IMAGINE being worried about dislocating your shoulder every time you brush your hair.
This is what faces one young Limerick lady with a rare condition called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS). It affects around one in 10,000 men and women.
Zondra Meaney, aged 28, says she is in chronic pain every day but also gets flare-ups that are worse than child birth.
“When I had my son that pain doesn’t even compare to the pain that I get. In my own way I have a high tolerance to pain because I am used to pain but I do feel a lot of pain as well. I am in pain every day.
“When I went in to hospital they gave me two IV shots of morphine, a shot of tramazol, codeine, two drips of paracetamol –
this was all together and that only took the edge of the pain I was in,” said Zondra, who has been in University Hospital Limerick or housebound for the last couple of months.
The Dooradoyle mum of one says EDS is a connective tissue disorder.
“Basically connective tissue is the glue that holds your body together. Everything in your body is made up of connective tissue. EDS can affect people in different ways – it can be mild and it can be life threatening.
“How it started with me was muscular weakness and joint problems. When we looked back, when I was a child I would have had a lot of broken bones and sprains.
“Now my joints dislocate quite easily, especially my hip joints. My hip joints dislocate on a daily basis so that will lead to a lot of joint pain. It also affects my cardiovascular system called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). I have to take something to constrict my blood vessels because when I stand up my blood vessels don’t constrict so what happens is my blood flows into my legs so there is no blood going to my brain.
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