Niamh's NMO

30 days chronic illness challenge made by CFS_zombie.  I'm going to be posting 5 answers to these questions every 5 days.  I hope you like this different method of doing this! 1 of 6  Day 1 Introduce yourself.  Hello I'm Niamh. I'm 14 years old and I have Neuromyelitis Optica. A rare auto immune disease that attacks my nerves in my spinal cord, brain and eyes.  I had my first attack when I was 4 and was diagnosed a year later after a lot of texts and confusion.  I am registered blind and currently use a wheelchair due to steroid damage. I love to do art! I'm taking it as a GCSE. I also really enjoy making cards to send to my other chronically ill friends! Day 2 How havel these illness affected your life? NMO has caused me to be paralysed a few times and is also the reason I'm blind.  They have really changed my life but as they started at such a young age it's normal now.  Not only have they changed my life negatively but...

This is a year in my life. These journal entries were combined from medical updates on my Facebook.  January 2015 My NMO pain is really bad. My back feels as though someone is sending electric shocks through my spine. When I have pain like this I can barely do anything. It takes all the strength I have to go anywhere and I miss school. The steroids I started this month are already making my cheeks puffy! February 2015 I travelled to Oxford to see the NMO specialists. The steroids are creating a lot of discomfort and I’m gaining weight. My gabapentin has been increased to 1800mg a day. It’s still not working. I’m on 15 tablets a day now. It’s a rainbow every time I take them. It doesn’t bother me the number of medicines because I know they help, despite the horrific side effects. March 2015 21 tablets a day. I’ve started taking them in a shot glass to make it a bit exciting. My pain is awful. It’s everywhere, all through my spine and my legs. I just get random shootin...

My life with Neuromyelitis Optica Q&A Find out more about how I live my life and what helps me cope.  How do people react to my story? Some people get very curious and try to figure it all out in their head. I get a lot of sympathy, which can be annoying. I understand people are sad when they hear what I've been through and that's why they give me sympathy. There are also people who will treat me as if I’m a young child because they assume I need help when I’m quite independent, and they’ve seen that side of me which can be frustrating. What things do I  struggle with on a daily basis? I struggle with things everyone takes for granted like sitting up, walking up the stairs, reaching for something or even choosing which colour top I’d like to wear that day. I find the fact that I’m colour blind funny because I’ll say, “Is that pink?” and it’s usually something blue or even beige! Another problem I face is deciding when to stop and rest. I can say, “Oh yes I’ll c...