A WOMAN battling a neurological condition says the side effects from the illness have ‘destroyed her life’.
Emilyjane Vernau was diagnosed with epilepsy after she began suffering from hallucinations and “shaking” seizures.
Emilyjane Vernau was 20-years-old when she was first diagnosed with epilepsyJam Press
Complications due to the condition have meant that now 27, she has to rely on her partner Conor to care for her (together above)Jam Press
Focal seizures have left her with triple vision, with many people thinking she is drunk as she struggles to walk in a straight lineJam Press
At the start of the illness, she was just 20-years-old and said since then, things have become even worse.
Now the 27-year-old said most of the time, strangers think she is drunk as she struggles to walk in a straight line.
This is due to the fact that Emilyjane suffers rare focal seizures which have left her with triple vision.
Because of this, she can no longer work and is forced to rely on her parents and partner Conor to care for her.
Emilyjane had been training to be a first aid responder when she was first diagnosed and said that the condition “flipped her life”.
“I had a career, I used to do first responding but I had my license taken away. I had over 40 qualifications and they all just got stripped from me.
“Now, in public, people often think I am drunk because I can’t walk straight or because my speech is slurred.
“I have been stripped of everything I knew,” she said.
When she was first diagnosed, Emilyjane spent two years trialling different medications in the hope that they would control her symptoms.
But while she managed to gain back some control of her life, she soon started suffering from unbearable focal seizures, around three years ago.
She said: “The first time it happened and my vision went, I just burst into tears.
“It was so sudden and I could see four or five of everything, I thought I was going blind.
“They started just being around 10-20 minutes a day, but slowly they got worse and eventually the triple vision was 24/7.”
What is epilepsy and what are the symptoms?
Epilepsy is a common condition that affects the brain and causes frequent seizures, the NHS states.
It can start at any age, but usually begins in childhood or in people over the age of 60.
Depending on what part of the brain is involved, possible symptoms include:
uncontrollable jerking and shaking, called a “fit”
losing awareness and staring blankly into space
becoming stiff
strange sensations, such as a “rising” feeling in the tummy, unusual smells or tastes, and a tingling feeling in your arms or legs
collapsing
You may also pass out and not remember what has happened.
It’s important that you see a GP if you think you’ve had a seizure for the first time.
It might not always mean you have epilepsy and it could be a one off, but you should still see your GP.
Now, she can no longer leave the house without supervision and says her mum and dad ‘basically do everything for her’.
“I wake up and sometimes I see seven of the same thing, and this happens from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep.
“I sometimes have to be carried upstairs by my partner. If I have a shaking seizure he catches me.
“When I have had to leave the house, I have nearly been hit by cars and I have fallen into roads. This condition affects my everyday life,” Emilyjane said.
Now, seven years after her diagnosis, Emilyjane said she believed it was caused by stress from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
She said she developed the condition after being bullied at school because of her ginger hair.
“I eventually had to get home-schooled because it became too much.
“When my neurologist said the epilepsy was caused by the bullying, I collapsed to the floor.
“There was so much anger and upset based on how much damage they have caused to me.
“Their nasty words and bullying have given me disabilities for the rest of my life.
“It has destroyed the rest of my life, physically and mentally. There is no cure and nothing can be done about it,” she said.
Now, Emilyjane said she has to think about how the bullies have ‘taken her life away every day’.
Despite the mental toll the diagnosis has had on Emilyjane, she says she is now learning to grow with the condition and not let it get her down.
She is currently undergoing tests at the hospital to try and get to the bottom of her epilepsy and hopefully find a cure.
Emilyjane is hoping that by sharing her story she can help raise more awareness about epilepsy and the devastating consequences bullying can have.
She added: “I think a lot of people think that epilepsy is just seizures, but it isn’t. I now have four pairs of crutches.
“It’s important for people to take five minutes out of their day to read about epilepsy and seizures.
“People die from [this] and it is just as important as a heart attack.
“I think a lot of people get diagnosed with epilepsy because of their past traumas.
“Bullying does cause disabilities, not just mental but physical and bullying is what took my life away.”
Emilyjane said she was bullied at school because of her ginger hair, she now believed the PTSD from this is the cause of her epilepsyJam Press
Emilyjane said she is sharing her story as she hopes to help others understand the condition. She is pictured above with her mumJam Press Read More