So if you're a visitor to the BHM boards you may have seen my rants about this before.
Around 2 months ago I was referred to hospital after a regular eye test spotted I had swelling at the back of my eyes. A few questions about headaches, blurry vision, and things started to sound familiar. From there I went through the basic blood tests, a CT scan and many... many attempts at a lumbar puncture before they finally realised my fat back is problematic for sticking needles into and got it right.
Long story short, the diagnosis was that bag of medical scrabble in the title.
The swelling in my optic discs is a sign of a log term problem that could result in severe vision problems/blindness. That is caused by higher than normal pressure in my spinal fluid, which in turn seems to be caused as a side effect of my weight.
The doctors don't know specifically what causes it, but as 90% of the people with it are apparently obese women, it's a fair guess weight has a part to play. Losing weight seems to be the only long term way to bring my spinal fluid pressure down and keep this under control.
Short term, I'm on medication called Diamox (normally a Glaucoma medicine) and I'm starting the long process of... yes, you guessed it... losing weight.
I started this process at 351lbs, I'm already down to 339. I don't like it but this has shocked me into realising my health and my vision means more to me than a number on a scale, I have to lose and keep losing until it's done.
Around 2 months ago I was referred to hospital after a regular eye test spotted I had swelling at the back of my eyes. A few questions about headaches, blurry vision, and things started to sound familiar. From there I went through the basic blood tests, a CT scan and many... many attempts at a lumbar puncture before they finally realised my fat back is problematic for sticking needles into and got it right.
Long story short, the diagnosis was that bag of medical scrabble in the title.
The swelling in my optic discs is a sign of a log term problem that could result in severe vision problems/blindness. That is caused by higher than normal pressure in my spinal fluid, which in turn seems to be caused as a side effect of my weight.
The doctors don't know specifically what causes it, but as 90% of the people with it are apparently obese women, it's a fair guess weight has a part to play. Losing weight seems to be the only long term way to bring my spinal fluid pressure down and keep this under control.
Short term, I'm on medication called Diamox (normally a Glaucoma medicine) and I'm starting the long process of... yes, you guessed it... losing weight.
I started this process at 351lbs, I'm already down to 339. I don't like it but this has shocked me into realising my health and my vision means more to me than a number on a scale, I have to lose and keep losing until it's done.
