The suicide disease...

Today, I learned that trigeminal neuralgia is know as "The Suicide Disease" and is frequently described as the worst pain known to man.  I was immediately comforted by that!  Sounds strange, I know, but dealing with the pain in the side of my face, mostly my tongue, has nearly felled me at times.  I fear the next attack with my entire being.  SIGH.

https://twitter.com/SarahHeavey/status/828862005717110784

I found this image on a search of a hashtag for trigeminal neuralgia.
To me, it is perfect.
To me, it is me.

The reason that I was looking at that hashtag was that the Facebook Group Chronically Hopeful posted this and asked for submissions.  Being an ex-researcher, I found the entries (the data) both fascinating and another argument for what a wide reach an invisible illness support group would have.

I copied the responses to Pages and set about working on turning them into a list.  Once I did that, I turned them, temporarily, into a plain text document in order to break the links so that I could edit them.  Next, I used this totally awesome online tool to put them into alphabetical order.  Finally, I turned them into initial caps so that it is easier to read the list.

I suggest reading through it to see just how many folk are struggling with chronic illness that is primarily invisible to others, folk who are often accused of faking it or being a head case.  SADNESS.

Note: There were 34 respondents.  The numbers in parentheses after a hashtag indicate repeated entry among respondents.


#AddisonsDisease
#AE
#AIHAwareness
#Anxiety (3)
#AOSD
#Arthritis
#AutoimmuneHepatitis
#BeStrong
#CarpalTunnel
#CeliacDisease
#ChiariMalformation
#ChronicDisease
#ChronicFatigueSyndrome
#ChronicGastritis
#ChronicLiverDisease
#ChronicLyme
#ChronicMigraine
#ChronicPainFromInjury
#ChronicPainSyndrone
#ChronicaSepticMeningitis
#ChronicSinusutisFrontalis
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#Crohns
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#HypermobilityOfTheJoints
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