It all started with hypersensitivity. I'm hypersensitive to practically everything, from sounds and light to medicines and emotions. Being hypersensitive is not easy. It's like everything enters your brain unfiltered and settles down. No way to shake it. It took me years to realize what was happening inside my body and mind and I'm still unable to cope with it. I've become especially sensitive to doctors, since they have always belittled me. I need baby dosages of drugs and then doctors tell me it's the placebo effect. Unfortunately the last time I took a drug in the prescribed dose, I ended up in the emergency room with a severe drug allergy. Rash, decreased liver function, the works. And seriously, this was the first time doctors understood that my body works in a mysterious way. Hypersensitivity is a blessing and a curse at the same time. A blessing, because you can truly enjoy the small things in life, and a curse because your mind gets overloaded with stimuli. It's fine when you communicate with other hypersensitive people but it's unpleasant when people or circumstances are overwhelming.

Ever felt tongue-tied?

As a linguist, expressing myself verbally and in writing has always been important to me. However, because of a strange disorder named Ehlers-Danlos syndrome my muscle strength has decreased. This means I'm literally tongue-tied when I get tired or too sick. Imagine my frustration not being able to express myself the way I like. In my mind I create beautiful long sentences, but they come out clumsily. My frustration got even worse when I had to seek help from a speech therapist. A lovely and very kind girl, but she made me practise words that reminded me of the times my kids were learning to read and write. Speech therapy is a challenge! Therefore I decided to stop talking for today and start writing. Hopefully this blog will connect people with EDS and other strange disorders that affect your well-being. I will try to post regularly and share my experiences.