7 years!!! I cannot believe its been 7 years since I launched my Mummy Seeing Double blog! What a journey. I have had vestibular conditions (vestibular migraine, Neuritis and PPPD) for 14 years now, where has that time gone?!? After 7 years of having them I felt I had learned a lot on my healing journey and I wanted to share my experiences and set out to help others in their journeys.
Living Again
Amy came to me back in 2017, she found my support group online. She was broken, broken by these debilitating conditions and symptoms engulfing her life. She was very depressed and suicidal, something many of us might experience when these conditions take hold and get severely chronic. She was not in a good place, I felt for her so much as she reminded me of when I was at my worst between 2013/15.
Live to inspire, and one day people will say, because of you, I didn’t give up….
I meet so many people through social media, lots of inspirational, brave individuals. People suffering from debilitating conditions, trying to get through each day as best they can. People contact me at the start of their healing journeys, middle or when they have got better, some people keep me updated years after with how they are getting on, which is lovely. What is really touching is the fact they contact me in the first place, reaching out to thank me, to ask me questions etc, its actually a brave thing to do as you are opening up to a stranger.
I had a lovely message the other day from Jake, who I had never spoken to before. He sent me this message.
Believe in yourself & you will be unstoppable…
I remember the very day back in May 2017 when Laura contacted me and its a day I will never forget. A little voice, in utter despair, did not know which way to turn, what to do about her symptoms, how to get better how to manage them. Her mental health was very much affected…
Me and My MS – Julie’s Story
During the time I was getting diagnosed and having treatment for my vestibular issues I discovered some other symptoms that concerned me. They were feelings of skin numbness, altered sensation on my right hip. I also had tingling and buzzing down my legs and fatigue. My Mum had MS and was finally diagnosed in 1997 after having years of symptoms. With that knowledge I visited my GP and subsequently had an mri and saw a neurologist who diagnosed me with MS in June 2018.
The face behind the mask
I am honoured to know so many brave and courageous people. I decided to be brave myself and share my story back in 2017 to help others and raise awareness, since doing so I have met some incredible people on my journey. So many posts and messages I receive every day touch my dizzy heart so deeply, this message I received this week really did hit home and I wanted to share it with you (I have had permission to do so by the author) .
Never too busy for ME time!
I have heard so many excuses over the years about why people cannot dedicate just 10 minutes of ME time a day and I used to be one of them! “I am too buys with work, I am too busy with the kids, my calendar is chocker, I am too tired, my symptoms are too bad, I do not know how to do it” and many more excuses!
You’ve got this 💪
Over the last 10 years from suffering from chronic illness I have had many many attacks. Panic attack, vertigo attacks, dizzy attacks etc. I have had attacks in all sorts of places, from Hairdressers, restaurants, shops, hospitals, on buses, in cars to walks in woods, in my house, at other peoples houses and numerous other venues! Some of the attacks, people would have no idea were happening, I have managed to keep them silent but suffered inside. However some have been quite visual eg my mum has caught me from falling to the floor quite a few times, my sister stopped me from impaling my head on a corner of a walk as she caught me just in time as I yelled out! etc
Dry January!? Try 6 years being alcohol free! Best thing I ever did!
If you would have told me 11 years ago before I got ill, that I would be alcohol free from 2013 forever, I would have never ever believed you! Pre-illness and in fact pre-children, I was a big drinker! The party animal in fact! Out of all my friends, I was the one that probably would drink them under the table….
You couldn’t make this S**t up!
9 Years ago I fell ill and I have to say one of the most frustrating things about suffering from invisible illnesses is the fact you look and act ok so people assume you are ok inside. Of course, if I was in their shoes, I would think exactly the same thing! If a person looks ok then its hard to believe that they are not ok.
Chronic Invisible Illness – A Mothers Perspective – 2 Years on….
My lovely mum wrote a blog 2 years ago in June 2017. As its Mothers Day it seemed perfect timing to give an update 2 years on from her original post. So she has once again put pen to paper and written the below, which I cried over when I read it! It is so lovely to get someone else’s perspective as an onlooker, as with these conditions you do feel rather lonely and feel its your own battle. I am still waiting for my husband to write his blog, he has promised to do one, one day I hope to share this with you.
International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day, What does it mean to you? To me, its not just about Women’s rights, equality and celebrating achievements. Its much more, its about strong women and women supporting other women instead of bringing them down. Women inspiring others, giving them hope, being their for others.
Self belief….
Over the years I have had an issue with self esteem and self belief. I think when you are chronically ill you can get into the mindset of being a non believer. Thinking that nothing is possible. Even trips down to the local shop to get some milk and bread are a big task! A…
Love and Hate relationship with Meditation….
Before I got ill in 2010, I had no clue about meditation. If you had asked me what it was back then, I would have shown you a blank bemused face, and said “someone cross legged on the floor with the two fingers together humming?”. I had no idea that I would be getting into…
1 year on……
I cannot believe that one year has flown by since I started the private support group on Facebook. Where has that time gone! I started my blog in January 2017 and have never looked back. It is simply one of the best things I have ever done, obviously second to me giving birth to my…
Testing day! And my journey up to now…in brief!
So today was the day I popped back to Royal Surrey County Hospital Audiology (my second home!) for testing. I was going for two reasons, one to have a VEMP test (will explain what that is in a moment!) and the second was to have a positional test done (for BPPV). The last time I…
You are in control….
Whilst I sit here struggling to stay upright on this seat, due to severe rocking after my recent big vertigo attack on the 20th May, I felt compelled to write a new blog post. Although no doubt writing this will put me in more of a spin, as my main trigger is the computer! However I raise awareness of vestibular conditions and mental illness daily in the hope that I can reach more and more people and educate the uneducated on these debilitating conditions. It is important to me, it is my destiny.
Support……lets go deep
Support….what does it mean? To me support means a multitude of things. We need support throughout our lives for a number of reasons, but when the sh*t really hits the fan, who is there to support you when you need it most?
New chapter awaits…
Life has ups and downs, highs and lows, good days and the horrible bad days. I have been pondering over something for a long time but just really could not decide what to do for the best…..so let me tell you a bit of background… I have always worked, since I left college at 18…
Distractions – diverting your mind away from dizziness….
Over the years there is one main thing I have learnt which helps with my symptoms Distractions.
When my mind is occupied it really helps me feel better. It does not matter which symptom is heightened, when I am distracted it helps keep my mind of that symptom/s. Ok they do not totally go away but it dampens them down a bit!
Guest Post – How you can create balance in your day today? By Helen Gormley, therapist, coach and cognitive behavioural hypnotherapist
How you can create balance in your day today? A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step – Lao Tzu This is balance awareness week and I am aware that this can be a very challenging and transformational time and how vestibular disorders affect people both physically, mentally and emotionally.  The…
Turning my anxiety/dizzy world into positives…
I now believe I have been given these health issues for a reason, I was given them to help others. I have always loved helping others but now I have a reason, now I can share my story and my battles and wins and help others get through theirs.
A mothers perspective…
This has been a huge learning curve for me as the mother of a daughter who suffers from vestibular conditions and mental health, all beginning back in 2010 after my grandchildren were born.Â
Being open from the start…
At the beginning of my vestibular journey, I was not good at opening up, I would avoid talking about my disorders to people, particularly strangers. That was until my CBT Therapist convinced me to open up more, talk more about my struggles. If I am having a bad day, say I am having a bad…
Motivation….
Motivation….mmmmm, it is sometimes a struggle to get motivated….so what makes you get up in the mornings, what motivates you to get on with your day. What inspires and kick starts you to get moving and on with life? Being a positive person, like myself, does not necessarily mean I have the motivation to get…
When the chips are down…
When the chips are down, what do you do? When you are not feeling great, do you want to curl up in a ball and hide away? Do you want to eat the entire contents of your fridge, drink, smoke etc. Whatever your vice is, you feel like having it in abundance when things are not quite going your way.
Finding the right balance….
Back when I was under VRT (Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy) for Vestibular Neuritis, I was very new to vestibular disorders so was finding my feet with it all. I remember my therapist banging on to me about finding the right balance. All I was interested in at the time was the exercises she was doing with…
Positivity and hope….
A world of dizziness every single day for me A condition that’s hard for people to see Invisible dizziness, vertigo and headaches to boot From mild symptoms to sometimes very acute But what has got me through is a positive attitude Even if everything I look at seems very skewed A lot of vestibular disorders…
Happiness is homemade….what relaxes me….
Where do you feel happiest? Where do you feel secure? I feel happiest at home, I feel at my most secure at home. When my vestibular migraines were at their worst and I was out and about, say at a party, wedding, supermarket etc and all I could think about was going home, how can I get…
50 Shades of ailments!
Ailments, we all have them, some more than most! I am in the more than most category! Or as my husband likes to call me the queens of ailments. My aches and pains, conditions and issues are something I do not wish to have! I do not choose to get up and have an ailment,…
Anxious about being anxious
If you had asked me 5 years ago what anxiety felt like, I would not be able to tell you. I had never experienced anxiety ever before! What I might have said and it would have been a guess is…..butterflies in the tummy feeling??!?
Thinking of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
This is an incredibly hard post for me to write, not just because its a bit personal but also cause I am reliving some of it and that hurts. However I wanted to share it with you as I think it will help other people understand CBT a bit more and how it helped me…
Housework….a fine balance
Housework…..your worst nightmare as a vestibular sufferer or a bit of therapy? There is one thing I have not stopped during my vestibular condition battles and that is housework. Despite finding the simplest of tasks an issue, a weird part of me finds housework rather therapeutic. Somehow feeling that I am dusting away my issues,…
Triggers….when things can change very quickly from good to bad…
Although my migraines are much better then they were, I find I still get the odd hum dinger! I also do still have waves dizziness every day but again its much better then it was. Over the years after keeping a little diary of what the triggers are, I can finally try and avoid some…
Mindfulness, not just a fallacy…
When my balance rehabilitation consultant said to me in 2013 that I had to do mindfulness, I thought to myself what a load of baloney! She said it would help me, help my anxiety, help with my balance issues etc! Being someone who tries to help myself I thought I would give it a go,…
My love of Pilates…and breathe…
Back in the day when I used to be very flexible, when I was young! I am talking in my 20s! I used to do Pilates and Yoga alot and in fact attending some Body Balance classes that was way before my balance disorders reared their ugly heads!!
About my dizzy world and where it all started….and where I am now!
I am a very proud mummy of gorgeous identical twin girls who are nearly 8 years old, they are my world. They are my best friends, my companions, my sanity, my little comedy act, they are my WHY. I am also very happily married to a fantastic man, who has been my rock, my sounding board and my therapist!!