A Cumbrian woman has been left desperate for answers after suddenly losing her ability to speak.
Sarah Marsh, of Wigton, woke up last Friday to find she was stammering and losing her ability to speak and think normally.
The 38-year-old has since taken to social media platform TikTok for help after doctors told her her condition has stumped them.
Her video has been viewed over 200,000 times in just a few days and she’s received over 300 comments of support from people facing similar situations.
She said: “I was so desperate I took to TikTok to try and find out something it could be to give doctors some ideas.
@sarahmarshy1515 Apparently I get cluster headaches.. But this time all of a sudden the day after I had one. I lost the ability to speak properly. I all my ct scans and mri scans are clear so it's not a stroke. Please tell me I will be fixed ???????? #neurology #neuroscience #neurologicaldisorder #clusterheadaches #migraine #migraines #migraine ♬ original sound – Sarah Marsh
“I thought posting the video would get me lots of nasty people and hurtful comments but honestly the support has been amazing, strangers are inboxing me trying to help.”
Sarah has been back and forth to hospital over the past seven days – at one point waiting over 13 hours in Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary.
While she waited for help over the weekend her eyes started to involuntarily roll, she had a constant severe headache, problems with her balance and blurry vision – with her speech being lost almost entirely at one time.
At one point after her initial hospital visit, she said, a doctor told her she may have had a stroke.
Sarah was taken for emergency CT and MRI scans – but when both came back clear, doctors became even more unsure of what could be wrong, she said.
She claimed a doctor also told her that they may never know what was happening to her.
Sarah said: “Honestly I am at rock bottom. I feel like no one cares, I feel like I have been failed by the NHS and if I wasn’t in Cumbria I would have been able to access so much more help.
@sarahmarshy1515 Today's appointment was cancelled. So now I have to wait until Friday… But what if Friday comes and I need more tests or a lumbar puncture or anything. They can't do it in a routine app in a clinic can they??!! #migraine #migraines #clusterheadaches #neurologicaldisorder #neuroscience #neurology #fnd #fndawareness ♬ original sound – Sarah Marsh
“I’ve been trying to push myself to keep trying to speak but I don’t want to, I can’t bear to hear myself.
“At the moment I don’t know if and when I can ever get better because I don’t know what’s wrong and I’m not improving at all.”
A planned neurology appointment on Tuesday was also cancelled and Sarah decided to go home from hospital, feeling that not much could be done for her at that point.
Sarah – who owns the Baby Boutique shop in Workington and one in Preston – added the situation was impacting her work.
She said: “I am self-employed and have a website and I can’t do anything at the moment. I have tried to keep working but I can’t do anymore than 20 minutes on my laptop without being exhausted and my vision is still blurry.”
She is now waiting to see a neurologist on Friday, when she is hoping to get real answers.
