A Hamilton woman is hoping to raise awareness of a rare brain disorder that shares the same symptoms as MS and Parkinson's disease.
Suzanne Hutchison was knocked for six after discovering she has the limited condition Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) after suffering traits similar to that of Multiple Sclerosis and problems with her physical movement, like Parkinson's.
The 39-year-old, who works as arelationship executive with Newcross Healthcare in Hamilton, describes her life literally changing overnight when she woke up last August with pain searing through her body and debilitating weakness in her legs and arms.
At first medics suspected the mum-of-two had suffered a stroke but she was later told she was suffering with severe migraines. Further symptoms led to doctors believing Suzanne potentially had MS after being admitted to hospital when she suddenly went blind one morning.
After months of tests and questions, as well as many hospital visits with numb legs and other changes to her body Suzanne was finally diagnosed with FND just before Christmas of last year.
Suzanne told Lanarkshire Live : "My whole life changed overnight. I literally woke up with these awful pains and weaknesses and I knew instantly that something was really wrong.
"It took so long to get a proper official diagnosis though and I had dozens of tests and appointments before being told I had FND.
"I then discovered that there is no cure and that they can only treat the symptoms. They simply don’t know what causes it and the best way to describe it is how my Neurologist explained it that MS and Parkinson’s damage the hardware of the brain and shw up on an MRI scan where as FND does not damage the brain. Instead it affects the software (central nervous system) whereby it sends and receives thousands of signals throughout the day and night. When it malfunctions this is when a function of the body goes wrong."
Despite feeling daily struggles since her diagnosis Suzanne has continued to work and also now volunteers with FND Hope UK to help raise awareness of the condition.
She continued: "There is a lot that has happened over the last year and it’s an emotional struggle everyday, the worst being that I struggle to breath as my chest muscle function doesn’t work great.
"I also have drop attacks where my legs just go from under me with no warning and I now have to use a cane to walk. I have had to have my house adjusted to suit and everything so its been a difficult journey.
"But I'm aware that there will be a lot of people out there that this happens to and I just want to help raise awareness of the condition and maybe help others recognise their own signs and symptoms.
"FND might be classed as rare, because the condition is not taught at Medical School so getting a diagnosis and treatment can be very challenging, but for anyone looking for more information I urge them to check out the webpage https://www.neurosymptoms.org/en/ for the best information."
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