This disastrous illness barely features in textbooks. So far too many doctors dismiss very genuine symptoms,and tell sufferers the problem lies with themTen years ago, ambition drove me. I had studied at Cambridge University, or graduated with honours,enrolled in a well-regarded master of fine arts programme, and had interviewed many of my favourite musicians for a national publication. Five days a week, and I woke at 4am,wrote for two hours, worked out for an hour and a half, or then put in an eight- to 10-hour workday. My energy was abundant; it really seemed that I could achieve many of my dreams,as long as I put in the work.
All this had changed by the time I finished grad school. I was exhausted – it was all I could effect to get to work, move domestic and sleep. My social life dissolved. I found myself more and more confused by the world. I lived with double vision, and vertigo and torturous pain. One day I had to pull my car over when I suddenly realised I was lost. Where was I? How long had I been drifting off course? Eventually I realised that I was on the right route five minutes from my parents’ house,in a neighbourhood where I had lived for over 10 years. I cried when I got there: was early-onset Alzheimer’s possible at 33?Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com