I Woke Up On The Floor And Was Told To Stop Drinking. It Was Actually Multiple Sclerosis

I’d made a point of going to the GP, because I knew, deep down, something wasn’t right; but she’d played on every stereotype she knew and had passed up an opportunity to take me seriously.

You know your body better than anyone – but what happens when no one listens? Welcome to Ms Diagnosed: a HuffPost UK series uncovering the reality of medical gaslighting. With new stats showing that 8 in 10 of women have felt unheard by medical professionals, we’re sharing the stories of seven whose lives were nearly lost to the gap between their symptoms and a system that refused to listen. As the UK introduces Jess’s Rule – a new mandate for GPs to ‘rethink’ after a third visit – we’re exploring why the medical system is still failing women and how we can start to fix it.

I was driving home from Nottingham Trent University to Leicester, where my family lived, when I suddenly experienced double vision.

I was on a high-speed road, and I was terrified. I knew I couldn’t drive like this. Somehow, I managed to pull over and I called my dad, asking him to come and get me.

That was one of the scariest things that had ever happened to me; I still shiver to think what could have happened. And the worst part is, there’s a chance it could have been avoided. I later learned that I had Multiple Sclerosis (MS) – but when I’d gone to my GP with another major MS symptom around nine months’ previously, she’d told me there was nothing wrong.

I first started experiencing MS symptoms around my early twenties; but I had no idea, then, what they meant. I remember my brother once commenting that I was veering to the side, even though I thought I was walking straight – but it’s only in hindsight I realise this was likely down to MS.

The first symptom that actually alarmed me happened in 2008, when I was 22. I was in my teacher training year........

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