Meet Christina, our #WarriorOfTheWeek! ✨
Spotlight on: Christina Mannetti ???? @christinanorakelly
“Hi! I’m Christina and live in the US. I’ve been dealing with VS since August 2020. It took about 7 months of tests, doctors, and a lot of anxiety to receive my VS diagnosis. I was originally told I had BPPV, but none of my symptoms fit. I, myself discovered I could have VS about 3 months in. Some doctors I saw had no idea VS existed and kept telling me it’s all anxiety or in my head, but finally a neurologist referred me to a neuro ophthalmologist and she knew exactly what was happening- or as much as you can know about VS. I have excessive floaters, static which is most noticeable in bright or neutral settings, tinnitus, palinopsia, headaches, head pressure, dizziness, enhanced entoptic phenomena, and photophobia. I have really good days and some really bad ones. I’m learning to manage my symptoms, listen to my body, and control my anxiety. I have noticed some improvement since August, but visually nothing has changed for me. The biggest thing for me was getting a handle on my anxiety and depression. Before this happened I had manageable anxiety and never dealt with depression. I talked to someone close to me, decided it was time to try medication, and started eating healthy and exercising daily. Yoga has been a great help with managing my anxiety as well. Since I’m pretty new to this community I’m not sure how much help or advice I can offer, but I do know finding someone to talk to and being your own advocate when you know something is not right is so important. I am so grateful that I had support and enough determination to figure out what was happening to me. I know I have a long road to discover this new me, but I’m hopeful that I can still do things I love. I am also happy that I found this community to not feel so alone and also help raise awareness of VS.”
