Chronic disease, chronic illness, or chronic conditions are considered chronic because there is no cure. There are treatments, but no cure. What does this mean? If you are diagnosed with a chronic condition congratulations, it's yours for life.
I've started writing this blog for myself as I have been collecting chronic conditions since I was very young and thought I better blog about them to help keep them straight. The good news is your chronic condition is most likely non-fatal and won't kill you right away at least. The bad news is these conditions are not mutually exclusive of each other. Multiple chronic conditions have a negative multiplicative effect on the mind and body. They act synergistically as a team and can be quite deadly.
I saw a bumper sticker the other day that read, "I am Not a pre-exiting Condition" I have thought a lot about that bumpersticker. I know it's political, but for me has become a talisman. I have many pre existing conditions, but they do not define me.
Short list of what I got:
Concussive brain trauma and PTSD
Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Asthma
Allergies
ADHD
Dyslexia
Chronic pain
Carpal Tunnel
Hypogonaddism
Hypothyroidism (no thyroid actually Graves’ disease)
Metabolic Syndrome
Hyper triglyceride imia
Pre-diabetes
Addiction
Depression
Anxiety
Insomnia
Ringing in my ears (couldn’t spell condition well enough for spell check to help)
Deafness
Loss of smell
Anger and rage issues - no figure?