My feet just gave way beneath me

To make sense of where I am now, it makes sense to give some background.

I firstly collapsed at work. My feet just seemed to give way and one minute I was chatting to a colleague, the next I was on the floor. I’m not sure who was more taken aback, me or her. Once I had gotten over the mortification of collapsing in the middle of a busy news office, my boss demanded I go straight home and take a few days off. But if truth be told I felt fine seconds after I fell.

However, I had just started a new role at work, my duties were increasing by the day and I did feel exhausted. Being sensible, I took his advice and spent a few days at home making the most of being pampered. Then just a few weeks later, with work getting busier and me taking little rest, I found myself at breaking point.

I spoke to my boss again and he apologised for my workload getting beyond anyone human. As such, he told me to take it easy the next day, have a lie in and meander into work once I was up and ready. Taking him at his word I slept until I woke and decided to treat my boyfriend and I to a homemade breakfast of pancakes and syrup. And then, standing at the cooker, in charge of flipping over a pancake, I fell to the floor again. No warning, nothing.

I was literally standing there one minute and my other half was picking me up off the floor the next. It was an experience I wouldn’t like to repeat in a hurry. My abiding memory of the day was him panicking, saying over and over, “What happened?” and me unable to answer. I just couldn’t put into words the way I felt.

But I knew this, I had to get some answers.