Lost in the Void

 Ok, so, I don't actually have a TikTok account because I live on a wifi network with a super security conscious person (and that extra-ness applies in ALL things, like, I apparently am supposed to rinse out the cans from my seltzer water before I recycle them...???😶) But I do love the concept of the app, so I just live a couple weeks behind the timeline of the "cool kids" and see the same viral vids when they appear on the "old people" versions of social media I already have, like facebook or insta. As far as productivity goes, viral reels and ADHD are a match made in hell, but because I have to spend many hours a day laying down and resting to moderate my health issues, it's not like I was ever going to be super productive anyway.  What I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills that make me a nightmare for people who want to save money. Basically, my current top categories of reels are either of the wonderful Penny the Cat, or of cool amazon finds. Now, Penny is great, but again: not really useful.  The amazon finds, however, are loads of products, many I'm betting started as fixes for disability related problems but not all, that are tested by loads of influencers and often are truly the best/most affordable of their kind, or just life-changing in their usefulness. Thanks to the recent holiday season bringing a couple gift cards my way, I am now the proud owner of a lightweight cordless vacuum (yeah, this means I'm really an adult: I was excited about a vacuum😔) and a cooling blanket that actually works, plus a smart humidifier. All on sale, and all well recommended. Yay me!

So, one of the other categories of video that I often come across is a guy talking about "things I wish I knew before my 30s" like how to use the heel lock hole on running shoes, or kitchen tips and tricks, and so much more.

So I figured I do my own version of some of his shtick: "Things I wish I knew weren't actually normal" (Note: these are anecdotal lived realities, I'm not a doctor.)

1. The amount of unexplainable pain the average person has in a day is ZERO. Like, yeah, arthritis or an old injury may cause frequent issues, but you know exactly what caused that pain. No injury? No diagnosis? Find a doctor. Now. It could be a long road.
2. If you're vision goes black when you stand up too fast, you might just have low blood pressure, but if washing your hair in the shower feels the same but worse? That's more likely to be POTS, time to see a cardiologist.
3. Waking up feeling like you're gasping for breath is often attributed to sleep apnea (check with a pulmonologist), but if the breathlessness continues once awake and your chest feels constricted, you may want to talk with a psychiatrist: that was an anxiety attack.
4. If you usually sleep around 10-12 hours at night...and then take a 4+ hour nap in the afternoon, with no later insomnia, that's not normal. ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome may be a new staple in your vocabulary
5. Speaking of: if every time you try to exercise (playing sports, at the gym, or just a long walk) you end up in bed the next day with chills, body aches, and it feels like the flu but no temp? Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/CFS has likely hit you with Post Exertional Malaise. Pushing your limits can make things worse permanently, and I've yet to find a doctor that, other than diagnosing it, can actually know/do anything for this condition.
6. When you have "moods" or feelings that last for days but aren't tied to anything happening in your internal or external world and you can't "snap out" of it (especially if it's an overwhelming feeling), that's not normal. Good or bad, those were signs of my BiPolar disorder.
7. Normal people have diarrhea when they've caught a stomach bug or sometimes when travelling, not most days of the week or when stress hits or after every. major. midterm. exam. Time to talk to a gastroenterologist about IBS.
8. Normal headaches (as far as I understand it) are not tied to sensory stimuli. So if head pain comes with extreme aversion to light, sound, smell, touch, or motion sickness, you may want to try migraine relief options or begin talking to a neurologist.
9. Neurotypical people rarely wonder often if they're Neurodivergent. If the lived experiences of people with ADHD/Autism/Any other neurodiversity resonate with your life experience then the odds are in your favor. Diagnosis of all these things may or may not matter to you, may help you qualify for certain supports, or could be irrelevant. Chasing down a diagnosis is a privilege and not always worth it to everyone. Not all neurodivergence is a disorder, and so there is no such thing as "cure". Also, because privilege comes into play heavily in "testing" for these things, self-diagnosis is valid. 
10. If you think you don't know someone who is disabled, you're wrong. 26% of American adults self-identified as disabled on the US census. More than 1 in 4. Disability is everywhere, and here in Florida (because of the age skew) more than most places. If you want to know more about disabled life or disabled people, join me on Twitter in the #NEISVoid (No End In Sight Void) where those of us with chronic illness related disabilities ask each other questions, commiserate about ableism, and build community for all those times we're trapped in our bodies with no escape. There is also a podcast by the same name from the same creator with various guests (disability celebrities, I might call them).

Now I want to know: What did you wish you knew before you were 30? I'd love to see comments here or on the facebook post so we can all learn things together!