When I was first diagnosed, I was in a dark place. I knew it wasn’t an option to stay there.

When I was diagnosed with functional neurologicaldisorder(FND) in 2019, the door to my old life slam closed. Though I was born with FND, I wasn’t truly disabled by the symptoms until I was 16 17 ish , as is common with connective tissue, autoimmune, and other chronic illnesses.

In other words? One day you’re “normal” and then suddenly, you’re sick.

I spent much of 2019 in a dark place emotionally, processing a lifetime of misdiagnosis and grieving some of the career and life dreams that I was forced to let go of. Depressed and in constant pain, I fight constantly living with, I wanted something different with my life an i finally decided i wanted help to live with a chronically ill life cause thats was the cards I was delt .

Unfortunately, much of what I found in online FND groups and forums was discouraging. It seemed everyone else’s bodies and lives were falling apart just like mine.

I wanted a guidebook to instruct me .

These are 7 tips I found that I wanted to share.

1. I didn’t, really — but that’s OK

Of course it took over my life! I had so many doctors to see and tests to get done. I had so many questions, concerns, fears.

Give yourself permission to be lost in your diagnosis — I find that it helps to set a finite amount of time (3 to 6 months). You’re going to cry a lot and you’re going to have setbacks. Accept where you’re at and expect that this will be a huge adjustment.

When you’re ready, you can get to work on adapting your life.

Day 1 of 7 (full list on my blog ) please share if u find these helpful!.
#fndaware #disabilityawareness #disabilitytips #TheMighty #fndusa #ChronicIllness #Spoonie