affect your life, most people probably aren't aware of this. I may make an index of each that is posted if the thread picks up.

 

I recall that a renowned member of this forum - GTA3Freak-2001 - passed away some years ago from an Autoimmune disease of some form, if somebody could correct me on that information I will edit the post to reflect it.

 

I guess I better start, this isn't meant to be all about me, though inspired by my own issues, so I'll attempt to keep it brief:

 

I recently got diagnosed with a form of epilepsy, though I've had some symptoms for ten years or longer now, and seizures for 7 years, which means I experience a kind of seizure called a "simple partial seizure" I have them roughly every 3-6 months in waves that last a few days. I still am learning about it, but I used to believe that epilepsy wasn't particularly serious, you have a seizure, that's wild, but thereafter you are a normal person. The form of seizure I have doesn't have any kind of twitching or anything you'd normally associate with a seizure. Basically part of my brain freaks out, so I get an extremely strange sensation of Déjà vu, a weird metallic smell in my nose time slows down, I feel very nauseous and have a deep fear in the pit of my stomach like the world is going to end, my ears start ringing, kind of like that sound effect after a car accident/explosion in movies, and I find it hard to find words if I'm speaking. People don't realize I'm having one, I can act normal, it all lasts about ten seconds, though it feels much longer.

 

The thing I didn't realize about epilepsy is that after a seizure you don't go back to normal, your brain has been changed, and probably damaged, my MRI's show something similar to a person who has experienced many concussions. I feel very spaced out and dizzy afterwards and struggle with productivity and focus sometimes for days or weeks after. My memory is also heavily affected, mainly my short term memory (I think), I find myself leaving the house and going back because I forgot my wallet, then back again because I forgot my hat, or sunscreen, or wax for my surfboard or folder from work. I also have conversations and people say "you already asked me that 10 minutes ago."

 

My work is very demanding at times, and it was originally thought what was happening to me was a sleeping disorder or depression so I had a combo of melatonin and dopamine/norepinephrine boosters, which improve memory, focus and alertness, I also used modafinil for long days on top of those, I've now been prescribed ritalin as well. I'm supposed to begin epilepsy medication too, but since my episodes are so infrequent my neurologist is having a hard time deciding what to do.

 

So please, let us know what is going on with your health! Perhaps I'll see diabetes is more complex than just eating a bit of sugar at the right time or that somebody else here that experiences what I do.

Edited April 28, 2018 by Finn 7 five 11

[universetwisters]

I have the social skills of a lamp if that counts. Aspergers? I dunno.

[Derphoe]

I am truly sorry you go thru that, I cant even imagine. I also never knew there were different types of epilepsy and I appreciate you sharing your story and this information. I wish you the very best and admire your strength.

 

I have anxiety and depression. My anxiety keeps my eyes to the ground as I repeat over and over in my head please don't talk to me please dont talk to me. I go to great lengths to make sure I dont ever have to interact with people in my everyday life. I miss out on all the important events with friends and family. When I am confident enough to go somewhere I ruin it by having a anxiety attack, sweating like I ran 8 miles, shaking, hyperventilating.. I never say goodbye to anyone but they just know. I have friends and family who love me but you would never be able to convince me of that. There is a voice in my head that is the worst kind of bully, it tells me I will fail, I am ugly, they hate me, I am worthless, I am nothing. My depression makes me want to sleep all day as long as I could so I would be closer to the day I die. The world has this grey hue to it and nothing feels like it matters. I feel like a burden because my wife caters to my anxiety and depression and loves me. My daughter once told me I didn't have to go with her somewhere because she knows I am scared of people and mama will just take her. I drowned myself in alcohol to feel normal. Thru alcohol I have built relationships and accomplishments. 7/13/17 I attempted suicide. I failed, was revived and hospitalized for 3 weeks. I learned alot about myself during that time. I have been on and off a sh*t ton of meds but stopped taking them because I felt like a zombie that wasnt even getting better. Ive learned the why's, and how to grasp on to the positive day by day. Sober for almost 3 weeks now. I believe the cure for anxiety and depression is just finding something you love that is good enough to keep you here and never let it go. Some days I wake up and want to die but I don't, I keep living. Some days I miss the razor piercing my skin and the cold blood running down my arm, but I have a sense of dark humour and laugh those "silly" thoughts out of my head. I have a long road ahead of me but everyday gets better. Ive never had an opportunity to share this with anyone, I feel a really huge weight off my shoulders and today will be a good day because of it. Thanks for letting me share and thank you for being you Finn 7 five 11.

[Arrows to Athens]

I suffer from atopic dermatitis, or atopic eczema. I've had it since I was an infant, and it commonly starts in infancy and childhood, though it can start in adulthood, but it's rare. It is the most common form of eczema, a condition that causes the skin to become itchy, red, dry and cracked. It's usually a long-term (chronic) condition, although it can improve significantly, or even clear completely, in some children as they get older. In my case, I still have it, although I can say it's certainly better than I was younger. There are periods where my symptoms are under control, and then there are periods where it is worse and more obvious. These are called flare-ups. I have to skip days of college because of it. It affects pretty much most of my body. My symptoms include dryness, which can be worse in some days, flakiness, itchiness, redness, inflammation, and cracked skin that hurts like a motherf*cker if I put water on it or move it. I hate it when my face suffers from a flare-up. It affects my self-esteem, and I want to avoid going out. I don't like it when my friends talk to me with my face in agony and covered in dry, flaky, red skin. On many days, I have to constantly moisturize my face throughout the day. My eyes tend to get baggy if the skin underneath and over them are inflamed and dry as well. My scalp is affected also, thus making it look like dandruff. It's horrible. I currently treat my eczema with a moisturizer emollient called Cetraben, a cooling cream consisting of menthol called Dermacool, which helps with the itching, steroid creams for flare-ups and bad inflammation called Tacrolimus and Elecon, and a scalp application for my scalp when it's really bad called Betacap.

 

Atopic eczema appears to be more genetic than anything else, seeing as it's hereditary, but environmental factors can play a role as well. It can run in families, and often develops alongside other conditions, such as asthma and hay fever. However, I don't have hay fever and asthma, and I'm 20. Because the skin of patients with AD don't function well, and scratching the skin can open it, they are at a higher risk of developing infections.

Edited April 28, 2018 by Arrows to Athens

[Voodoo]

I got the rockin' pneumonia and the boogie-woogie flu.

[Mr. Scratch]

My right pinky is permanently f*cked after I broke it last year and the tendons didn't heal right so now I can't bend or stretch it properly anymore and my sh*t looks like Captain Hook's missing hand.

 

[Crokey]

I got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell.

 

 

 

[Malibu Club]

ADD and OCD. Self diagnosed, though. Just seems likely to me. I know for a fact that I have anxiety since both my mom and my grandma have it, and I get all anxious about stupid stuff.

[Sanches]

I got some stage of depression, which is pretty annoying and prevents me from doing daily things in peace.
In my childhood i twisted my left ankle and it actually never healed completely so i limp even today.
Pretty much like Mr. Scrach said, i've broken my left pinky once and it still looks like a hook and i barely move it.

[M0rk]

i have the real nigga disease

[Guest]

i post on here

[Begoo]

I a bit of speech impediment mostly around words i have hard times pronouncing sometimes, if that counts.

[Evil empire]

I'm allergic to the grass pollen and have a controlled asthma.

[Menstrual Deranged]

I suffer from a few chronic conditions and every few years, one or a couple will flare up without warning.

 

Endometriosis has been the biggest bitch, though. If you care to know what it is, go ahead and Google. Last year I had a hysterectomy in order to get some relief from it. I was diagnosed with it over 10 years ago and had surgery for it soon after that to remove some of the scar tissue/adhesions from my uterus and the inside of my abdomen. Then a few years ago, it started up again. I started having excruciating pain that made me feel like I was dying for half the damn month every damn month of the damn year. Aside from the severe abdominal cramping: body aches, headaches, dizziness, nausea, and the general desire to die. My OB/Gyn wanted to put me on all kinds of hormones to induce medical menopause and I said I was done with hormones and their side effects, please remove this piece of sh*t uterus. Why should I bother keeping it anyways? I don't want any more kids, why should I allow my uterus to torture me every month? She didn't share the same sentiment, she thought I was "too young" for a hysterectomy so I switched doctors and found one who agreed with the removal of unnecessary body organs like uteri.

 

I feel a lot better now.

Edited April 30, 2018 by Menstrual Deranged

[trip]

I a bit of speech impediment mostly around words i have hard times pronouncing sometimes, if that counts.

I went to years of speech therapy for a whole lot of my young years thanks to being born with a cleft palate. I don't believe I have any speech issues but I'm also aware of a lot of mechanics when I talk. Heck, I speak from a podium to large rooms of people enough so I like to think all the years of therapy helped.

 

Yeah, born with a cleft palate is my disability if that counts. I was lucky that I was born in the US during a time when the government felt bad for cleft palate kids...so I had years of good free surgery.

 

The weird thing about being born mutated is it's all you know...so you don't know anything is different. You know the thing that hangs down in the back of your throat(uvula)? I have two. I thought everyone had two and was always a bit confused during cartoons when they showed someone screaming and you see their uvula. I don't know what it is like to breathe while eating.

Edited April 30, 2018 by trip

[ArkhamDeadp00l]

I have a minor learning disability and severe anxiety disorder. ( i take meds for my anxiety).

[Guest]

I am an Autist. I'm referring to the official medical condition, not the sociological observation of "autistic behavior" that we find so often used in public media today. My brand of Autism goes with both hyper- and hyposensitivities, and the communicative issues colloquially known as the "wrong planet syndrome", all causing my mindset into a strong urge to shut myself in. I've only been diagnosed a couple of years ago, as an adult, although I actually register as a quite severe case on the "Autism Spectrum".

 

Some psychological side issues, like massive social anxieties, have piled up from me "flying under the radar" for over thirty years, i.e. adapting to and mimicking social behaviorial codes at school, work etc., always feeling "wrong", either for obvious reasons ("wrong" skin colour, gender) or complex reasons (being the rejected child in a dysfunctional family, being "too smart" in a rather low developed district etc.), but playing along for sake of survival. Fatally so, I was damn good at adapting, until the whole psychological smoke-and-mirrors collapsed into a huge burn-out and nervous break down, diagnosis and early retirement.

 

I am a happy person now, since embracing my "shortcomings" have given me the mental space to celebrate my strengths. The "official" diagnosis has also helped people around me to understand me better, improving communications hugely and enabling me to contribute according to my individual strengths rather than feeling wrong for any weaknesses, although I still get stressed out and sad by my issues at certain times, of course

 

And, once in the swing, I talk/write too much, evidently

 

Some additional thoughts:

 

Spoiler

Afterthought: We find "handicap" and "disability" often used as derogative terms, but I don't look at it this way. Many problems in partaking in any activity often are the result from a misunderstanding of what is "normal". There is no such thing as normal apart from dubious statistics, and nobody should feel ashamed for being "different"; I mention this because I would like, on the one hand, to encourage especially those "suffering" mental problems like anxieties not to hide for shame of being singled out, but seek a diagnosis and counseling instead and find strength; but on the other hand, also I am currently quite disturbed by the fact how many modern day treatments seem to address how to make mentally disabled people "normal again", using medications and aggressive therapies like ABA. This is not what inclusion was about. We don#t want to be pumped with pills to "keep up" with the machine, we don't want to be trained like dogs in order to "act normal" to a mainstream displaying quite sick behavior by themselves on a daily basis. We want a world open enough to accept differences, embrace the new - and learn. Just saying.

Spoiler

 

Afterthought 2 (22.06.): I have linked to this comment from my "About section" since I had a couple of conversations about Autism lately, and I like to add a brief afterthought on the confusion these days about the proper use of the term Autism, or whether it is appropriate to call someone out being/acting "autistic". First off, it is never nice to call people names. Second, the usage of "autistic" in public media has been inconsiderate and over done, but the term is used in fact correctly, in an etymological sense; there is however a difference between "autistic behavior" and "Autism as a medical condition", a bit like "acting blind" vs. actual blindness. Only, blind people have a large, well phrased spectrum of diagnosis as to causes, severity, and possible treatment of their blindness, while Autism as a diagnosis is stretched over an equally vast spectrum, yet apart from some of the known superficial effects and equally superficial therapy to gloss over some issues, science is still drawing complete blanks as to possible causes and "inner processes" of Autism, contrary to popular belief.

Many issues of modern life may cause the development of "autistic behavior", yet not every one of those is an Autist, and not every Autist is a sociopath, sitting in the corner drooling. Some of us can come across pretty cogent, but that does not mean that we suffer less.

And this is the point where I really wish, even if they are correct in a semantic way, the media would treat "Autism" more sensibly than it is currently done. 

 

 

Edited August 18, 2018 by Guest
Added Afterthought 2; those given "likes" before that may not concur to the latest addendum

[Ned Bingham]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Some psychological side issues, like massive social anxieties, have piled up from me "flying under the radar" for over thirty years, i.e. adapting to and mimicking social behaviorial codes at school, work etc., always feeling "wrong", either for obvious reasons ("wrong" skin colour, gender) or complex reasons (being the rejected child in a dysfunctional family, being "too smart" in a rather low developed district etc.), but playing along for sake of survival. Fatally so, I was damn good at adapting, until the whole psychological smoke-and-mirrors collapsed into a huge burn-out and nervous break down, diagnosis and early retirement.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I do wonder if most kids suffer some or all of the problems above. I think all of us learn by mimicry, even if we do select and filter what we take in. As for feeling that we have landed on the wrong planet I've often felt that I've somehow ended up on 'Planet Meathead'. I'm also suspicious of labels and over-diagnosis. You seem perfectly cogent to me.

[Raj The Rager]

I have PTSD and I'm a little emotionally disturbed.

[Raavi]

I burned my lip on a smore. that counts?

[.Ryan.]

I have a sunken chest. Never really had any breathing problems, but makes for a good can holder.

[[...]]

I suffer from astigmatism. It's not really something that makes my life really hard. I just have to wear glasses pretty much all time. Sleeping is an exception.

Edited June 4, 2018 by (Ambient)

[Begoo]

Never let your problems that you have ruin your confidence, just accept it and keep it strong, not everybody's perfect. Nature can be a bitch sometimes and there's nothing we can do about it.

[happygrowls]

Social Anxiety and Depression pretty much keep me locked away most days, managed to get myself to a nearby comic-con which has boosted my self-confidence a fair bit, college helps too, having something to do most days is a good motivator.

[Death]

-

Edited June 18, 2021 by -7-

[Mister Pink]

My right pinky is permanently f*cked after I broke it last year and the tendons didn't heal right so now I can't bend or stretch it properly anymore and my sh*t looks like Captain Hook's missing hand.

 

 

We are pinky brethren. I came down a quarter pipe after grinding a ledge and landed on my left hand and my pinky bent right back. So my finger kind of resembles the image on the right. However, it's not crooked like the image on the left. I can't straighten my pinky 100%. Should have gone to the doctor

 

Sorry, I know this topic is about disabilities and my issue doesn't classify as one per se. Just thought that was a mad coincidence.

[Smith John]

Sometimes I suffer from pretty severe periods of sobriety. It's getting quite serious.

[Mister Kay]

My left hand's first finger once got caught between doors and the cut went so deep that the tip came off with a fountain of blood. Luckily it stayed hung by the nail and the doctor simply put it back. He couldn't stitch it because either I was a kid and my finger was too tiny or he didn't know how to f*cking stitch. Now the tip of the finger is crooked like a parrot's beak. Not really a disability or illness though, probably a flaw.

 

My palms do shed skin once a year this time of the year, don't know if it can be called a proper skin condition. I just use petroleum jelly to deal with it.

 

Also, I'm very prone to heartburns. Anything too spicy and I'll have a dragon's throat. f*cking human body.

 

P.S. I'm a bit f*cked in the head too, but who isn't?

Edited May 23, 2018 by Constant K

[feckyerlife]

Also, I'm very prone to heartburns. Anything too spicy and I'll have a dragon's throat. f*cking human body.

 

 

You probably have an ulcer, i have one. means no citric acid, tomato based products and alcohol.

Edited May 23, 2018 by feckyerlife

[FukNRekd]

I've done that, John, and I know how you feel.

 

I'm there for you, buddy. Be strong.

 

The official acronym for it is LBAC, or Low Blood-Alcohol-Content syndrome.

 

Aside from being highly anti-social (is that bad or good?) My disabilities are all self inflicted. I could fill reels of /fail/ compilations, hence the name FukNRekd.

 

Broken ankles in high school (motorcycle), now they often give out, usually while walking on stairs.

 

Broken shoulder/separated clavicle (ATV) never fixed (they wanted to drill a 3/8" hole through a 1/2" bone and pull it down. Uhhh, NO). Sleeping sucks and the constant grinding and popping causes much pain and anxiety but I have full motion and strength, which I wouldn't have if they "fixed" it.

 

Separated muscle from bone on right leg (ATV, different accident). Numbness and lost strength but still functions well.

 

Took meat off tops of both feet (motorcycle, different accident), can't wear new shoes or boots still, will be a year in August. Nerves mostly gone.

 

Took skin off right leg, right arm, right shoulder and lower right back where the skin is real tender (motorcycle, different accident, had future Mrs Rekd on back. This actually sealed our f*ck-buddy relationship and we have been married for 24 years now). Numbness and lack of motion in leg, tight skin on back makes bending left very difficult.

 

So many more but not any permanent damage. All in all I've been very luck that my injuries were not more debilitating and in a couple of instances life threatening.

Edited May 23, 2018 by FukNRekd