Hello, VP Tiffany again with another blog post for you all. I want to start this post off with stating my journey is not special, i have met a lot of people through social media and support groups who have had similar issues. This will be part of a multi post series. Disclaimer this post will mention SH.

Ever since i was younger i have always struggled. During my up bringing things like autism, chronic pain, extreme flexibility were either deemed not a female issue or dismissed because females should be flexible or pain is anxiety. This is a common statement made by many females i have come into contact in the recent years.

I was always a very flexible child, i excelled at the president physical fitness test flexibility section typically scoring highest in most of the school. I started gymnastics at a young age, which now as i look back at it that actually exacerbated issues i have today.

However, not only was i always a flexible child but i also struggled a lot academically. I received many mental health diagnosis’s in my childhood. First it was ADHD, then it was Bipolar, later it was Obsessive Defiance Disorder and finally Generalize Anxiety Disorder with Depression. None of these were actually true, the meds they tried for these either did nothing, or made me a zombie.

So to sum up my early childhood i was an overly flexible child with unknown mental health issues they couldn’t nail down. My teenage years was where i received the ODD and the Anxiety diagnosis’s. This was also where my chronic pain began, i also sprained my ankles constantly, broke the impossible rib, sprained thumbs and wrists. My teenage years were also my hardest years, i didn’t fit in with my peers, i struggled to socialize with my peers. This what when i went down the path of self harm. This lasted all of my high school career, and my time at college. I wont go into the details on self harm.

I spent a lot of time later in my high school years asking my mom to take me to the doctors. I spent visit after visit explaining my symptoms and getting no where. Receiving tests that i now know were not the correct tests. My last attempt at asking my doctors to try different tests, but at that time i hadn’t done my research nor was i asking the right questions; my doctor looked me right in the eyes and asked if i really felt pain. This set me on a few year break from doctors because i didn’t trust them and was starting to question myself.

One of the only diagnosis that i received during my younger years that was accurate and exacerbated my issues with doctors at a young age was Scoliosis. I had 3 curves in my spine, 15 degrees in my neck, 18 degrees in my tailbone and 21 degrees in my middle spine. This would go on to make several doctors equate some of my pain and hip issues to my scoliosis.

Looking back now this all makes more sense, which ill go into more detail on my adult years blog post.