PENNY Badham stepped on to a cruise ship 11 months ago - and in her mind she has never stepped off since.

For many people it takes several days to get their land legs back after a boat trip, but Penny, from Chestal in Dursley, has yet to regain hers following a cruise around Norway.

Although she has long since left the seas of Norway, her brain has not left the feeling of the waves behind. The rare condition she has recently been diagnosed with is Mal de Debarquement syndrome (MdDs), an imbalance or swaying sensation after exposure to motion.

In August last year Penny, 53, and her husband Steve went on a cruise around the fjords of Norway. When Penny left the boat she felt fine but two days later during the night she started to experience rotational vertigo.

"This went on for several days, I felt like I was still in motion, so I went to see my GP," said Penny.

Penny was sent back and forth between neurologists and ear nose and throat specialists and was finally sent to the neurological unit at University College London for tests.

Ten months later Penny was diagnosed with MdDS.

"I was very depressed for a while when I found out. It not only affects your family and friends, it affects your social life.

"I couldn't go out for a long while because I cannot tolerate anything with a strong stimulus, so it is difficult to go to pubs, restaurants and even the supermarket.

Penny likens the feeling she has to trying to walk on a trampoline or marshmallow.

"It is a very restricting condition, I would love to go back to work but stress makes the condition worse, so that could be difficult.

"When it first started I couldn't even go outside, I was hanging on to walls when I walked around. Now at least I can walk around on my own.

"I now know my limitations and I have to do things much more slowly these days."

Penny can only cling to the hope that one day her condition will go into remission, which it can do at any time.

"I am not looking for a quick cure anymore, I just want to get back some normality to my life."