Post by @thetiredgirlsguide

For some people with hEDS (hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome), getting your legs up after sitting or standing for a long time isn’t just comfortable — it can bring genuine relief from pain, heaviness and symptoms associated with being upright. And there’s a reason for that. 👇 hEDS is a heritable connective-tissue disorder affecting connective tissue throughout the body. It can involve joint hypermobility and instability, chronic pain, fatigue and a whole collection of symptoms that aren’t necessarily obvious when you look at someone. It can also overlap with dysautonomia and orthostatic intolerance, including POTS. Our autonomic nervous system helps regulate things we don’t consciously control, including heart rate, blood pressure and how our circulation responds to gravity. When that system doesn’t compensate effectively for being upright, more blood can pool in the lower body. For some people, this can contribute to heavy or aching legs, swelling, dizziness, palpitations, fatigue, brain fog and sometimes fainting. Elevating the legs can help blood return towards the heart, which is one reason getting those legs UP after being upright for ages can feel like an actual little slice of heaven. 😂 And then there’s an interesting neurodivergent connection. 🧠 Research has found associations between neurodivergence, joint hypermobility and autonomic dysfunction. Studies have reported higher rates of hypermobility and autonomic symptoms in some people with ADHD and autism. That doesn’t mean ADHD or autism causes hEDS or POTS, or that every neurodivergent person has these conditions. It simply means there appears to be an overlap that researchers are still working to understand. And then add British public transport into the mix. 🙃 Public transport in the UK can be pretty crap for people with invisible or fluctuating disabilities. Accessibility often seems to be thought of in terms of what disability looks like, when plenty of people need accommodations you can’t immediately see. Sometimes the problem isn’t whether you can physically get onto the train. It’s whether you can stand waiting for it, whether there’s somewhere to sit, whether you can change position when you’re in pain, whether you can elevate your legs when symptoms flare, or whether anyone will believe you need the priority seat when you don’t “look disabled.” Throw in cancellations, overcrowding, long waits, platform changes and having to stand, and a journey that looks completely ordinary to somebody else can take a huge amount out of a disabled or neurodivergent person. So yes — putting dirty shoes on a seat someone needs is obviously a different conversation. 😂 But someone with an invisible disability putting their legs up on an empty seat, on a dead-quiet train, because it makes travelling significantly more manageable? Maybe it isn’t always “rude.” Sometimes accessibility looks like a wheelchair ramp or priority seat. And sometimes it looks like someone quietly adapting an inaccessible environment to make it work for their body. 🦓✨ #hEDS #Dysautonomia #POTS #InvisibleDisability #Hypermobility