Allison Tennyson from Eagan, Minnesota, US, spent years wondering why she had so many problems with her body.

She now believes they are mostly connected to the condition hypermobile Ehlers Danlos syndrome – an inherited connective tissue disorder that is caused by defects in a protein called collagen – which she was diagnosed with at 28.

The 32-year-old has now built a TikTok account with 13,200 followers to show what it is like to live with chronic illnesses and disabilities.

"Looking back, I had many early signs of hypermobility that started in my childhood but I didn’t realise it," Allison told Jam Press.

"My earliest and most obvious signs that I was hypermobile were how naturally flexible I was, as well as having double-jointed shoulders and fingers."

Allison first began to develop health conditions as a child, with some causing her immense pain.

She said: "I suffered from chronic urticaria with dermatographia since I had an allergic reaction to penicillin as a child so I can ‘write’ on my skin.

"I have had heel papules for as long as I can remember.

"And I have also suffered from insomnia, nausea, vomiting, and an overactive bladder since childhood."

At 12 years old, Allison was diagnosed with asthma after suffering from an exercise-induced attack at her dance classes.

Not long after, she started to get sciatica and hip, shoulder, knee, and back pain when Allison reached her teens.

Then at 17, Allison had a sleep study, which showed that she was not sleep efficient and wasn't sleeping when she thought she was - leading her to be diagnosed with insomnia

In the same year, she also saw a urologist for her need to urinate frequently and was diagnosed with an overactive bladder.

Allison added: "In high school, I was dry heaving and vomiting in my morning shower before school until I would pass out."

Then, in her twenties, the administrative specialist started experiencing worsening joint, tendon, bone, nerve, and muscle pain and was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy - where her hands and feet would get painful and numb.

Then at 28, in 2017, Allison finally reached out for treatment and answers for her sciatica and back pain and was diagnosed with hypermobility.

Allison said: "I was born hypermobile.

"It wasn’t until my health declined in 2020 that I realised hypermobility can affect your entire body, hypermobility occurs due to a lack of collagen production.

"Collagen is found in your eyes, blood vessels, skin, organs, and musculoskeletal system."

Allison has to treat a long list of conditions and has to see at least two medical professionals per week, as well as taking medication up to four times a day.

Allison said "It’s a lot to remember and take care of.

"Then In March 2020, when I was 30, my health declined rapidly.

"I lost 40 pounds, all of my conditions worsened, and I now consider myself disabled.

"It's not that I wasn’t disabled before March 2020, but I could still keep up physically with my peers. I can no longer physically ‘keep up’ with my peers and can never leave the house without a mobility aid."

Due to hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Allison can't eat wheat, soy, corn, dairy, or sugar and her symptoms affect her daily life.

She added: "I can’t do much of anything without feeling like I have the flu – fatigued, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, burning ears, headache, fever, chills, night sweats, racing heart, and nauseous.

"I have to urinate frequently, and my pelvic congestion makes my belly feel full all the time.

"I vomit most days, as well as have chronic constipation with diarrhea.

"I suffer from horrible muscle cramping, spasms, and dystonia and my left toes will forcefully bend backwards, and it’s the worst pain I experience hands down.

"And the complications of my vascular issues scare me, I don’t think about it often, but the fear is always there."

Even just standing up makes Allison feel like she is doing intense exercise and can make her feel like she is going to faint.

She added: "I experience tachycardia, dizziness, blacking out, chest pains, shortness of breath, blurry vision, excessive sweating, chills, fever, over active bladder, GI dismotility, nausea and vomiting, blood pooling, brain fog, and much more."

She started sharing her experience on TikTok to help raise more awareness.

Allison said: "Hypermobility is an invisible illness – you can’t see it, so it can be difficult to get diagnosed.

"I have also noticed a lack of awareness and understanding about hypermobility even from my medical professionals.

"It is a complex condition, it is so much more than just being flexible – it is a lack of collagen, resulting in joint laxity."

In a recent viral TikTok video with over 128,000 views, she showed how she's become more comfortable using her mobility aids.

One person said: "Newly chronically ill person here, struggling to use my cane in public – this made me feel so seen."

Another said: "Needed to see this. Thank you!"

A third wrote: "Okay. My husband just brought home a cane for me. Thanks for the boost."

Someone else said: "You go girl! Let's normalise the use of mobility aids!"

A fifth said: "[it] is really nice to see another person with a rollator."

List of Allison's conditions:

Generalized anxiety disorder
Major depressive disorder
Complex post-traumatic dress disorder
Insomnia
Gout
Flat feet
Peripheral neuropathy
Osteoarthritis
Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos syndrome
Spondylosis
Femoralacetabular impingement syndrome
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome
Fibromyalgia
Liver steatosis
Reactive gastropathy
GERD
Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome
GI dysmotility with chronic constipation and diarrhea
IBS
Endometriosis
Adenomyosis
Overactive bladder
Pelvic venous congestion syndrome
Nutcracker syndrome
May Thurner syndrome
Degenerative disc disease
TMJ
Asthma
Vocal cord dysfunction
Odynophagia
Sciatica
Lumbago
Myopia
Butterfly vertebrae
Raynauds
Costochondritis
Dystonia
Deviated and perforated nasal septum
Dilated inferior vena cava
Bilateral shoulder pain
Sacroiliac joint pain
Delayed wound healing