It destroyed this Wallsend woman's life overnight - but she believes even some doctors don't take her debilitating illness seriously.
At the age of 25, Abbie Potts has been forced to trade her active lifestyle for existence in a care home, all due to a condition known as FND. On March 25, FND Awareness Day, Abbie called for better understanding of the disease and more help for those suffering from it.
For Abbie, everything changed in July 2021, when she suffered a seizure followed by a migraine which left her in the RVI for four months. She was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder, FND, a disease of the nervous system which affects how the brain is able to control the body.
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It means she can't walk, suffers pain all over her body and endures non-epileptic seizures which can last up to six hours. For people with FND, all the physical 'equipment' of the brain and nervous system are intact, but they simply aren't working properly.
The main treatments for the condition are psychological and physio-therapies to help the brain re-learn how to perform basic functions. But this, along with the fact that it isn't associated with physical damage can lead to misunderstanding and 'stigma', according to advocates for people with the condition.
Abbie said: "People need to take it more seriously. Even with professionals, I feel like their attitude is 'oh, it's just FND'. But I live with this every day, it's not a 'just'.
"People need to understand the reality of living with this condition. I still feel a judgment about it, people see it as not like something like epilepsy that can be treated with medication, it's seen as 'just' FND, like it's not real. I feel like if it was a stroke or a car crash that had caused this I would be taken more seriously.
"Lots of people with the condition will say they've gone to A&E with it and they're not taken seriously. I'm lucky in the sense that I've got some help - some people are literally diagnosed with it, given a leaflet and sent away, even though they might not be able to walk or talk, but it's just 'get on with it'."
Abbie, who has recently been referred to specialists in London as there isn't a specialist service closer to home able to help her, called for more outpatient clinics and better funding for the therapies that can help FND sufferers rebuild their lives. As things stand, she said, people in her position often have to "fight" to access such services.
"I'm constantly fighting for what I need, and I'm sick of it," she said. "I make light of the situation to cope with it, but it's really bad. What 25-year-old wants to be stuck in a care home, whether it's nice or not?
"I want to be living my life, to be working - I never thought I would miss working but I do now. It's very frustrating."
Abbie chose to speak out on FND Awareness Day because she said one thing that's helped her is connecting with others with the condition. After she first shared her story with ChronicleLive, she was inundated with messages from others with similar stories.
"It does make you feel less alone, more normal. Being in contact with other people makes a really big difference to your mental health, as well as making you think 'yes, this is real, other people are going through the same thing and it's not just in my head'," she said.
Marking the awareness day, a spokesperson for charity FND Action said: "Functional Neurological Disorder can affect anyone of any age, and leads to neurological symptoms that can for many be severe and disabling, and life-changing for all. Access to any care, or lack of appropriate care, continues to be a serious issue in most parts of the UK.
"Awareness day allows us all to come together to be the [voices] for change. Prevalence is currently unknown due to the lack of regional reporting, however, neurologists will see cases in their clinics frequently, and symptoms are believed to be the second-most common reason for referrals to neurology after migraine/headache.
"Sadly though, receiving the diagnosis proceeds no further for many as there is still little knowledge or awareness of FND. This leads to many being left struggling on their own, desperately trying to find any care and support that may help."
There's more information about FND at https://www.fndaction.org.uk/
