Frequently Asked Questions

• What medical conditions do you have?

I have symptoms of neurofibromatosis 1, congenital tibial pseudoarthrosis and dysplastic tibia, however I do not fulfil enough of the diagnostic criteria of any for them to be my official diagnosis. My Consultant has long used tibial pseudoarthrosis as the closest, partial diagnosis. I also have mental health diagnoses of depression and anxiety and was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome in 2016 and arthritis in 2024.

• Do you take pain medication?

There has been much written about the misuse of opioids for pain relief, so I definitely wanted to address this. Currently, yes I am on a range of pain medications that help control my pain to a degree that I can have some kind of 'normal' function and life. Since my surgeries in 2015 I found that I could barely get out of bed or weight-bear without the support of pain meds and I would rather be able to leave the house and do stuff! However, I am proactively reducing the doses of some of them. I also take anti-depressants - over the years I have come off them but ultimately found that I would at some point have a severe crash and end up back on them anyway, so at the moment I have no plans to discontinue using them. I believe it’s up to each individual to find what works for them and allows them to live and thrive.

If you have any questions you’d like me to answer, drop me a message!