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Little by little one travels far. 2 years ago I was diagnosed with one of the rarest diseases in the country. Addison’s disease is an autoimmune disease that effectively destroys your adrenal glands causing you to not have enough (or any) of the 2 hormones that help your body deal with physiological and psychological stress. It does many weird, wonderful and not so wonderful things to your body; unexplained weight loss, panic attacks, extreme fatigue, lack of concentration, skin hyper-pigmentation and a bizarre and uncontrollable salt craving. Over the last 2 years I have had to learn to adjust to living with this disease in every circumstance and sometimes it’s almost impossible. As a medical student I face a lot of stress every single day and dealing with that stress for a normal human is hard enough but for someone who’s body sees a bit of stress and starts to attack itself it is unbearable on occasion. Often I feel very lonely and isolated as I don’t know anyone else with Addison’s. I have had the most incredible support from my friends, family and university I could’ve imagined but no matter how hard people try to understand they will never truly know what it’s like. Even doctors often misinterpret my symptoms or know very little about my disease. As a doctor-to-be it is my ultimate aim to make sure that every doctor is well equipped to deal with Addisonian patients so that no one in the future would be put into some of the life-threatening positions that I was. I learn something new about my disease every day and it is very unpredictable but Now that I can control it better and I’m taking some time off uni I thought I would do my bit to encourage others with my disease and raise awareness of it! Before I became ill swimming was my life but I had to give it up as my body couldn’t take it. I’ve decided to challenge myself to swim 2 miles open water for the Great Scottish Swim in Loch Lomond in August for the Charity ADSHG (The Addison’s Disease Self Help Group.) Their resources have helped me, my friends and family learn how to deal with all sorts of situations and they encourage people of all ages to engage in a supportive environment with people who are just like them. Their work has made me feel a lot less isolated. 

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