Yahoo News Meet the Hereford mum with bizarre Alice in Wonderland syndrome
MEET the Hereford mum with Alice in Wonderland syndrome which leaves her thinking her body is growing and time is "standing still".
Supermarket worker Layla Chester, 46, first experienced the bizarre symptoms after going to bed with a migraine during the pandemic.
When she woke up, her depth perception was distorted, which she described as "looking through a telescope backwards".
Her GP referred her to a neurologist, and after extensive tests she was diagnosed with the rare condition in July 2020.
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Alice in Wonderland syndrome, or Todd's syndrome, is a neurological condition that causes perceptual disturbances to sight, touch, and time.
Ms Chester has been living with the syndrome, named after the experiences of Lewis Carol's famous protagonist, for four years.
She claims that episodes, which can last hours and are triggered by migraines and tiredness, see her feeling that her body is expanding, and forced her to sell her dream car in case it happened while driving.
Layla Chester has been diagnosed with 'Alice in Wonderland' syndrome (Image: Layla Chester/SWNS)
She takes three tablets a day to manage her condition, but the mum-of-two admits she still "lives in fear" of an attack, which can leave her feelings "distressed, confused and embarrassed".
"It's really hard to explain, but when an attack is triggered, it's awful," she said.
"It literally feels like my body is growing and there's nothing I can do to stop it.
"I have no perception of distance, so I can't walk.
"My perception of time is also affected.
"I can be having a conversation and then suddenly it's like time has slowed down or stopped and I can't keep up with what's being said.
"I sometimes disassociate - I'll stare into space and it's like I'm completely gone.
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"It's really scary and bizarre."
She has no idea when an attack will occur, so she is constantly "on edge" just in case.
"It's really embarrassing when it happens while I'm at work. I have to stop what I'm doing and sit down somewhere quiet and wait for it to pass," she said.
"Sometimes when I walk down the aisles of the supermarket that I work in, it feels like the shelves are closing in on me.
"Sometimes I experience olfactory hallucinations, which means I can smell something that's not there."
Ms Chester has since set up at TikTok account and built an online community for other people who also suffer from the syndrome.
