Woman's swollen leg was first sign of rare condition that left her 'trapped in her own body'
A woman was left ‘trapped’ in her own body and unable to speak after she suddenly collapsed and was struck down with a rare condition.
A seizure struck out of nowhere while pre-school teacher Natasha Rainbow was at work. It was just two weeks after one main symptom appeared - her leg had first started swelling.
The 39-year-old rapidly lost feeling in her legs and felt numbness over her body. What followed was months of uncertainty and visits with doctors, with the mum-of-three also completely losing the ability to speak, meaning she had to resort to writing on a pad just to communicate with others.
Natasha had to endure various appointments in A&E and underwent ‘extensive’ urgent neurological investigations, which later revealed she had a rare brain condition called Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) with functional seizures.
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This condition affects how the brain receives and sends information to the rest of the body.
However Natasha, from Surrey, said that her condition is still ‘deteriorating rapidly’ every day and that simple tasks ‘like talking, walking, cooking and cleaning’ that people take for granted have ‘become impossible’.
Speaking to LADbible, Natasha explained: “It comes back up and down with stutters and confusion of words. I am also having daily seizures and suffering with extreme exhaustion.
“I was in hospital and felt trapped in my body but I was able to write in my notebook. It’s been difficult to accept and it’s still an ongoing emotional rollercoaster.
“Some days I can have up to ten seizures a day and I am unable to walk or even leave the house. It’s up and down. Some are better than others, but I am living each day as it comes.”
"I feared I'd never speak again"
According to the NHS, FND can happen for a wide range of reasons, and it varies from person to person. Some reasons the condition is brought on include the brain trying to get rid of a painful sensation, a migraine or the brain shutting down a part of the body in response to psychological stress.
One particularly terrifying incident in July saw her fall in and out of consciousness for over five hours following a seizure that her young children had to help with - and was rushed in to be resuscitated.
Natasha said: “I spent weeks in hospital fearing that I might never speak again, not knowing what was happening to me. I couldn’t talk and I was trapped in my own body and having up to ten seizures a day alongside other neurological difficulties.
“The condition has affected my mobility, confidence and independence as I also can no longer drive. For someone who has always been full of life, positive, very active and dedicated to my three children and my full time job that I love, where I work with little children, you can imagine that this has been incredibly difficult to process and accept as a family.
“Some days I can have up to ten seizures a day and I am unable to walk or even leave the house. It’s up and down. Some are better than others, but I am living each day as it comes.
“I am just getting worse and worse and I will live with this debilitating condition. I am unable to work currently as I can’t function from one day to the next.
"The wait for the NHS is too long, and I am suffering and we don’t know what else to do."
The pre-school teacher is now waiting to be seen by the NHS, but has claimed the wait times to see a specialist are predicted to be around 10-12 months.
Before her shock diagnosis, Natasha said her main symptom was the swelling of her leg around two weeks before she collapsed at the end of February.
She is now raising her own money towards seeking private care to be seen sooner by neuropsychologists and for a rehabilitation programme specialising in FND.
LADbible has contacted the NHS for comment.
James Holt