WELCOME TO ALPIMS
Understand your needs.
Find what may help.
Explore connected health experiences and practical support—one small step at a time.
Choose where to start ↓
ALPIMS is an educational framework, not a diagnosis or diagnostic test. Information supports, rather than replaces, individual healthcare.
What would help today?
Choose one button. Open only the detail you need.
I am not sure what I need Start with a brief check-in.
Notice your body, thoughts, feelings or sensory needs. You do not need to find the perfect label.
How do I feel right now? — Coming soonI want something practical Find one manageable support.
Try one adjustment to your surroundings, a task or the help available.
What may help — Coming soonI want to understand a pattern Explore domains and connections.
Look at repeated experiences, what brings them on and what helps. A pattern can guide questions for a clinician.
Pattern Finder — Coming soon Explore the six domains ↓I need support or care You do not have to manage alone.
Explore practical help, accommodations, family support or professional assessment.
Support & care — Coming soonWhat is ALPIMS? Six domains—and the connections between them.
ALPIMS explores Anxiety, Laxity, Pain, Immune, Mood and Sensory experiences, including autonomic, connective tissue and neurodevelopmental concerns.
This site brings together explanations, check-ins, practical adaptations and resources to help you understand your needs and find support that fits.
Explore the ALPIMS domains Tap a letter to learn more ↗.
These are areas to explore. Grouping topics together does not mean they have the same cause.
A · Anxiety & Autonomic Worry, alarm and automatic body functions.
Explore anxiety alongside physical symptoms such as dizziness or palpitations. Autonomic symptoms deserve their own assessment.
Explore Anxiety & Autonomic — Coming soonL · Laxity & Connective Tissue Hypermobility, stability and tissue support.
Some people have flexible joints without difficulties. Others need support for pain, instability or associated symptoms.
Explore Laxity — Coming soonP · Pain & Bodily Sensitivity Pain, discomfort and their daily impact.
Explore different pain experiences, possible contributors and ways to support comfort and participation.
Explore Pain — Coming soonI · Immune & Inflammatory Allergy, inflammation and related concerns.
Explore conditions and reactions while distinguishing allergy, irritation and other possible causes.
Explore Immune & Inflammatory — Coming soonM · Mood & Trauma Mood, emotional wellbeing and trauma experiences.
Explore support that respects safety, choice and individual needs. Trauma is one possible part of a person’s history, not an assumed explanation.
Explore Mood & Trauma — Coming soonS · Sensory & Neurodevelopmental Input, processing and individual differences.
Explore sensory needs and neurodevelopmental experiences, including practical changes to reduce barriers.
Explore Sensory — Coming soonComplex conditions & ALPIMS Many influences—not one explanation.
Many conditions involve a combination of genetic influences and other factors. Their contributions differ between conditions and between people.
CDC describes many common chronic conditions, and many cases of autism, ADHD and depression, as complex or multifactorial. This does not mean that every condition in ALPIMS has the same mechanism.
ALPIMS organises experiences across six domains. Conditions may coexist, affect several systems or influence one another. This does not establish a single “ALPIMS condition”.
What does this mean for families? Shared susceptibility, different experiences.
Family history can indicate increased susceptibility to particular conditions. Relatives may share genetic influences and environments while having different symptoms or support needs.
A family pattern is a clue for assessment, not proof of one shared cause.
Can genetic testing help? Sometimes—but it does not test for ALPIMS.
There is no single genetic test that explains all complex conditions. However, testing may be appropriate when a clinician suspects a specific genetic condition, including in some people with autism or other developmental differences.
A genetics professional can advise whether testing would be useful for your history. A negative result does not rule out all genetic contributions.
CDC: Genetic testing →More about polygenic risk scores Risk estimates, not diagnoses.
These scores combine information from many genetic variants to estimate susceptibility to a particular condition.
They do not provide certainty or diagnose an ALPIMS pattern. Clinical usefulness and accuracy vary with the condition, study and population. Discuss the value of any proposed test with an appropriate clinician.
Why can experiences overlap? Several explanations may contribute.
One condition, several systems A diagnosis can cross domain boundaries.
Some conditions affect several parts of the body. For example, hEDS can involve joint instability, pain, digestive symptoms and autonomic difficulties.
This can span several domains, but does not explain every symptom or establish an immune diagnosis.
Read GeneReviews: hEDS →Symptoms can influence each other Support may need to address more than one area.
Persistent pain can disrupt sleep and affect mood. These difficulties can add to the burden of living with pain.
This does not mean pain is imagined or that mood caused the original illness.
Read NIH / NINDS: Pain →Shared susceptibilities Genes and environment can both matter.
Many conditions involve multiple genetic and environmental factors. Some susceptibilities may overlap, but the explanation depends on the conditions involved.
Read MedlinePlus: Complex conditions →Separate conditions can coexist Each may need its own assessment.
Having several difficulties does not prove one underlying cause. Similar symptoms may also have different explanations.
New or changing symptoms should be assessed on their own merits.
Why might it occur in families? Shared tendencies can look different.
Inherited susceptibility: relatives may share genetic factors that influence particular conditions.
Shared environment: exposures and circumstances can also contribute to a family pattern.
Different expression: even within an inherited condition, symptoms and severity can vary between relatives. One person’s experience cannot diagnose another.
For an appointment, note confirmed diagnoses, important symptoms and approximate ages of onset in relatives. Separate diagnosed conditions from suspected ones.
Understanding family patterns — Coming soonHow to use this site Three small steps.
1. Notice: choose what is hardest right now—body discomfort, feelings, sensory input, a task or lack of support.
2. Choose: open one relevant section and select one manageable support or question.
3. Review: did it help, feel neutral or make things harder? Adjust, pause or ask for help.
↗ opens more detail. ↘ closes it. “Coming soon” means a page is not linked yet.
Tools & resources — Coming soonFour ways to explore support Choose the part of life that needs attention.
Your Healthiest Self Wellbeing foundations adapted to your needs.
Explore surroundings, feelings, body care, relationships and prevention, drawing on NIH wellness resources.
ALPIMS adaptations consider disability, symptoms, sensory needs and available capacity. General wellness advice may need changing.
Your Healthiest Self — Coming soon NIH wellness toolkits →Daily Living Make an everyday task easier.
Explore support for meals, personal care, planning, communication and your home. Reduce steps or receive help.
Daily Living — Coming soonRest & Recreation Recovery and things you enjoy.
Find ways to rest, connect or enjoy an activity within your current capacity. Recreation can be brief, quiet or supported.
Rest & Recreation — Coming soonSupport & Care Practical help, accommodations and healthcare.
Explore support from trusted people, services and clinicians. Self-care includes asking for help.
Support & Care — Coming soonA flexible way to choose support Rest · Reduce Load · Regulate · Pace · Expand.
Rest: allow recovery.
Reduce Load: remove or simplify a demand.
Regulate: choose support for comfort, steadiness or managing distress.
Pace: fit activity to capacity and recovery needs.
Expand: consider more participation when it is wanted and tolerable.
Stories, tools & professional care Different ways to learn and get help.
Stories: examples can make experiences easier to understand. Someone else’s story is not a diagnostic template.
Stories & experiences — Coming soonTools: use a check-in or note to prepare a conversation, adapt a task or identify support.
Tools & resources — Coming soonCare: seek assessment for unexplained, persistent, new or worsening symptoms. Bring a short list of your priorities.
Professional care — Coming soonSources & important notes What the information can—and cannot—tell you.
ALPIMS organises experiences and support. It is not a validated diagnostic test. Associations do not prove causation, and evidence differs between individual connections.
NIH provides general wellbeing resources. The adaptations on this site are ALPIMS suggestions; ALPIMS is not affiliated with or endorsed by NIH.
MedlinePlus Genetics: Complex conditions
GeneReviews: Hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos syndrome
NICE: ME/CFS energy management
This site is not an emergency service. For immediate danger or a medical emergency in Australia, call 000.
About this information & your care
General information: ALPIMS provides education, practical suggestions and resources. It does not provide a diagnosis or replace personalised advice, assessment or treatment from a qualified healthcare professional.
Domains and connections: ALPIMS is a framework for exploring experiences, not a diagnostic test. Having symptoms across several domains does not confirm a condition or a single underlying cause. An association between conditions does not prove that one causes the other.
Make suggestions fit your needs: Benefits, evidence and suitability vary. Consider your health, disability, sensory needs, medicines and available capacity. Seek appropriate advice before changing treatment, using supplements or making substantial dietary or activity changes.
NIH resources: Where NIH Your Healthiest Self resources are referenced, they provide general wellbeing guidance. ALPIMS adaptations are separate suggestions and are not NIH condition-specific treatment recommendations. ALPIMS is not affiliated with or endorsed by NIH.
New or worsening symptoms: Seek medical advice rather than assuming symptoms are explained by an existing diagnosis or an ALPIMS domain. This site is not an emergency service. For a medical emergency or immediate danger in Australia, call 000.