sick & tired of being sick & tired - after 16 years!!!

lloydscan

Hi My name is Chris

I am 47 nearly 48 & am very very happy I made it.

I am from Melbourne Australia. 16 years ago I started to put on weight. It started with a shoulder injury/strain & instead of doing some sort of exercise I ate & ate & ate bascially going from around 82kg to 109 kg in 3 months. i was working in a warehouse 7 did light duties in an office but kept eating a full on roast lunch & then Macca's on the way home & then chicken & chips for tea & then my then girlfriend now wife would come home late & cook me a meal. Instead of walking as I couldn't run nor bike I just ATE!!!!

Anyway I just got bigger with my weight ballooning up to 120 plus kilo. In the meantime unbeknowst to me I'd also started my journey on my addiction to painkillers - using panadeine forte. I was in a job I hated for a year & the only sick leave i had was when I was sent home as I had the flu & was told not to come in until I was better - 3 days later I was better... I got married at 122.5 kg a year later & not long after that got my dream job....

Not long after my son was born i started to get migraines & they got worse & worse. It was the start of my decade of hell. i was misdiagonosed with menieres disease. i had allergy tests, brain scans & my weight kept going up as the months kept rolling by.... I had a lot of time off work like up to 6 months at a time. my migraine kept getting worse & i couldn't get out of bed for up to 3 days at a time.. I was put on medication for menieres & was put on a very low dose of anti - depressant which zonked me out 7 made me very depressed - one day I went for a 20 minute walk which took me 1 & 1/2 hours. Some guy in I reckon his 80's passed me as I shuffled along. I came home & just broke down. For 30 seconds I felt like ending it all & was very ashamed to even consider that..... Also whilst all these sort of things were happening i was getting sore throats, every couple of months, then every month, every two weeks & then every week. i blamed the air conditioning at my work. For two years I got anti - biotics from the same doctor giving me panadeine forte. Well in the meantime I was getting bigger with my weight up to the near 130's....


My wife was sleeping in the spare room & my snoring was shaking the foundations. For four years in a row i got severe asthma attacks with two yrs in a row nearly dying. The next yr I took annual leave in late April/May as I KNEW I was going to get an asthma attack as I had every year for the four previous yrs. i was home & I got a sore throat & I thought well it cannot be the air conditioning at work coz i am home...... I went down to the doctors clinic & saw ANOTHER doc. I got a referral to see a throat specialist. I happened to phone the specialist clinic that morning & there was a cancelation & got in straight away. The specialist told me he thought I had smoked. I told him I didn't. He told me i did & he estimated I was a very heavy smoker.....

I assured him I wasn't & never had been a smoker. I was also referred for a sleep apnea test & asked him if it was possible it could be that. his reply if it wasn't I had to book straight back in to see him. Well after a few months wait I'd got into see the sleep specialist & yes I had VERY SEVERE sleep apnea. In the meantime i promised myself I'd had enough of the other doctor who gave me antibiotics for two yrs & went back to see an old doctor from years earlier. i was immediately put on an asthma management plan. I went from nearly killing myself & son in my car from falling asleep 5 minutes from home to using a CPAP machine which siginifcantly improved my life.

There were times I wanted to give up but I am a big Tony Robbins fan. I remember he saying no problem is insurmountable one just has to keep asking questions, not the same questions but different questions to get different answers. It took me a whole decade but i finally feel like I've got there, I got my answers....

Even now sometimes I feel like suing the doctor who just kept giving me codeine & antibiotics for a few years. I decided not to as it wasn't worth the stress of going to court etc etc. The other doc in the same clinic told me he was known as the one minute man. It should be criminal. He contributed in a big way to setting my life backwards. I also shouldn't have got so big and so lazy in the first place. I am a believer in being self responsible.


I saw a workplace doctor coz of all the time I'd had off & he told me about a neuro friend of his & a study on codeine asking me if I thought I might be allergic to codeine. i assured him NOT.... It helped me. Well saw the neuro & I was referred for brain scans & when I went back he was so excited telling me i didn't have a brain tumour ..... i told him he hadn'rt told me I might & his reply was well I didn't want to worry you.... I'd stop taking the panadeine forte but that morning felt a migraine coming on. I had taken another medication with codeine in it. Bascially he told me to not have anything with codeine in it & guess what I haven't had a migraine since..

I'd lost 30 kg with a diet i made up & even went off my CPAP for a while but then I am sure i suffered from depression & put the 30kg back on plus MORE....

I had headache/ neck tightness & over a few years I made lifestyle modifications, not looking down, not reading in bed nor having breakfast in bed etc etc.... A few yrs later found out I have a bulging disc in my neck & arthritis but with some lifestyle changes neck exercises, swimming, only sleeping with one pillow I FINALLY have my neck problem under control

losing 154 lb's so far has also helped & am currently off the cpap machine. I was 11 kg's heavier a few months ago & was tested for sleep apnea & have it but but not severely anymore. The specialist told me to come back when I've got down to my goal weight, also telling me I don't need to go back onto the CPAP.

I know people who died in their 40's & younger than me. I've so far survived. I am very lucky to had got up to 159.9kg & not had a heart attack nor diabetes nor had high blood pressure. Yes I had misdigonosis (i never had meneires disease) but I have all my limbs, all my key indicators healthwise are good. All up I count myself as being very lucky. I think someone is looking after me.

I hope my story helps you.