By Magical Me on Tuesday, September 09, 2003 - 01:24 am:

I was diagnosed in a fairly generalised way with hypermobile joints about 5 years ago, but was told very little about it. I was given standard pain killers (ibuprofen, etc), but stopped taking them because of the side effects (stomach upsets, fear of dependency), and now take paracetamols only when the pain gets too bad.
My hips ache when I sit down / stand up for a long period of time, and clunk when I walk. Many of my joints can be heard to click when I move, to the point of people at college asking me if I'm alright (v. embarassing). My skin is stretchy, and any scars I have are quite wide but flat, and the veins on my chest are quite clear. I also bleed profusely from small wounds - don't know if that's relevant or not. My fingers are long and 'double-jointed', my knees lock back (making me look like a bored horse when I'm not paying attention, and when I stretch my hand out, my pinkie finger and thumb are in a straight line (making my handspan something of a monstrosity - in fact, this was evident even in Infant school, when my teacher didn't believe my handspan measurements of the furniture. When she checked, she was quite concerned).
I'm aware how long this letter is, but I've only just started looking around to find information on the subject, as I feel I've been kept in the dark over it. I can't do the splits, and am no longer able to do the lotus postion then walk on my knees like I used to be able to, because it hurts, so I feel a bit ripped off really.
If anybody has any information on the subject, or just wants to discuss their own experiences, please e mail me at sazzit@yahoo.co.uk (as I'll probably forget to check this message board regularly!!)

P.S. Has anybody got any experience of the psychological effects that have been documented - tendencies towards neuroses, depression, etc? Because I think that this part might affect me.

Sorry for taking up so much time, but I had to get that off my chest!!! E mail me!

*The One and Only Magical Me*