I don't have any life threatening problems, but I have a few undiagnosed conditions that run in the family.
I believe I have Joint hypermobility syndrome. This is a connective tissue disorder. My ligaments are stretchy and cause pain, flat footedness and joint dislocations. I gave up competitive sports to avoid this. For me it was knee dislocations and rolling my ankles. Thankfully, I haven't had any dislocations in a long time. The stretchy ligaments led to arthritis in my right foot, where the big toe is attached to the foot (the big joint on the top of your foot).
I also have Raynaud's disease. This causes some areas of your body — such as your fingers and toes — to feel numb and cold in response to cold temperatures or stress. In Raynaud's disease, smaller arteries that supply blood to your skin become narrow, limiting blood flow to affected areas (vasospasm).
Signs and symptoms of Raynaud's disease include:
- Cold fingers or toes
- Color changes in your skin in response to cold or stress
- Numb, prickly feeling or stinging pain upon warming or stress relief
During an attack of Raynaud's, affected areas of your skin usually first turn white. Then, they often turn blue and feel cold and numb. As you warm and your circulation improves, the affected areas may turn red, throb, tingle or swell.
Although Raynaud's most commonly affects your fingers and toes, it can also affect other areas of your body, such as your nose, lips, ears and even nipples. After you warm up, the return of normal blood flow to the area can take 15 minutes.
Also, my eyes have various issues. I've had cataract surgery in both eyes, as well as two procedures for detached retina in my left eye. The last procedure for a detached retina was major surgery. I had two tears and they lasered the retina to tack it back up. Then gas was injected into my eye to help the retina heal and reattach. That surgery led to my second cataract surgery, just as they predicted I would have, sooner or later. Except for me it was sooner. Like within a month.
Most recently, I was diagnosed with high eye pressure. This is not high blood pressure (HBP), but just localized in the eye. Untreated, it could lead to glaucoma and such.
I'd like to take this time to thank my late mother, who gave me the DNA responsible for all of this. Thanks mom!