Isobel’s Chronic Illness Chronicle: POTS, SFN, ME/CFS and More

Every time Isobel has a medical test done, she has her fingers crossed that something will come back abnormal. She has been living with flare-ups on and off throughout her life, starting after a severe viral infection when she was 9 years old. Her symptoms include extreme fatigue, dizziness, brain Read more…

Author Alexis Kline Discusses Her Chronic Illness and How It Informed Her Latest Book

As a child, Alexis Kline hoped to one day be a professional soccer player. That all changed at 12 years old during soccer tryouts when Alexis started feeling so weak and sore that she needed to visit the doctor. Her soccer dreams were dashed when she was diagnosed with dysautonomia, Read more…

Bekah’s Chronic Illness Was Misdiagnosed As Anxiety for Years

Bekah’s mysterious illness kicked into full gear when they were 14 years old. While cooking food one day they suddenly became extremely hot, fell to the floor and realized they were too weak to get back up. They were overcome by strange neurological sensations, feeling like their arm didn’t belong Read more…

Adverse Reaction to the Anthrax Vaccine, an Army Veteran’s Personal Account

Sara was eager to see the world while growing up in a small town, and rushed off to join the army right after high school. She entered basic training in 1998, the same year a massive campaign rolled out to vaccinate all military service members against anthrax. As a young Read more…

Finally Diagnosed: Her Genetic Condition Hid in Plain Sight for Decades

When Ashley scheduled an interview for the Major Pain podcast to discuss her chronic illness, she was prepared to talk about living with an undiagnosed disease. But to her shock, just weeks before recording her interview, a rheumatologist officially confirmed a diagnosis. Ashley found herself looking back on her life Read more…

Chronic Illness Author and Advocate Ilana Jacqueline Shares Her Rare Disease Journey

As a chronically ill child, Ilana was repeatedly accused of faking her illness when seeking medical care. Doctors refused to dig deeper into why this particular child was consistently afflicted with bacterial infections and viruses that took abnormally long to heal, choosing instead to blame the parents or Ilana herself. Read more…

Caitlin’s Chronic Illness Puzzle: POTS, Spondylolisthesis, Hypermobility, FND and More

Many children beg their parents for a pony, but Caitlin actually made that dream a reality. She wasn’t allowed to have a pony until proving she could afford one and look after it by herself, so as a teenager she bought one in secret, finally informing her parents 10 months Read more…

Living with POTS and EDS

Zoe’s life changed dramatically at the beginning of 2021. In rapid succession she contracted Covid-19, suffered a concussion, and came down with mono. These three major stressors on her body caused a massive flare of chronic pain, functional difficulty and POTS symptoms (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). At first her doctors Read more…

Living with POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome)

Michelle has always known that something in her body wasn’t functioning correctly. Throughout her childhood she sought help from her parents and doctors, but was told over and over that her symptoms weren’t real or serious. It wasn’t until her late 20s that Michelle was finally diagnosed with POTS, or Read more…

Living with Adrenal Cancer, Heart Failure, Diabetes Insipidus and More

Brooke has been diagnosed with over a dozen health conditions. Her diagnostic journey began with relatively manageable diseases including asthma, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and Hashimoto’s disease, but took an intense turn in her late 30s when she experienced heart failure, discovered an adrenal tumor, was diagnosed with diabetes Read more…