Six years of symptoms. Six years of searching for answers. Six years of a body that kept speaking while no one could—or would—put the pieces together.
That's where Rachel Hayden's MS journey began, and it's a story that will sound painfully familiar to anyone who has been dismissed, doubted, or told to wait a little longer.
In this episode, Lyndsay Soprano sits down with Rachel, a type 1 diabetic, MS warrior, podcast host, and founder of the Spoonful of Strength community, to talk about what it really looks like to navigate invisible illness in a world that can't see what you're carrying. They go into the six-year road to diagnosis, the medical gaslighting that came with it, the undiagnosed muscle issues that still affect Rachel's breathing and mobility today, and the mental health spiral that chronic illness quietly creates when nobody is paying attention.
But this conversation doesn't stay in the dark. Rachel shares how to learn to speak to yourself the way you would speak to someone you love. It sounds simple. It isn't. And it changes everything.
This episode is for anyone tired of being last on their own list.
Episode Highlights: (00:01) Lyndsay opens up about the spiral of dread and showing up every day (02:44) Introducing Rachel Hayden (03:37) Rachel's type 1 diabetes diagnosis at 19 (04:43) The first MS symptoms and the ER visit (06:04) Six years of being dismissed and not diagnosed (07:26) "Are they waiting for me to get worse?" (08:36) The self-doubt that medical gaslighting plants in you (09:19) The testing that finally confirmed MS (39:09) What chronic pain has cost Rachel and how she loves herself daily (41:25) Slowing down, saying no and putting yourself first (43:11) Where to find Rachel and The SpoonFulll Show (44:39) Rachel's closing message to speak kindly to yourself
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