Hi, I was hoping someone could help. The last few years my physical and mental health has taken a battering and I'm not really getting anywhere with the medical professionals.
By way of background, I am a Scottish South Asian and am 35 years old with no known health issues. I had my first baby in 2021. I have a high pressured job.
Prior to 2016, I have consistently been slim and active weighing around 45-48kgs. I am 4'11" so that weight was quite normal and healthyish for my weight. I never used to eat that healthily but was very fit. In 2014, I started getting swollen limbs once in a while which was put down to tendinitis. In 2016, I relocated from Scotland to London.
In 2017, I started gaining weight quite rapidly with no real explanation. I would sometimes have some body parts swell more than others. During routine blood tests, I was told I had high inflammation markers with no real explanation what was wrong. I was eating the healthiest I had ever eaten and was doing no less exercise than before. My weight gain was never just weight gain, it came with swelling and edema type symptoms which was painful to the touch. I received no medical explanation. By 2018, I was around 65kgs. In 2019, I was diagnosed with depression and endometriosis and started a period of sick leave from my job. In 2020, I had surgery by laparascopy to cysts and separate the uterus from the ovaries which was stuck together.
A few months after my surgery, I fell pregnant with my first child. I weighed around 70kgs and was marked in my pregnancy notes as "severely obese". My pregnancy was really hard with morning sickness for the entire duration of the pregnancy. I had terrible pelvic pain too which was dismissed as normal by midwives and my pelvic floor collapsed. Prior to my birth, my job caused me significant stress. My waters broke at 38 weeks and labour long and ardous resulting in an emergency c-section. After I came home with the baby, my surgical wound reopened by 5cm. This did not close for 9 months. And so that involved daily trips to hospital to have a dressing replaced as it was still bleeding/oozing heavily. This caused significant mental and physical health issues. I couldn't do anything with my baby during maternity leave like push a pram, walks, drive or lift a car seat. I also have no support near me other than my husband so that made recovery tough.
Once my wound closed, I started to do more things physically but always felt so much pain and fatigue. By this stage, I was referred to a rheumatologist as my inflammation markers were still high. My mental health had taken a hit and I started counselling. I was recommended that with certain symptoms, I be tested for ADHD. After testing, I was diagnosed with combined ADHD. At this stage, I can't take medication due to a strong family history of heart disease (ADHD medication causes heart rate to rise and I have not yet been approved to take the medication).
More recently, I was referred to phsyio for some back pain. The physio says I have inflammation and pain everywhere across my body (the same inflammation
the rheumatologist said was due the fibromyalgia).
I'm wondering if something else is at play? My entire body is still swollen and inflamed. I now weigh 80kgs. I've been going to physio twice a week who has been doing acupuncture and laser treatment to reduce the inflammation to muscles It seems to be helping a little. I've been referred back to my GP now to the pain management team.
Here is a photo to show you my weight journey - I daren't add a 2023 photo entry. Can this be normal weight gain that I'm not willing to accept or can there be another else here?