My name is Ashley and I am 19 years old. I was diagnosed with Neurocardiogenic Syncope in 2000 at the age of 17, although I have been passing out since the
age of 8.

     At a young age, you are supposed to be full of energy and keep up with other kids your age. Whereas, I was never full of energy. I played sports most of my childhood until it got to where I would get so tired that I just couldn't do that and go to school. So of course I had to quit sports because school is more important. So as you can see at a young age I had to pick and chose what I wanted to do and what was more important and as a kid I just wanted to be normal and be able to do everything.

     It was very hard as a kid to go to doctors and them tell you that you were faking it or that you were on drugs. At a young age I was always asked, " What drugs are you on?" It never failed when I went to an Emergency Room that was the first question they asked and once I said I was on nothing they would automatically ignore me. I even threw up on the floor one time because they would not listen to me when I was telling them that I wasn't feeling good. My Mom and I have walked out of many doctors' offices including SPECIALISTS because they wanted to admit me right then to a State Hospital. My parents and my brother really pulled me through this because I had other family members that didn't believe me which was really hard to deal with as a kid. Eventually I was to the point that I didn't even believe myself.

     I eventually got diagnosed at the age of 17 when a doctor actually believed in me and did one little test that found out my problem. That test was the Title Table Test. It was great to actually get diagnosed with a disorder and not go through life wondering what was wrong with me and having all these doubts in myself. It was more exciting to be able to tell people I wasn't crazy and I had a diagnosis to prove it!

     It wasn't till I was 18 that I found DYNA and I finally believed in myself and what was happening to me. This group really helped me to cope with things and come to the realization that I am normal I just have limitations in my life. It's great to know that there are others kids out there going through the same thing. Well it's not great but its just good to know that I'm not crazy and this is really a disorder that I can't control.

     I could go on forever about what us NCS sufferers and others go through on a day-to-day basis. However, I'm sure this gives you a good clue as to what our life is like. I would like to thank those doctors who are willing to donate their time to help us and try different things to make our lives somewhat normal. There are also many others who donate their time to make copies of our newsletters and write articles for us. I finally feel like we are getting somewhere with spreading the news and getting this disorder known about with all doctors. I would also like to thank my parents for standing behind me and I'm sure I say that on behalf of all the sufferers.