It’s often said that people can die from a broken heart, but typically such tales involve older individuals who have lost their life partners of many decades.
However, a 20-year-old woman has revealed how her painful breakup left her ‘physically paralyzed’ by heartache, making it impossible for her to walk.
Just over a month and a half ago, TikToker Miss Nevvy was diagnosed with functional neurological disorder (FND). Doctors have informed her that they are uncertain if she’ll ‘ever regain the ability to walk again’.
Miss Nevvy has been documenting her experience on TikTok, sharing her story with followers. In one notable post, she explained her ordeal with text overlaying a series of images.
It stated: “Waking up on a Monday morning after being broken up with and feeling my legs tingling. Not thinking too much of it and standing up, feeling a bit unsteady but going to class anyway.
“Returning from class feeling more unsteady than earlier, laughing about my wobbling but still not overly concerned. It worsens… considerably, it hurts, I can barely feel my legs, I try to stand up and almost fall over. Mom takes me to the emergency GP [doctor].
https://www.tiktok.com/@username/video/7447119711193697558
“The doctor looks at us and says, ‘if this were my child, I’d immediately take her to A&E [UK’s equivalent to the ER in the US]’. I’m worried. I arrive at A&E, they perform a CT scan of my spine. It’s clear, nothing abnormal. Nonetheless, I’m admitted because I can barely stand or walk.”
The account continues: “I wake up unable to move my legs or stand. I’m truly panicking now, it’s no longer amusing. I’m sent home because there’s supposedly nothing wrong except that I can’t walk. I break down in tears.
“I visit my GP again because I’m still unable to walk, and she refers me to the hospital once more. I’m admitted again, but this time to the neurology ward. Still in a state of panic, unable to walk or stand, and two weeks have passed since that Monday. They run every test, but nothing is wrong, yet I remain unable to walk.
“The doctor sits me down and tells me that I was so heartbroken that I developed a neurological condition causing this.”
The college student humorously compares her situation to looking like Pepe the King Prawn ‘when informed her breakup left her paralyzed’, and ‘when the doctor says he’s uncertain if she’ll ever walk again’.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke describes FND as a “neurological condition caused by changes in how brain networks function, rather than structural changes in the brain, as seen in many other neurological disorders.”
It further explains: “Physical symptoms of FND are real but cannot be attributed to changes in brain structure. The exact cause of FND is unknown.”