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Long term health conditions >> Women 16-18 >> Charlotte - Interview 10 >> Feels less happy than before she was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 9. She feels sad about her memory problem.

Charlotte was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 13. She sees her consultant every three months and feels well supported by her. Her main problems are the frequency, till recently, with which seizures have occurred and the fact that her memory has been affected by the frequent incidence of her 'absence' seizures. Until three months ago Charlotte was having seizures twice a month and sometimes, even as frequently as once a week.

Long term health conditions >> Women 16-18 >> Donna - Interview 25 >> She was angry with her body for causing her illness and went through a very down period in which she started to self-harm. Her mother, nurses and frie

Donna was diagnosed age 13 with a kidney condition called Mesangiocapillary Glomerulonephritis type II. After diagnosis she was on medication and remained stable for three years. But her condition deteriorated and she needed a kidney transplant. Her mother was her donor. Her sudden deterioration affected her physically and also emotionally. She became depressed and felt rejected and isolated from her then 'group of friends'.

Long term health conditions >> Men 16-18 >> James - Interview 21 >> He felt excluded and lonely when he was having treatment at boarding school and eventually became so depressed that he thought of stopping his dialysi

James has a renal condition called Senior Loken Syndrome and it means that his kidneys didn't develop as he grew older. James was diagnosed with his condition when he was eleven years old and since then he has spent much of his time on dialysis. Four times a week he goes to hospital to have dialysis and he is able to attend school two days a week. This condition affects both his kidneys and his eyes and James is now registered blind.

Long term health conditions >> Women 19-23 >> Sara - Interview 27 >> She felt depressed for much of secondary school but has now learnt to focus on a series of goals and feels much more positive.

Sara was diagnosed in 1990 with Juvenile chronic arthritis. She has had a finger tendon repair & a hip replacement. Current medication Anti-TNF Humira injected 2/month, indometacin, co-codamol & Lansoprazole. Says that with her current medication she has more energy to do things like exercise. She attended a Tai Chi course for people with arthritis and really enjoyed it.

Long term health conditions >> Women 16-18 >> Charlotte - Interview 10 >> Her epilepsy affected her memory and it was hard to do her Spanish A level course. Some of her teachers have been very supportive. She is now doing an

Long term health conditions >> Men 19-23 >> Rollo - Interview 11 >> ME affected his confidence particularly when he was a teenager. Says that when he is well he feels more positive about things including finding a girl

Rollo thinks that what triggered his ME/CFS was an overdose of vaccinations that he had received at school prior to travelling to Asia. Following this he started having joint pains and became very emotional. He was diagnosed with ME/CFS by an 'alternative practitioner' a few years after getting ill. Says that ME/CFS affects different people in different ways and that doctors should learn to recognise that.

Publication date: October 2007 Last updated: February 2012

Review date: February 2014

Various long-term health conditions can occur in young people. We interviewed 30 young people about their experiences of different chronic illnesses. Select from the key topics below, choose from the full list of topics on the right hand side of this page, or explore all the interviews by clicking on people's stories below.

Sophie says: “I've had a good weekend despite my lungs not feeling too good. My boyfriend's training to climb Mount Kilimanjaro so we have been hiking!”
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full list of topics

Diagnosis & learning more :

Physical problems, med's & managing your condition :

Life style :

What makes a good doctor and transition issues :

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