Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I have decided to take on the Thames Path Challenge and will
be walking 100km on the weekend of 9 and 10 September to raise money for the Addison's Disease Self-Help Group.

As some of you may know, just over two years ago I was
diagnosed with a serious condition, Addison's Disease. It was only discovered when I was rushed to hospital after becoming progressively more ill over a period of months/years.

Addison’s Disease is a chronic condition brought about by failure of the adrenal glands. People with this condition are unable to produce two essential hormones which are vital for survival: cortisol, which helps the
body fight infection and inflammation, and aldosterone, which regulates salt and water levels. (More info can be found at http://www.addisons.org.uk/info/addisons/page1.html).

The condition is very treatable: those with it need to take daily replacement doses of steroids for life and take extra ‘stress doses’
during periods of illness, injury well as for emotional reasons: every stress requires a stress response. With the right balance of medication, people with Addison’s can go on to live very full lives and do remarkable things – one of the most famous Addisonians was John F Kennedy.

Common symptoms include: overwhelming exhaustion, weakness,
weight loss, deepening skin pigmentation (looking like they have a sun tan even when they haven’t been out in the sun), dizziness on standing, low blood pressure, poor appetite, nausea or vomiting, difficulty concentrating, muscle weakness with cramps, salt cravings, headaches and stomach pains.

However, diagnosis is very difficult - the condition is very rare (just 8,000 people living with Addison’s in the UK) with most symptoms non-specific and progression of the disease slow. This means it’s simply not on the radar of many medical professionals and can easily be missed, sometimes with tragic results.

The last few years have certainly been a tough time for me and it's been a long road to recovery - both physically and also just feeling mentally strong enough to lead a full life. But, with the support of my family,
friends, colleagues and medics, I've been able to make a great recovery and am feeling better than I can ever remember.

However, I'm one of the lucky ones. As well as struggling to
get a diagnosis, others never manage to recover fully, while many others go on
to develop additional conditions which can make Addison’s hard to keep
stabilise.

This is where the Addison’s Disease Self Help Group comes in. It does a fantastic job of both publicising the illness and raising funds to help advance awareness and understanding of the condition among both medics and the general population, as well as funding research into new therapy and treatments globally. But resources are stretched and research into the condition chronically underfunded. It is a completely voluntary organisation and relies entirely on donations.

So, please dig deep if you can.

Sophie x

Even if you're not able to donate though, you can still help by taking some time to visit the ADSHG’s website and learn more about the
condition. With such a rare condition, awareness is so important.