Hi!
My name is An. I work fulltime as a consultant profiler and I am married. I also have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. This blog is all about this syndrome and maintaining a healthy lifestyle by practicing yoga and eating the right foods. It took me many years of visiting doctors, reading on the internet and talking with experienced people to get diagnosed and becoming more healthy. I want to share the way I live, hoping that others with Ehlers Danlos will be inspired to consciously make healthy life decisions.
My story began when I was very young, at the age of six. I had already suffered injuries, caused by swimming, gymnastics and just playing. I bruised easily and had a very transparent skin. No wonder I felt different at that age. When I was sixteen, I started to have different problems. My hips, back, fingers and wrists were very painful and I had a feeling of losing control over my muscles. I also could not walk long distances. Later, at the age of 21, I got in contact with a chiropractor. He suspected that I was hypermobile. My muscles, skin and overall mobility where weak and my joints dislocated often. The chiropractor helped me to get more mobility. After a while I was able to go to the gym again and I started to run en lift weights regularly. I lost 15 kilograms and I was feeling more energized.
At the age of 26, I noticed changes. My joints where dislocating more often again and my intestines and esophagus started having problems. First doctors thought I had hypermobility syndrome (HMS). It took me another two years to get to a clinical geneticist who diagnosed me with Ehlers Danlos, type 3: hypermobility-type.
After this diagnosis, I started to do more specific research. I found that lifting weights can be good for some people, but it didn’t work for me. My muscles became too tight and that is how they started to pull on my ligaments. I tried some yoga, to release some off the pulling sensation in my muscles. After a while I found that Ashtanga, or poweryoga, was the best fit for me. A combination of flexibility and strength training is keeping my body in balance. Recently I started to lift weights again. On this site I will keep you updates about my yoga and fitness journey.
My EDS is also giving me digestion problems. Especially my intestines are very sensitive. That’s why I am also looking for the best food options. I already found that wheat, gluten and large amounts of meat are not digested well. And because of the EDS I can not do vigorous cardio-vascular exercise. So I keep on trying to improve my diet. I want to share that journey with you, my dear readers.
Maybe the best symptom relieve for EDS is staying positive and having fun in life. So have fun while reading my blog and please leave a message if you have tips or questions.