July 16, 2025 • 25 mins
Welcome to Chronically The Sickest - the sickest podcast you know.
On today’s episode I’m joined by cat lover, Kristen. We get into fake seizures, our fave stuffed animals and how to handle stress.
Follow Kristen on Instagram @chronically_kristen15
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Hello folks, and welcome to Chronically the Sickest, the
podcast where we talk. About all.
Things that make us. Chronically the sickest people
we know I'm. Clark, your host.
It's nice to. Chat with you this week.
Join us as we. Dive into the episode, sit back,
relax. And enjoy the show.
(00:31):
Welcome, Kristen to Chronically the Sickest Podcast.
How are you? I'm good.
I'm very excited to be here. I'm glad you are.
I know I like I already feel like you have good energy so I
am. I'm pumped to have you on the
pod. I'm happy.
To be here, well, to start us off, can you tell me a little
(00:52):
bit about yourself? Like what do you, what do you do
for fun? Are you in school?
Are you working? I'm not in school, I was in
school but due to health reasonsI had to like it was just not
for me. I currently don't work either
I'm just due to like disability.Like working was really
difficult for me. But for like hobbies I love to
(01:14):
do my makeup. I always have like fun makeup
on. Can't really see it now but I
always have fun makeup on. I love playing Animal Crossing,
that is my current hyperfixationand I love to hang out with my
cat. That's a good one.
I get that, I get that. Can I ask what's your cat's
name? I have two cats.
I have Scooter who is in the other room.
(01:35):
I could not record with him in there because like he would be
all up for the attention. Like he's the attention hog.
And then the other one is layingright on the bed.
His name is Gabe. I love that.
Wow, no, there's there's always the the kind of like hellish
demon cat and then there's like just the regular fun we'll
(01:55):
cuddle with you cat so. I oh 100%.
Oh 100% yeah, Scooter is the crazy one.
But he is so snuggly though Gabe, he doesn't really care.
He just kind of chills. Lace in the sun being beautiful.
I hear that. Oh, yeah.
Well, thank you for letting us get to know you a little bit.
It's always fun to kind of talk about real people things before
(02:19):
you start talking about, you know, people's deepest health
issues and things like that. Oh definitely.
I like to like start out with like the fun stuff and it's
like, Oh yeah, I'm mostly disabled by the way.
Just after thought I guess. Of course, cuz you know, it's
only it's, of course it's a partof your identity, but it's not
the whole of who you are. Exactly.
(02:39):
Yeah, I've learned that like thepast few years.
Yeah, no, it's a good lesson to learn.
Well, welcome to the party. It's a bad party.
There's no punch. So now.
That we know a. Little bit about you, I wanted
to ask you the question, what doyou think makes you chronically
the sickest person you know? I think my incredible cat,
(03:00):
honestly, like he's he, he's themost the best part about me.
That's what makes me chronicallythe sickest because like I have
the sickest cat like ever. He's so cool and great.
Oh my goodness, that is the bestanswer.
I might feel that. OK, OK.
Oh. I have to ask, do you have do
(03:22):
you have a favorite cat? I know like you legally aren't
supposed to say that, but like, I'm going to ask.
I do Scooter Beauty, he's a little black fluff ball of
chaos. Of course, of course.
He's chaotic. When I was in school and I was
like, online, yeah, he's always there.
He's just like, yeah, I'm going to chill right here.
(03:43):
And I'm like, thanks. Thank you.
The keyboard. No cat bed.
No, literally when I'm doing my makeup, he's like, I'm going to
sit either right on your lap or right behind you in a wedge
myself, right behind you in yourchair.
I don't know how he does that, but he does.
No, my cat does the same thing. I like move up a little bit and
(04:04):
she sneaks right behind me and lays behind me and I'm like, I
can't lay back down now. Dude, I guess I just have to
stay like hunched, like hunched over, OK?
Are you paying paying my chiropractor bills?
Then no, you can't do that. Well thank you for answering
that question. I know it was a little bit silly
but you had the best answer. Tell me a little bit about your
(04:27):
diagnosis. So you have non epileptic
seizures? What?
What was that diagnosis process like?
How are you dealing with it? It was crazy.
So something that leads into it is that I have chronic pain and
so that leads into my non epileptic seizures.
It started when I was a senior in high school around 2020, like
(04:51):
2021. And of course that was the worst
time for any health issues just to come.
I had my first non epileptic seizure in school.
I remember having it in science class.
For me, there a physical manifestation of stress, anxiety
and pain. And so mine look like I stare
(05:14):
off in the space. I don't really know what's
happening. I am aware of what's going on.
It was definitely terrifying. Yeah.
It was a scary experience. I was also in marching band and
so, yeah, I had a few on the football field.
That was not a fun time either. It definitely took a lot away
(05:37):
from my high school senior experience.
That and the whole pandemic. So it was definitely a really
hard time in my life. So yeah.
OK, so you started having these non epileptic seizures in high
school, like you said, as a manifestation of kind of like
the the stress that your body was under, which absolutely
(06:00):
makes sense. If I was a body, I would also be
like, I'm done no more. Yeah, Yeah.
But OK, so once that kind of first seizure happened and you
know, the the couple that followed, of course, what like
how did you respond to that? Like how did your family respond
(06:20):
to that? Was that like a, Oh my gosh, we
have to like go take you to the doctor?
Or did it like take a while to realize that's what was
happening? My mom is very supportive.
I live with her and she's very supportive.
She was like, OK, what is happening?
And I'm like, I don't know. Because at first we were like,
oh, she must be having like epileptic ones.
And I went to a neurologist and they did the, I think it's an
(06:44):
EEG with like the weird wire things.
And they did it. And they were like, yeah, no, we
didn't pick up any like of the epileptic brain waves that you
would have if you were having epileptic seizures.
You're like, yeah, I know we didn't pick any of those up.
And I was originally, I'll go into this later.
And my neurologist was like, yeah, you have pseudo seizures.
And then how I explained like pseudo basically means
(07:08):
translated into fake seizures. And so that was the first
diagnosis I got. And I'm like, oh, great.
So am I like, do I have fake seizures?
But I got recommended to stay overnight a different at like
same branch but in a place farther from me.
(07:29):
And they're like, yeah, you should like go get one overnight
to make sure got that done. And the lady there was so nice.
She's like, yeah, you have something called psychogenic non
epileptic seizures and explainedthat like I said, manifestation
of anxiety and pain, just that physical response I had.
And she was explained it really nicely and didn't make me sound
(07:50):
like I was crazy like my first neurologist, kind of like,
here's a mood stabilizer, which is the recommended thing to like
stabilize my mood, stabilize my anxiety.
And that's what I'm on now. And it's definitely helped.
But that first neurologist kind of made me feel like, oh, great.
(08:12):
So like, are my seizures fake? By getting that validation that
they are real and that it's something that other people
struggle with that I really got that good response.
It's like, oh, you're not crazy,you just your body reacts in a
different way. Yeah, no.
And that, and that makes sense the way that you explained it
(08:34):
and that that very nice lady of the other branch explained it.
But that's so frustrating to have a neurologist essentially
be like, Yep, pseudo seizures. And you're like, so fake
seizures and they go Yep, fake, fake, fake.
Have this mood seabilizer. You have a great day and you're
like, what? It was just like so
disheartening, I guess. I'm like, I was happy that I had
an answer. But like the way that she was
(08:55):
talking about it made it seem like, yeah, whatever, this isn't
serious. But when I went and like further
research and like got explained further, I was like, OK, this is
like a real thing and I'll talk about this later.
I have a TikTok account and one of my Tik toks ended up going a
little bit viral for a video that I made about non epileptic
(09:18):
seizures and I got so many responses saying oh I have that
too Oh my God I thought I was alone.
Oh my God just these amazing responses that I was like Oh my
God like other people struggle with this too.
And it was also nice to see thatI wasn't alone.
Right, like you're, you're not crazy.
Just because something doesn't fit into the normal parameters
(09:42):
of a diagnosis doesn't mean thatyou aren't still struggling with
something. So like I'm I'm glad that you
had a better experience following your first.
Diagnosis. And that throughout this
experience, you have found support, like you said, like
their TikTok, social media is a great place to connect with
other people in similar situations.
(10:02):
OK. So it sounds like you have a
great support system with your mom particularly, and being
like, hey, we're going to figureout what's happening.
And so once you got that diagnosis, what did your life
look like? Like going back to school, being
on that mood stabilizer? Going back to school.
So after I got that, like after everything was kind of figured
(10:26):
out, it was like nearing like the end of my senior year.
But like before that, before my diagnosis, I was having them
constantly during school. I missed so much school because
of like because of them. But towards the end of school
they were still bad but not as bad as they were.
(10:48):
And I was kind of like OK, I'm almost done with school, almost
done with this. It was kind of bittersweet
because it was ending and I was handling it a little bit better.
They were so bad ish but I was able to like control it better.
But it's also kind of sad that Ifinally got them more under
control towards the end of my senior year.
(11:08):
And so I kind of missed out likea huge chunk of my high school
life, I guess. So that was kind of sad.
But I. Mean senior year is supposed to
be like, Oh my gosh, we're goingto go to prom.
We're going to do all these fun pranks like, yeah, like the, the
high school experience and to have it be like, Oh, no, like
my, my body doesn't function like that.
(11:31):
Yeah, OK. OK.
So talk to me about how what tools are you using now or have
you learned throughout having this diagnosis that are helping
with the symptoms that you can maybe share for other people who
(11:52):
are going through similar things?
I have learned that I know my triggers.
I know that if I'm really stressed, if I'm really anxious
that I'm more likely to have one.
But I'm trying to like calm myself like a little bit.
I know like OK, my mom talks me down.
I'm also autistic so like understanding my emotions are
(12:15):
difficult and so I'll have to verbally talk them out with my
mom. She's like, it's OK.
Like having that kind of outlet really does help.
But it's more or less stress nowand more pain.
I have another condition called hypermobile allergy and low
syndrome. So when I'm in a flare up, I'm
at more risk of a seizure and there's not much I can do for
(12:39):
flares. Just like take my meds and take.
The biggest thing I've had learned is that listen to my
body. That's a big tip.
I recommend for anyone who's struggling with these and know
that it's real and it's OK. Like you will be OK.
You're not crazy, just listen toyour body because if you push
(13:01):
yourself it's just going to makeeverything a lot worse and I
think a lot of people can relateto that with any chronic illness
is that the more the harder you push yourself the more at risk
you are for your other symptoms to flare up.
But definitely having someone totalk to has been huge thing.
I'm not in therapy, but I know therapy would work since it's
(13:23):
more psychological. But yeah, that's my biggest
thing is like listen to your body and like it's OK that you
will be OK. But that's definitely what I
recommend. And having a good support
system. I know like not everyone is
lucky enough to have a good support system, but having
people who understand you eitherif it's family or friends and
(13:47):
you'll know who your true friends are.
I realized that if people start to, like, leave because of a
condition that you have, they'renot your real friend and like,
building yourself, like buildinga community or a sense of, like,
comfort with, like, the people around you know that, like,
(14:07):
there are going to be people whocan help you.
And it's OK to rely on other people.
And yeah, that's the best type Ihave.
Yeah, but that is a great tool to use as your support system
because that works for a lot of other things to be able to reach
out and be like, I need to talk,I need help with something.
I I need to be talked down a little bit.
(14:30):
Right now I'm I'm having a lot of anxiety.
That's a really good point. And also your other point of
resting and avoiding flares. I think we'll really hit home to
a lot of people because most people with chronic illnesses
have multiple of them. So it's kind of like a domino
effect of if I let this one get out of hand, then this other one
(14:52):
probably will as well. So thank you for speaking on
that. Of course, yeah, I have a very,
like I said, I have hypermobile LSD and syndrome and pot.
So like knowing my limit and it's hard.
I've struggled with that a lot, not just with my seizures, but
with that. Learn how to like pace yourself
and that it's OK if your life does not look like someone
else's life. Like it, it's OK.
(15:14):
You will be OK. Like it might not seem it but
just keep reminding yourself that like your symptoms are
valid that they suck, but you will be OK.
That's kind of what you have to tell yourself that like it will
be OK. Just breathe and relax and try
your best, which I know it's hard to relax when you have a
(15:34):
lot of symptoms, but just tryingto remember it's OK.
I'm going to like, let my body rest because that's what it
means. Do you have any relaxation tips
maybe for people since I know you said a lot of your seizures
are kind of anxiety induced. So like what have you learned
for relaxation? Like do you do somatic therapy
(15:56):
or I know you said you kind of just talk to people and like
regulate I? Like to just surround myself by
like stuffy animals and lay in bed and play Animal Crossing.
I love the feeling of like weight being put on me.
So like I have a weighted stuffed animal.
Definitely recommend one of those.
(16:17):
They are amazing. And I just also laying in bed
can also just be like just cozy.Like it's just like OK.
Like I'll be OK, but I also relax myself.
I organize like I'll organize mymakeup like I don't it just it
scratches my brain in the right way.
If you like if that doesn't workfor you, then I definitely
(16:39):
recommend laying in bed playing a cozy game, having a cat or an
animal if you have one. Definitely would recommend.
You heard it here first, folks. The number one tip and trick is
to get a cat. Yep.
No Fix everything just to have acat.
You can cry to the cat. You can just have it lay on you.
(17:01):
You can pet the cat. It's basically a weighted
stuffed animal basically. And it purrs.
That it's actually really good for your vagus nerve.
If a cat is laying on your chestand purring, it can stimulate
your vagus nerve and it can calmyou down.
So it it really does help. That's amazing.
I do like cleaning. My clingy cat has come and
(17:23):
clutched. Honestly, he like climbs all
over me. I would have recorded, and I'm
recording in my mom's room rightnow.
She's like, you can use my room 'cause I know Scooter will
literally be everywhere on you. And I'm like, yeah, she'd
probably come in here, but he's definitely like a highlight.
Definitely. He's very clingy, but he's like,
(17:43):
yeah, no, I'm a lay on you. You're not OK, mom, You're not
OK. Let me just lay on you and
you'll be fine. And you can't move when you have
a cat on your lap, so it just forces you to relax and then
like forces you to rest. So get a cat.
OK. Yeah, it seems like a lot of
your advice and like the tools that you're using to manage your
(18:07):
symptoms is a lot. It's revolving a lot around rest
and relaxation and regulating yourself.
The three Rs I guess. Rest, relaxation and regulation.
Is not. Really what I meant, but sorry,
(18:28):
I'm just imagining you're like, Oh my gosh, I'm like vanity King
and someone's just like RR like and you're like, Oh my cat.
No, that's not what I meant. Sorry.
I had a question. So you mentioned that you're
autistic. Samesies.
Welcome to the club. I wanted to ask with kind of
(18:48):
like autistic meltdowns, do you find that those correlate at all
with your seizures in the same way that you said your flare ups
kind of correlate with your seizures as well?
Surprisingly not well. I know it's like I'm on the edge
of a meltdown and it's like I get super like overwhelmed and
I'm in more of a state to like have one.
(19:11):
But if it's just kind of like, oh, I'm super overstimulated,
then that's kind of different. I don't know how to explain it.
But when I'm like really worked up or like on the edge, I know
that OK, I'm at more of a risk of that than like just simply
being like overwhelmed, not overwhelmed, overstimulated.
(19:31):
It's it's different. But I know if I get myself
worked up enough from the autistic meltdown then I'm more
likely to have one cuz I'm already at that state where I'm
like OK, I'm in OverDrive. Like OK, like gonna head there.
Thank you for answering that question.
I know that it's a bit, it was abit odd.
(19:52):
I just was kind of wondering cuzit really is dependent on your
body state of fight or flight. So I kind of wanted to see how
that pertained to it. So thank you.
OK, so. We kind of talked about who you
are your your diagnosis and likethe tips and tricks.
What else did you want to talk to the listeners about while
(20:14):
while I have you on the pod? But I've seen the stigma of that
psychogenic non epileptic seizures aren't real when that
TikTok I posted went not viral, but when it got really popular,
I got this one person commentingsaying, Oh, they're fake.
Oh, they're not real or whatever.
And it's sort of like getting mad.
I'm like, OK, I'm going to educate.
(20:36):
And I got I like answer to the comment And I was like explained
why. And and that was more of like an
educational thing. But like with the comments that
you get being like, oh, they're not real.
They're not a serious, Oh, they're not like epileptic
seizures, but it can get serious.
It's like your body's just in panic.
(20:59):
And I know that not all of them look the same.
And just because you don't see it, like if it's not like, like
you think of a seizure and just because it doesn't look like a,
like a seizure, I guess on the outside, it's, it's still real
and it's still a thing. And I know that that's
(21:19):
definitely a stigma that, you know, they're fake and they're
not, they're not fake. And that's something that I wish
more people would understand. And if you are struggling with
them, know that like, they're real, you're not like faking.
You're not faking your seizures.You're not taking anything like
they're real and like, you're valid.
Because I know that it's definitely seen as like, oh,
(21:40):
they're not. But they, they can be.
They, they can be serious. And they should be treated as a
yeah. That's a really good point.
I mean invisible disabilities. Just because they are invisible
doesn't mean that they are not disabilities.
And yeah. Certainly pertains to non
epileptic seizures. OK, And so if the listeners
(22:04):
liked this episode, if they wantto maybe learn some more from
you, I know you mentioned that you do have a TikTok, but what
other social media platforms canthey maybe find you on and
connect with you? I do have a TikTok Hey Sherlock
15. I have my Instagram chronically
Kristen. I believe that's what it's
called. And those are like my 2 main
(22:26):
platforms. I'm more active on Instagram.
I haven't been posting much, butI'm trying to get my foot out
there because I'm have more followers on TikTok than I do on
Instagram. But yeah, that's how like both
ways. You can reach me and I'll I'll
answer if like anyone wants to reach out, I'm always happy to
talk. I'm like pretty easy person to
(22:48):
talk to you. I guess I can be a little
awkward. But yeah, definitely those 2 are
my main platforms, OK. Great.
Yeah, I, I, I'm sure that the listeners will love to connect
with you. I mean, we have had an episode
on epileptic seizures. So I think it'll be interesting
(23:08):
to see people's response to yourexperience and see if they can
connect with that as well, 'cause I mean, like you said,
it's, it's real. It's just maybe not like as
common in public knowledge. Like when you think of seizures,
you think of epilepsy. So hearing your experience I
think will educate a lot of people.
(23:29):
Yeah, I had no idea what they were until I was diagnosed with
them. I did not.
I had no clue. And I feel like since I have a
little bit of a platform that, you know, I want to raise
awareness and yeah, that's my main mission.
Well, you're. Doing a good job.
Thank you. OK.
(23:49):
Well, Kristen, is there anythingthat you want to leave the
listeners with before we wrap upthe podcast?
Know that you aren't alone. That's like my main message.
You aren't alone and you aren't crazy.
Like it's real. I mean, everyone's crazy, but
like in a good way, not the but you're not it's real.
(24:11):
You're not faking it. And if you were faking it, why
would why would someone go through all the trouble of doing
that? Like you're about, like you're
real. Don't want anyone tell.
You otherwise OK, OK, love that.That is I think everyone needs
to hear that every once in a while that what you're going
through is is real and you're not alone.
So thank you for for sharing that and just in general sharing
(24:32):
your story. I'm I'm excited to put this out.
I'm excited to for it to be put out if that makes sense.
Yes, yes it does. Listener.
That is all we have for you today.
Otherwise, I I am Clark, this isKristen, and this has been
chronically the sickest podcast.You know, that's all folks.
(24:56):
Thank you so much for listening.If you liked this episode, click
that follow up. Button on your podcast.
App of choice to get notified every other week.
You can find the podcast on Instagram and TikTok at
Chronically the Sickest podcast.Let me know if you have any
questions or just want to chat. I love.
Hearing from y'all. Until next time, I'm Clark, and
this has been chronically the. Sickest podcast, you know.
(25:24):
Disclaimer this is a conversational podcast and while
we make sure our diagnosis, journey, symptoms and treatment
plan, this is not. Medical advice.
If you have any questions regarding your health.
Please reach out to your. Doctor and have a great.
Day.
Hello folks, and welcome to Chronically the Sickest, the
podcast where we talk. About all.
Things that make us. Chronically the sickest people
we know I'm. Clark, your host.
It's nice to. Chat with you this week.
Join us as we. Dive into the episode, sit back,
relax. And enjoy the show.
(00:31):
Welcome, Kristen to Chronically the Sickest Podcast.
How are you? I'm good.
I'm very excited to be here. I'm glad you are.
I know I like I already feel like you have good energy so I
am. I'm pumped to have you on the
pod. I'm happy.
To be here, well, to start us off, can you tell me a little
(00:52):
bit about yourself? Like what do you, what do you do
for fun? Are you in school?
Are you working? I'm not in school, I was in
school but due to health reasonsI had to like it was just not
for me. I currently don't work either
I'm just due to like disability.Like working was really
difficult for me. But for like hobbies I love to
(01:14):
do my makeup. I always have like fun makeup
on. Can't really see it now but I
always have fun makeup on. I love playing Animal Crossing,
that is my current hyperfixationand I love to hang out with my
cat. That's a good one.
I get that, I get that. Can I ask what's your cat's
name? I have two cats.
I have Scooter who is in the other room.
(01:35):
I could not record with him in there because like he would be
all up for the attention. Like he's the attention hog.
And then the other one is layingright on the bed.
His name is Gabe. I love that.
Wow, no, there's there's always the the kind of like hellish
demon cat and then there's like just the regular fun we'll
(01:55):
cuddle with you cat so. I oh 100%.
Oh 100% yeah, Scooter is the crazy one.
But he is so snuggly though Gabe, he doesn't really care.
He just kind of chills. Lace in the sun being beautiful.
I hear that. Oh, yeah.
Well, thank you for letting us get to know you a little bit.
It's always fun to kind of talk about real people things before
(02:19):
you start talking about, you know, people's deepest health
issues and things like that. Oh definitely.
I like to like start out with like the fun stuff and it's
like, Oh yeah, I'm mostly disabled by the way.
Just after thought I guess. Of course, cuz you know, it's
only it's, of course it's a partof your identity, but it's not
the whole of who you are. Exactly.
(02:39):
Yeah, I've learned that like thepast few years.
Yeah, no, it's a good lesson to learn.
Well, welcome to the party. It's a bad party.
There's no punch. So now.
That we know a. Little bit about you, I wanted
to ask you the question, what doyou think makes you chronically
the sickest person you know? I think my incredible cat,
(03:00):
honestly, like he's he, he's themost the best part about me.
That's what makes me chronicallythe sickest because like I have
the sickest cat like ever. He's so cool and great.
Oh my goodness, that is the bestanswer.
I might feel that. OK, OK.
Oh. I have to ask, do you have do
(03:22):
you have a favorite cat? I know like you legally aren't
supposed to say that, but like, I'm going to ask.
I do Scooter Beauty, he's a little black fluff ball of
chaos. Of course, of course.
He's chaotic. When I was in school and I was
like, online, yeah, he's always there.
He's just like, yeah, I'm going to chill right here.
(03:43):
And I'm like, thanks. Thank you.
The keyboard. No cat bed.
No, literally when I'm doing my makeup, he's like, I'm going to
sit either right on your lap or right behind you in a wedge
myself, right behind you in yourchair.
I don't know how he does that, but he does.
No, my cat does the same thing. I like move up a little bit and
(04:04):
she sneaks right behind me and lays behind me and I'm like, I
can't lay back down now. Dude, I guess I just have to
stay like hunched, like hunched over, OK?
Are you paying paying my chiropractor bills?
Then no, you can't do that. Well thank you for answering
that question. I know it was a little bit silly
but you had the best answer. Tell me a little bit about your
(04:27):
diagnosis. So you have non epileptic
seizures? What?
What was that diagnosis process like?
How are you dealing with it? It was crazy.
So something that leads into it is that I have chronic pain and
so that leads into my non epileptic seizures.
It started when I was a senior in high school around 2020, like
(04:51):
2021. And of course that was the worst
time for any health issues just to come.
I had my first non epileptic seizure in school.
I remember having it in science class.
For me, there a physical manifestation of stress, anxiety
and pain. And so mine look like I stare
(05:14):
off in the space. I don't really know what's
happening. I am aware of what's going on.
It was definitely terrifying. Yeah.
It was a scary experience. I was also in marching band and
so, yeah, I had a few on the football field.
That was not a fun time either. It definitely took a lot away
(05:37):
from my high school senior experience.
That and the whole pandemic. So it was definitely a really
hard time in my life. So yeah.
OK, so you started having these non epileptic seizures in high
school, like you said, as a manifestation of kind of like
the the stress that your body was under, which absolutely
(06:00):
makes sense. If I was a body, I would also be
like, I'm done no more. Yeah, Yeah.
But OK, so once that kind of first seizure happened and you
know, the the couple that followed, of course, what like
how did you respond to that? Like how did your family respond
(06:20):
to that? Was that like a, Oh my gosh, we
have to like go take you to the doctor?
Or did it like take a while to realize that's what was
happening? My mom is very supportive.
I live with her and she's very supportive.
She was like, OK, what is happening?
And I'm like, I don't know. Because at first we were like,
oh, she must be having like epileptic ones.
And I went to a neurologist and they did the, I think it's an
(06:44):
EEG with like the weird wire things.
And they did it. And they were like, yeah, no, we
didn't pick up any like of the epileptic brain waves that you
would have if you were having epileptic seizures.
You're like, yeah, I know we didn't pick any of those up.
And I was originally, I'll go into this later.
And my neurologist was like, yeah, you have pseudo seizures.
And then how I explained like pseudo basically means
(07:08):
translated into fake seizures. And so that was the first
diagnosis I got. And I'm like, oh, great.
So am I like, do I have fake seizures?
But I got recommended to stay overnight a different at like
same branch but in a place farther from me.
(07:29):
And they're like, yeah, you should like go get one overnight
to make sure got that done. And the lady there was so nice.
She's like, yeah, you have something called psychogenic non
epileptic seizures and explainedthat like I said, manifestation
of anxiety and pain, just that physical response I had.
And she was explained it really nicely and didn't make me sound
(07:50):
like I was crazy like my first neurologist, kind of like,
here's a mood stabilizer, which is the recommended thing to like
stabilize my mood, stabilize my anxiety.
And that's what I'm on now. And it's definitely helped.
But that first neurologist kind of made me feel like, oh, great.
(08:12):
So like, are my seizures fake? By getting that validation that
they are real and that it's something that other people
struggle with that I really got that good response.
It's like, oh, you're not crazy,you just your body reacts in a
different way. Yeah, no.
And that, and that makes sense the way that you explained it
(08:34):
and that that very nice lady of the other branch explained it.
But that's so frustrating to have a neurologist essentially
be like, Yep, pseudo seizures. And you're like, so fake
seizures and they go Yep, fake, fake, fake.
Have this mood seabilizer. You have a great day and you're
like, what? It was just like so
disheartening, I guess. I'm like, I was happy that I had
an answer. But like the way that she was
(08:55):
talking about it made it seem like, yeah, whatever, this isn't
serious. But when I went and like further
research and like got explained further, I was like, OK, this is
like a real thing and I'll talk about this later.
I have a TikTok account and one of my Tik toks ended up going a
little bit viral for a video that I made about non epileptic
(09:18):
seizures and I got so many responses saying oh I have that
too Oh my God I thought I was alone.
Oh my God just these amazing responses that I was like Oh my
God like other people struggle with this too.
And it was also nice to see thatI wasn't alone.
Right, like you're, you're not crazy.
Just because something doesn't fit into the normal parameters
(09:42):
of a diagnosis doesn't mean thatyou aren't still struggling with
something. So like I'm I'm glad that you
had a better experience following your first.
Diagnosis. And that throughout this
experience, you have found support, like you said, like
their TikTok, social media is a great place to connect with
other people in similar situations.
(10:02):
OK. So it sounds like you have a
great support system with your mom particularly, and being
like, hey, we're going to figureout what's happening.
And so once you got that diagnosis, what did your life
look like? Like going back to school, being
on that mood stabilizer? Going back to school.
So after I got that, like after everything was kind of figured
(10:26):
out, it was like nearing like the end of my senior year.
But like before that, before my diagnosis, I was having them
constantly during school. I missed so much school because
of like because of them. But towards the end of school
they were still bad but not as bad as they were.
(10:48):
And I was kind of like OK, I'm almost done with school, almost
done with this. It was kind of bittersweet
because it was ending and I was handling it a little bit better.
They were so bad ish but I was able to like control it better.
But it's also kind of sad that Ifinally got them more under
control towards the end of my senior year.
(11:08):
And so I kind of missed out likea huge chunk of my high school
life, I guess. So that was kind of sad.
But I. Mean senior year is supposed to
be like, Oh my gosh, we're goingto go to prom.
We're going to do all these fun pranks like, yeah, like the, the
high school experience and to have it be like, Oh, no, like
my, my body doesn't function like that.
(11:31):
Yeah, OK. OK.
So talk to me about how what tools are you using now or have
you learned throughout having this diagnosis that are helping
with the symptoms that you can maybe share for other people who
(11:52):
are going through similar things?
I have learned that I know my triggers.
I know that if I'm really stressed, if I'm really anxious
that I'm more likely to have one.
But I'm trying to like calm myself like a little bit.
I know like OK, my mom talks me down.
I'm also autistic so like understanding my emotions are
(12:15):
difficult and so I'll have to verbally talk them out with my
mom. She's like, it's OK.
Like having that kind of outlet really does help.
But it's more or less stress nowand more pain.
I have another condition called hypermobile allergy and low
syndrome. So when I'm in a flare up, I'm
at more risk of a seizure and there's not much I can do for
(12:39):
flares. Just like take my meds and take.
The biggest thing I've had learned is that listen to my
body. That's a big tip.
I recommend for anyone who's struggling with these and know
that it's real and it's OK. Like you will be OK.
You're not crazy, just listen toyour body because if you push
(13:01):
yourself it's just going to makeeverything a lot worse and I
think a lot of people can relateto that with any chronic illness
is that the more the harder you push yourself the more at risk
you are for your other symptoms to flare up.
But definitely having someone totalk to has been huge thing.
I'm not in therapy, but I know therapy would work since it's
(13:23):
more psychological. But yeah, that's my biggest
thing is like listen to your body and like it's OK that you
will be OK. But that's definitely what I
recommend. And having a good support
system. I know like not everyone is
lucky enough to have a good support system, but having
people who understand you eitherif it's family or friends and
(13:47):
you'll know who your true friends are.
I realized that if people start to, like, leave because of a
condition that you have, they'renot your real friend and like,
building yourself, like buildinga community or a sense of, like,
comfort with, like, the people around you know that, like,
(14:07):
there are going to be people whocan help you.
And it's OK to rely on other people.
And yeah, that's the best type Ihave.
Yeah, but that is a great tool to use as your support system
because that works for a lot of other things to be able to reach
out and be like, I need to talk,I need help with something.
I I need to be talked down a little bit.
(14:30):
Right now I'm I'm having a lot of anxiety.
That's a really good point. And also your other point of
resting and avoiding flares. I think we'll really hit home to
a lot of people because most people with chronic illnesses
have multiple of them. So it's kind of like a domino
effect of if I let this one get out of hand, then this other one
(14:52):
probably will as well. So thank you for speaking on
that. Of course, yeah, I have a very,
like I said, I have hypermobile LSD and syndrome and pot.
So like knowing my limit and it's hard.
I've struggled with that a lot, not just with my seizures, but
with that. Learn how to like pace yourself
and that it's OK if your life does not look like someone
else's life. Like it, it's OK.
(15:14):
You will be OK. Like it might not seem it but
just keep reminding yourself that like your symptoms are
valid that they suck, but you will be OK.
That's kind of what you have to tell yourself that like it will
be OK. Just breathe and relax and try
your best, which I know it's hard to relax when you have a
(15:34):
lot of symptoms, but just tryingto remember it's OK.
I'm going to like, let my body rest because that's what it
means. Do you have any relaxation tips
maybe for people since I know you said a lot of your seizures
are kind of anxiety induced. So like what have you learned
for relaxation? Like do you do somatic therapy
(15:56):
or I know you said you kind of just talk to people and like
regulate I? Like to just surround myself by
like stuffy animals and lay in bed and play Animal Crossing.
I love the feeling of like weight being put on me.
So like I have a weighted stuffed animal.
Definitely recommend one of those.
(16:17):
They are amazing. And I just also laying in bed
can also just be like just cozy.Like it's just like OK.
Like I'll be OK, but I also relax myself.
I organize like I'll organize mymakeup like I don't it just it
scratches my brain in the right way.
If you like if that doesn't workfor you, then I definitely
(16:39):
recommend laying in bed playing a cozy game, having a cat or an
animal if you have one. Definitely would recommend.
You heard it here first, folks. The number one tip and trick is
to get a cat. Yep.
No Fix everything just to have acat.
You can cry to the cat. You can just have it lay on you.
(17:01):
You can pet the cat. It's basically a weighted
stuffed animal basically. And it purrs.
That it's actually really good for your vagus nerve.
If a cat is laying on your chestand purring, it can stimulate
your vagus nerve and it can calmyou down.
So it it really does help. That's amazing.
I do like cleaning. My clingy cat has come and
(17:23):
clutched. Honestly, he like climbs all
over me. I would have recorded, and I'm
recording in my mom's room rightnow.
She's like, you can use my room 'cause I know Scooter will
literally be everywhere on you. And I'm like, yeah, she'd
probably come in here, but he's definitely like a highlight.
Definitely. He's very clingy, but he's like,
(17:43):
yeah, no, I'm a lay on you. You're not OK, mom, You're not
OK. Let me just lay on you and
you'll be fine. And you can't move when you have
a cat on your lap, so it just forces you to relax and then
like forces you to rest. So get a cat.
OK. Yeah, it seems like a lot of
your advice and like the tools that you're using to manage your
(18:07):
symptoms is a lot. It's revolving a lot around rest
and relaxation and regulating yourself.
The three Rs I guess. Rest, relaxation and regulation.
Is not. Really what I meant, but sorry,
(18:28):
I'm just imagining you're like, Oh my gosh, I'm like vanity King
and someone's just like RR like and you're like, Oh my cat.
No, that's not what I meant. Sorry.
I had a question. So you mentioned that you're
autistic. Samesies.
Welcome to the club. I wanted to ask with kind of
(18:48):
like autistic meltdowns, do you find that those correlate at all
with your seizures in the same way that you said your flare ups
kind of correlate with your seizures as well?
Surprisingly not well. I know it's like I'm on the edge
of a meltdown and it's like I get super like overwhelmed and
I'm in more of a state to like have one.
(19:11):
But if it's just kind of like, oh, I'm super overstimulated,
then that's kind of different. I don't know how to explain it.
But when I'm like really worked up or like on the edge, I know
that OK, I'm at more of a risk of that than like just simply
being like overwhelmed, not overwhelmed, overstimulated.
(19:31):
It's it's different. But I know if I get myself
worked up enough from the autistic meltdown then I'm more
likely to have one cuz I'm already at that state where I'm
like OK, I'm in OverDrive. Like OK, like gonna head there.
Thank you for answering that question.
I know that it's a bit, it was abit odd.
(19:52):
I just was kind of wondering cuzit really is dependent on your
body state of fight or flight. So I kind of wanted to see how
that pertained to it. So thank you.
OK, so. We kind of talked about who you
are your your diagnosis and likethe tips and tricks.
What else did you want to talk to the listeners about while
(20:14):
while I have you on the pod? But I've seen the stigma of that
psychogenic non epileptic seizures aren't real when that
TikTok I posted went not viral, but when it got really popular,
I got this one person commentingsaying, Oh, they're fake.
Oh, they're not real or whatever.
And it's sort of like getting mad.
I'm like, OK, I'm going to educate.
(20:36):
And I got I like answer to the comment And I was like explained
why. And and that was more of like an
educational thing. But like with the comments that
you get being like, oh, they're not real.
They're not a serious, Oh, they're not like epileptic
seizures, but it can get serious.
It's like your body's just in panic.
(20:59):
And I know that not all of them look the same.
And just because you don't see it, like if it's not like, like
you think of a seizure and just because it doesn't look like a,
like a seizure, I guess on the outside, it's, it's still real
and it's still a thing. And I know that that's
(21:19):
definitely a stigma that, you know, they're fake and they're
not, they're not fake. And that's something that I wish
more people would understand. And if you are struggling with
them, know that like, they're real, you're not like faking.
You're not faking your seizures.You're not taking anything like
they're real and like, you're valid.
Because I know that it's definitely seen as like, oh,
(21:40):
they're not. But they, they can be.
They, they can be serious. And they should be treated as a
yeah. That's a really good point.
I mean invisible disabilities. Just because they are invisible
doesn't mean that they are not disabilities.
And yeah. Certainly pertains to non
epileptic seizures. OK, And so if the listeners
(22:04):
liked this episode, if they wantto maybe learn some more from
you, I know you mentioned that you do have a TikTok, but what
other social media platforms canthey maybe find you on and
connect with you? I do have a TikTok Hey Sherlock
15. I have my Instagram chronically
Kristen. I believe that's what it's
called. And those are like my 2 main
(22:26):
platforms. I'm more active on Instagram.
I haven't been posting much, butI'm trying to get my foot out
there because I'm have more followers on TikTok than I do on
Instagram. But yeah, that's how like both
ways. You can reach me and I'll I'll
answer if like anyone wants to reach out, I'm always happy to
talk. I'm like pretty easy person to
(22:48):
talk to you. I guess I can be a little
awkward. But yeah, definitely those 2 are
my main platforms, OK. Great.
Yeah, I, I, I'm sure that the listeners will love to connect
with you. I mean, we have had an episode
on epileptic seizures. So I think it'll be interesting
(23:08):
to see people's response to yourexperience and see if they can
connect with that as well, 'cause I mean, like you said,
it's, it's real. It's just maybe not like as
common in public knowledge. Like when you think of seizures,
you think of epilepsy. So hearing your experience I
think will educate a lot of people.
(23:29):
Yeah, I had no idea what they were until I was diagnosed with
them. I did not.
I had no clue. And I feel like since I have a
little bit of a platform that, you know, I want to raise
awareness and yeah, that's my main mission.
Well, you're. Doing a good job.
Thank you. OK.
(23:49):
Well, Kristen, is there anythingthat you want to leave the
listeners with before we wrap upthe podcast?
Know that you aren't alone. That's like my main message.
You aren't alone and you aren't crazy.
Like it's real. I mean, everyone's crazy, but
like in a good way, not the but you're not it's real.
(24:11):
You're not faking it. And if you were faking it, why
would why would someone go through all the trouble of doing
that? Like you're about, like you're
real. Don't want anyone tell.
You otherwise OK, OK, love that.That is I think everyone needs
to hear that every once in a while that what you're going
through is is real and you're not alone.
So thank you for for sharing that and just in general sharing
(24:32):
your story. I'm I'm excited to put this out.
I'm excited to for it to be put out if that makes sense.
Yes, yes it does. Listener.
That is all we have for you today.
Otherwise, I I am Clark, this isKristen, and this has been
chronically the sickest podcast.You know, that's all folks.
(24:56):
Thank you so much for listening.If you liked this episode, click
that follow up. Button on your podcast.
App of choice to get notified every other week.
You can find the podcast on Instagram and TikTok at
Chronically the Sickest podcast.Let me know if you have any
questions or just want to chat. I love.
Hearing from y'all. Until next time, I'm Clark, and
this has been chronically the. Sickest podcast, you know.
(25:24):
Disclaimer this is a conversational podcast and while
we make sure our diagnosis, journey, symptoms and treatment
plan, this is not. Medical advice.
If you have any questions regarding your health.
Please reach out to your. Doctor and have a great.
Day.
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