08/12/2026
I have been living with Takayasu's Arteritis/ Vasculitis for the last 30 years but did you know I also have PTSD?
For many years, I suffered in silence because noone talked about mental health and especially how living with a chronic rare disease can cause trauma.
I remember sitting in the hospital ER parking lot after I brought my daughter to school thinking I would be safer there if I had another hemoptsis episode ( lung hemorrhage)
I really thought it was normal, I just never told anyone.
Its about having all the flashbacks, triggers, how I feel walking into another hospital for another medical exam, its the racing thoughts, its so overwhelming sometimes.
How do you explain it to someone who has never experienced it?
As years went by, and I started meeting people with vasculitis or other chronic conditions, and they would share their stories, it just clicked, "omg- thats exactly how I feel"!
I finally brought myself to seeking some help and was diagnosed with PTSD and Health Anxiety and you know what? Im NOT ashamed, infact, I am relieved because I finally have answers and am getting treatment.
Noone should have to suffer alone in silence.
Have you heard of PTSD?
- thank you
