Degenerative Disc Disease

Hi, my name is JennMCRPS2. I've been diagnosed with

#MightyTogether #TrigeminalNeuralgia #DegenerativeDiscDisease #PTSD #HypothyroidismUnderactiveThyroidDisease #ExocrinePancreaticInsufficiency #Anxiety #Depression #Migraine #ADHD #Grief #CRPS #Orthopedic #nightmare

Hi, my name is Lionbait. I'm here because
I suffer extreme back pain and it gets me down#MightyTogether #DegenerativeDiscDisease

How many of you have had to quit school due to chronic health problems?

WARNING ⚠️ the rest of this post is lengthy!!!

I have been working on my bachelors in community health through online courses (one class at a time) for the past seven years. A few months prior to beginning my degree program I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia following a car wreck that required a neck fusion surgery. From there my chronic illness diagnoses have continued to accumulate. I now have chronic migraine, endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, chronic fatigue, degenerative disc disease, tinnitus, IBS, C-PTSD, and a long list of food and environmental allergies. I have 2 sons and 2 daughters. My youngest son (15yr) has serious ADHD. Both of my daughters (21yr & 20yr) have long lists of chronic health conditions. They live with me and probably will for their whole lives due to the impact of the disability that their issues cause. Neither girl can drive either. The oldest has Asperger’s, fibromyalgia, Ehlers Danlos, ADHD, C-PTSD, severe anxiety, depression, Eosinophilic Esophagitis, IBS, mild Ulcerative Colitis, numerous food allergies and possible Borderline Personality Disorder. The youngest has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Dysautonomia, C-PTSD, depression, anxiety, disordered eating, restless legs, Eosinophilic Esophagitis, constant skin picking, and numerous food allergies. All three of us girls and my youngest boy has severe sleeping problems. Me and both my girls have applied for and been turned down for disability. Up until 2022 I had been a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom. At the beginning of 2022 me and my 2 girls and youngest son ( oldest son is in college and pretty much living on his own) loaded up and left my narcissistic abusive husband of 16 yrs. and began to start over in a tiny apartment in a small town with me re-entering the work force and starting a full time job in retail and officially divorcing him at the end of that year. My youngest daughter has since tried to commit suicide twice and my oldest has had several mental breaks that were extremely hard to deal with. Throughout the whole time I have continued with my school classes. Determined to finish what I started. However, my health has continued to decline from all my illnesses and the stress of my life and it is taking a toll on my cognitive abilities. I took a 8 month break from my classes but have started back recently and I’m struggling to keep up with the assignments and not learning as I know I should be. I only have 6 classes left, that will take me the next year to complete due to the schedule I’m following, but my body, mind and finances seem to be making it extremely hard for me to keep going. I’m really considering quitting, but feel like I would be a real failure if I didn’t finish it.
If you read all this……Thank you! 🙂 #ChronicFatigue
#Fibromyalgia
# Migraine
#IBS
#InterstitialCystitis
#ChronicPain
#EhlersDanlos
#c -PTSD
#Autism
#Anxiety
#Depression
##BrainFog

Finally found a job I could do, even on a "bad" day. It was basically seasonal. I was told by my coworkers what good job I was doing, and how I "fit in". My Supervisor even gave me a come back date.
Her Supervisor posted my job, I had to interview again, the whole thing, only for the big boss to choose someone else. 😞 So here I am without a job, without a family (they're either deceased, moved away, or have nothing to do with me bc I'm worthless to them) Thank God for my husband of 35+ years! But I just don't know what to do haven't found a job I can do. I guess I'm feeling sorry for myself. Thanks for being here if you've read my boo hoo this far.
Hope your day is good! #Fibromyalgia #ChronicFatigue #HypothyroidismUnderactiveThyroidDisease #DegenerativeDiscDisease

Hi, my name is EES041214. I'm here because

#MightyTogether #Depression #Anxiety #Migraine #ADHD #PTSD #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #ChiariMalformation #DegenerativeDiscDisease #Epilepsy #OccipitalNeuralgia #Dystonia #PosturalHypotension #TemporomandibularJointDisorders

Hello all, I'm not new to The Mighty but I don't post very often and I'm trying to teach myself to reach out more to people who understand how weird it is to be a zebra in a world full of lions....So here goes.... I've had the typical issues that plague EDS sufferers basically my whole life and like so many of you, I didn't know what was wrong with me until I was 43 yrs old (I'm turning 47 on May 3). I have an extensive list of diagnosis (EDS, fibromyalgia, chronic hives, degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis, bursitis, bipolar, depression, anxiety, panic disorder, etc). I've been battling to get disability since 2019 and just filed again last week. Fingers crossed cuz I'm so over the whole being destitute thing lol. Anyway, I've learned that my pain level sits at a 7 out of 10 on really good days and a 20 out of 10 on bad days, I've come to terms with the fact that I'm evidently going to be exhausted all day, every day for the rest of my life, and I've accepted the plethora of braces and mobility helpers I have to use. I've also accepted that nobody REALLY understands what I'm going through and that I will forever deal with people who say stupid and hurtful things to me, albeit with good intentions. What I'm currently having the hardest time with is the medications they have me on (I've tried soooooo many). None of them touch my pain or seem to effect my depression or anxiety but I'll tell you what they do accomplish...they are excellent at helping me gain weight!! Coupled with my lack of movement, I have gained 60lbs in the last year!!! I've never been a skinny little thing but I wasn't big like this! The only exercise I can currently tolerate is swimming and I don't have access to that right now! It doesn't help that food is my favorite coping mechanism aside from sleep! I just don't know what to do to stop from gaining! My food intake doesn't appear to have any cadence on how much I'm gaining. I've tried diet pills and they did nothing. It's really starting to get to me. My self esteem is already low due to my incapability to do the things I want to do and used to do but this getting fatter and fatter is sending me into a tail spin! Thankfully I have a FANTASTIC support system in my life, one which I doubt I'd be here without, but I wanted to get some advice from my fellow zebras....is anyone else dealing with this issue also? If so, let me know! Thank you everyone for reading along with my giant rant...I appreciate you all!