This is me.
It would be kind of awkward if I put up someone else’s picture here.
My name is Shannon Schneider, and I live at home. When most people say that, they mean that they are adults that still live with their parents. Which, to be fair, is true. That’s not what I mean though. I have spent a lot of the past couple years forced to stay in my home. This is because I have two chronic conditions: Postual Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), and the hypermobility type of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS or HEDS if you include the type). Both of these illnesses often leave me bedridden. It’s always bedtime for someone stuck in bed.
POTS, which is a hilarious name for a disease, makes it hard for my blood to flow properly. When I stand or sit up the blood has a tough time going against gravity to reach my head. This is because of a neurological problem that make the blood vessels not constrict enough. It can be triggered by many things, but my trigger was mononucleosis (the kissing disease). This syndrome usually affects teenage girls and typically gets better in 2-5 years.
EDS is a lifelong genetic disease. It makes it so that the connective tissue is extra stretchy. This doesn’t sound that bad when its simplified to one sentence, but EDS is not particularly fun to have. Connective tissue performs a very important task in the body: it keeps everything in place. Luckily, I have the type EDS that mostly only affects the joints. I can sneeze and pop some ribs out. I can reach for some chips in the pantry and pop out my shoulder. I can type out a simple “about page” and pop out multiple fingers, and then laugh and keep on doing those things.
That is the key. You have to laugh it all off, and move on.
This blog is not just about my chronic illnesses, although they play a big part. I talk about anything that comes to my mind. This could be fashion, the outdoors, science and animals, funny and/or embarrassing stories (I have way too many of those), etc.
More about POTS:
The symptoms: http://www.dinet.org/index.php/information-resources/pots-place/pots-symptoms
A good website about the syndrome in general: http://www.dysautonomiainternational.org/page.php?ID=30
More about EDS:
EDS in general: https://cedsa.org/what-is-eds.html
Specific to the Hypermobility type: http://www.ednf.org/hypermobility-type
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