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Hello RareShare | Solace in Writing

DiagnosingDan Message
22 Jul 2014, 02:41 PM

Let me introduce myself. My name is Daniel Jennings, I’m 26 years old and since July 2006 I have lived with a chronic, undiagnosed medical condition. My symptoms include black-outs and hypersomnia, along with a few anomalies which require an entire anecdote to explain. I must confess my KLS diagnosis was fairly flippant. I see Professor Walker at UCLH and although he has muted the idea a number of times, he's never come out and said categorically that I have Kleine-levin Syndrome. That being said, I thought I would start some conversation on this board as it was lying dormant. In the past 18 months I have moved into London with my girlfriend and have attempted to take on regular work. This has proven to be far more difficult than I had imagined. I had to leave my first full time role after just six months because it was making me too ill. I now work freelance, but find the financial insecurities quite a strain, particularly when I’m going through a bad patch (as I have been recently). To exacerbate the situation, I’ve found that the mass of stories, doctors names, hospital names, conditions, tests and symptoms floating around in my head make it impossible to focus the little energy I have on something productive. So, a far cry from the previous eight years of my life, which were spent keeping thoughts about living with these unknown conditions to myself, I decided to start writing. It’s early days yet, but on my new blog [ http://www.diagnosingdan.com ] I’ve documented a handful of my experiences and will continue to do for the foreseeable. Don’t get me wrong, my blog isn’t particularly popular. I only have 22 followers on tumblr, and most of them are my Mum’s friends. But I feel like it’s helping declutter my mind, like a mental spring clean. With that in mind, I’m intrigued to hear if anyone has found solace elsewhere? Wishing each of you all the best, Dan