About me

Hello my name is Angie Aldridge and I'm the founder of CVS Network. I have 3 children and I've suffered with Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome since 1992 when I was at the tender age of 14 and this is my story.

I was diagnosed with CVS in 2008 at the age of 31. It wasn't my Doctor who found out that I had CVS, it was my Mum. She trawled the Internet and came across the CVSA and it was like they were talking about me, all my symptoms matched. I FINALLY HAD A NAME FOR IT!

When my CVS first started it happened once a month for 1-3 days around my monthly cycle with no symptoms in between. I would vomit every 10 minutes for the duration of the attack and the pain was excruciating. As the years went on it became more frequent and more intense. I started to get attacks which lasted between 3 and 7 days and they came more and more often with symptoms of pain, nausea and vomiting in between. As they became worse I had to be admitted to hospital For IV fluids, pain medication and sickness medication because I couldn't even keep water in me let alone medication. As a result of being admitted so often the Doctors and nurses started to think I was doing it to myself disregarding the CVS. They thought I was doing it for attention or the drugs... I WASN'T! I began to lose hope. My Doctor (even though I had a name for it and everything made sense) didn't want to give up on the idea I was doing it to myself, so he started to think I had an eating disorder. I'm not the only one to have this kind of treatment, it happens to a lot of CVS sufferers. 

As the years went on the bad treatment I received affected me to the point where at times I thought I should give up trying to get them to listen. As a result I changed my Dr and registered with a different one because it was upsetting being called a drug or attention seeker. My new doctor looked at my history and agreed it was CVS VICTORY! 

I'm taking lots of medication to tackle CVS. As I've gotten older my attacks come more often (every week) I always get daily symptoms of Nausea & pain. Sometimes I physically vomit (1-4 times a week) throughout the day. Mornings and evenings are the worse.

Thanks for taking the time to read my story. If you suffer with CVS I wish you all the luck in the world with battling this awful illness. If we all help each other and raise awareness of CVS maybe the journey won't be so lonely.

PLEASE SHARE AND HELP RAISE AWARENESS