Life Update and Return to Normality

Good Afternoon everybody!

Finally managed to get this post written up! It's been 4 months and I'm not surprised it's taken this long but still, it's nice to have the time to write again. There's been quite a bit going on lately actually, I've been backwards and forwards from hospital in Birmingham loads but everything is going well so I'm a happy bunny. I've got a good few more posts coming up, 5 or 6 more posts after this one so it'll definitely keep me busy, but for now I though I would give all of you guys a little update.

The last time I was here I believe I was talking a bit about how I was doing a lot of research for my dissertation, I had picked a topic and I was so excited to get started on it, well things changed a little with that because around September time I completely changed my mind about what topic I wanted to do and basically had to disregard the 60 pages of work I had gathered over the summer. Nightmare! I've finally managed to choose a topic that I am settled with and really happy to do, the only problem is I don't think I will have enough words to write everything I want to about it haha! Still I have got about 30 pages of relevant quotes so I am well on my way to getting the research done and starting to write up the first draft of the literature review, woop woop! 

Snowy walk around Hardwick Hall late October

When I actually started back uni in September I was having a really struggle with my mental health and my physical health had been wobbly for a few months, I've started getting palpitations quite regularly, 5 to 6 times a day I get very strong palpitations that make me dizzy, doctors aren't quite sure why its happening because my heart is in pretty good condition and I'm eating and exercising well so I've kind of got to take things easy now. I ended up making a super hard decision to leave uni for the year, so I have taken a leave of absence from early November this year until September 2019 when I'll return to study hopefully in a better state. I have felt that since leaving there has been a huge amount of pressure lifted and I am managing to get my mental health back under control slowly, but I keep trying to push myself to do too much too soon which is never a good thing.

It feels so much better now that I am able to sit and work on my dissertation without the pressure of deadlines because now I know I can take a break or have a couple of days off when I need to recover, so I'm really pleased with that and it means I'm getting to spend more time with my family. Unfortunately since I've left i feel like I might have lost a couple of friends which that's just something that happens in life I suppose, friendship isn't a one way street and I need to remember I'm not the one who has to make all the effort; I've stayed in touch with some amazing people from uni though and I'm so grateful for those people :)

Outside of my uni life I've gotten myself a personal trainer which was a turn up for the books, I'm not at liberty to discuss this fully because of rules of pharma companies and such but I've been doing well health wise other than my palpitations and a chronic sinusitis (since APRIL!!), generally my physical health has improved a little and I have been getting out and about trying to walk more. This has meant that I've seen a good few changes in my body, not all of them good, so I've been trying to build up a bit of muscle and I must say my trainer is awesome, he doesn't work me too har and I'm able to take breaks as and when I need, couldn't ask for someone more understanding and the workouts are actually really fun... the soreness and aches aren't afterwards but hey ho haha. I'm really pleased with my progress and can't wait for my next session. I've been out walking Luna quite a lot, she gets walked everyday for 90 minutes (usually takes me 2 hours to get around mind but still its an improvement) unless its super cold then she shivers until I take her home or Simon takes his jumper off and wraps her up :)

Out new Christmas tree <3

I don't know how I would have managed with the immense pressure I was under if I hadn't had that little one to come home to, dogs are little angels and no house is complete without one. 

I've been working on the Invisible Disabilities and Disorders society at uni while I've been off, trying to help people with projects they're wanting to undertake, there's been a good bit of work on with that trying to talk to the Disability and Wellbeing teams at the uni but so far so good, hopefully we can plan some events soon and I will update you guys about that too. 

The final thing that I've got to update you all on is my absolute favourite thing in the world... CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!! Oh my God, its December 1st tomorrow and I absolutely cannot wait! We have had out Christmas tree up since about November 7th, we had to put it up twice because the first time the lights went off and needed to do it again, then Luna came in and pulled the whole thing down! A chihuahua Vs. a 6ft tree! Last night me and Simon watched The Grinch and tonight we will be spending time with my nana watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, so far we have also watches Spongebob Squarepants Christmas episodes, The Simpsons Christmas episodes, Jim Carey's A Christmas Carol and Adam Sandler's 8 Crazy Nights :) 

I love December because on the 14th it's mah birthday, then 17th is Luna's 1st birthday and then Christmas. I love to take my nana shopping eVery year for food and last minute presents so I'll be doing that this year which I can't wait for, I have sorted out my outfit for my big family meal and I and just so excited :) I hope all you guys are super excited too!

For now though I shall say goodbye and let you lovely people enjoy the last day of November! 

I'll be putting up another post later in the week and will aim to write around 1 blog post per week, apologies if not because I am still doing dissertation research and helping ready the house for Christmas!

Bye for now lovelies xx

Katy. 

Exciting Things Going On!

Good evening all you gorgeous people!

I don't know how many time sI have to say this but I am really sorry for the extended absence, I'm doing my best to stay on top of things. There has been so so much going on lately, last time I posted I think I mentioned that I had finished uni for this year and would be preparing for my dissertation? Well I've finally managed to settle on a topic and have just discovered how much I adore social policy so I'm super excited time 10 to be getting ready for the dissertation. 

In terms of uni I actually found out that I finished my year with an overall first class, same as last year just at a higher degree and I'm hoping to keep that up for my final year and come out with an overall 1st for my undergrad degree. 

At the end of the year I went into uni to have some discussions with lecturers just about how to proceed with research for the dissertation and so on but I actually ended up getting myself and internship throughout the summer which basically involves doing some human rights research and writing a report on particular human rights abuses in a country of my choice. Human rights isn't something I've ever dealt with before but I've got to say it's been heartbreaking reading about some of the atrocities that are happening now throughout the world. Other than difficult and often heavy reading I am really enjoying it and it's something that I can add to my CV. I've also joined the University of Sunderland's Student Blogger team so I've put up a couple of posts for them right now and that's been so fun, I love blogging as you know and I love teaching and my blogging style tends to gravitate more towards academic help and support which is something that I am privileged to be doing and helping others with. 

I've also been volunteering with a company in Sunderland that promoted health and wellbeing and undertaking a few training course, so far I've been trained in emotional resilience and other similar things, I'm looking forward to becoming a fully fledged health champion. I feel like I am doing really well as lecturers at university are wanting to use m work as exemplary for next years students as well as getting some of my work published on the University of Sunderland Social Sciences blog soon so that'll be awesome! 

Unfortunately not everything has been rosy in terms of uni and personal life, I'm struggling with some issues with people in my inner circle, things are being made difficult for me and my mental health is starting to be impacted by it. The only thing that I can say about this topic as, obviously it's very personal to me is that an issue around friendships and supportive relationships becoming toxic to me is getting me significantly overwhelmed so I am attempting to distance myself from situations that I feel will be unhealthy for me. I am actually planning a post about this type of toxicity in your life as soon as I possibly can, it may take a while due to other commitments with the internship and dissertation research but because it's something I feel passionate about it is definitely on of the next posts coming up. 

I have been spending a huge amount of time in hospital lately backwards and forwards from the North East to the West Midlands for care and although I'm not at liberty to disclose any information about what has been going on, I can say that I have never felt this good and things are looking quite positive for me at the moment. I'm hoping to access some counselling services to help me manage my stress and emotions as there has been a significant amount of upheaval in my personal life and with my health and I am a complete advocate for counselling I think it's a wonderful way to relieve stress, learn new ways to cope with changes and sometimes it's better than ranting to family members because at least counsellors are paid to listen haha! I am also planning a post on my reasons why counselling services should be accessed if you're feeling overwhelmed of are struggling because it's a topic that is a real hot one in the media at the moment and definitely is something that needs to be talked about and de-stigmatised, so keep an eye out for that one! 

As you can tell, I have been a bit of a busy been and shall continue to be a busy bee until my feet drop of and my brain melts (if I don't melt before this heat that is) because if I have noting to do I will go mad. I have an exciting couple of weeks planned for self and Simon as we are planning to go to Simon's graduation ceremony for his Foundation Degree on Friday, we have dog trainers out on Thursday (because Luna is becoming a terror!), I'm off to see Pixie Lott with one of my best friends and hopefully another one of my wonderful friends, trips planned to go to Edinburgh, York, Whitby and Beamish open air museum coming up! I'm so excited for the future and honestly, I am overwhelmed at the joy I feel getting to share it with all of my amazing readers. I know I am not the biggest social media mogul or the best, most well known blogger out there but I am grateful for every single person who reads my blogs, thank you all!

P.S. If you would like to see the blog posts that I have created on the University blogging team please go to this link!,

Have an amazing day everybody and Happy Sunday!!!

Love Katy xx

Just me :)

Liraglutide: Information and Concerns - The POMC Series

Hello again everybody, 

Stock image from Google.com

I would just like to apologise for the ridiculously late post, there's been so much going on this week it's been mad. I had a second RVI appointment within a month which is very rare for me as I usually get seen twice a year, this was to discuss the drug that I'll be talking about today. It's gotten around to that time of the month again and I'm not going to lie I'm in so much pain I can barely get out of bed and it sucks, other than that I have a skin condition called Acanthosis Nigricans (AN for short) which you only get if you're insulin resistant, the AN for me is on my neck and my upper abdomen directly below my breasts and the skin has dried out and split and resulted in an infection. University is coming up and I've been stationary shopping and preparing myself so, like I say, it's been pretty hectic. 

However, I am back now and today's post will be looking at a possible "treatment" for need of a better word, for POMC, now it's important to note that this drug is absolutely not a cure or a treatment for POMC but I couldn't think of a better word of it at the moment, management I suppose would be a better description actually, but for now I shall get into the post. 

When I was in York taking the call from Professor Farooqi she suggested that because of my rapid weight gain and lifestyle and diet she was concerned about me as a 5 stone weight gain in 9 months is really not good by anybody's standards, she suggested that while I am waiting to be eligible for the Setmelanotide trials (still not eligible at the moment and unsure of when this will be) I should try  another drug called Liraglutide. To be honest her tone of voice when she said "have you ever been offered Liraglutide before?" wasn't something that filled me with hope. You know when someone says something and you know that they know there is a reason you've never been told something like that? Yeah, that's the feeling I got. 

She told me about it, explained that it seems to have worked for people with POMC before and it might be worth giving it a go, obviously I got my hopes right up once again (5th time lucky eh?) and I was so excited to bring my RVI appointment forward to get right on this drug. Before I rushed into anything I decided I would do a bit of research of my own so I wasn't going into the appointment without knowledge, here is what I found. 

Liraglutide also known as Saxenda or Victoza is a drug that was initially developed to be used by those with moderate to severe diabetes and is in the same class as a drug named Byetta, it is derivative of a hormone called GLP-1 which basically stimulates insulin secretion and expands insulin making beta cells in the pancreas. In the beginning the main point of the drug was to drastically cut blood sugar levels and reduce weight in people with diabetes, however after some development the drug is now able to "work on" the MC4R reception, usually faulty in those with POMC which control weight gain and regulation. It was only prescribed for type 2 diabetes until this point, it has since been prescribed to people with POMC and positive results have been seen. Find more information about the drug in general here. The drug itself is very new and a lot of doctors I have spoken t in the last several weeks know very little about it other than the basics. 

Now, obviously I am being given this for weight management as I am not diabetic but I am insulin resistant, those being given this drug for diabetes are given a "normal" dose of the drug usually 1.8mg however people using it purely for weight management are given a DOUBLE dose. Right now, in my head the drug sounds amazing! i can't wait to try it and I'm 100% sure it'll do me some good. However, I also found online that if you have previously been on Metformin, another drug to regulate insulin, and have been intolerant of that, which I was while taking it, you may have an intolerance to Liraglutide, something which dampened my hopes slightly. I was still willing to try the drug though, inroder for the drug to be administered it is one injection each day in the upper arm, thigh or lower abdomen. I would also not be allowed to drink alcohol whatsoever as Liraglutide and alcohol mixed has serious side effects such as increased heartbeat and death. 

Here is where the concerns come in. As I was researching about the drug, as you do, I searched possible side effects and I was so shocked, I will write a list of the possible side effects of Liraglutide in a moment however, the things that caught my eye first is that the FDA, the organisation that approves or disproves drugs has put a back box warning on this drug, meaning that the side effects can in reality cause extremely serious conditions or death resulting from the fuse of the drug. This scared me right away, for obvious reasons, nobody wants to think that a drug that could help them might kill them or cause serious side effects, but because I've taken drugs before that have said side effects could be fatal e.g. Metronidazole antibiotic with alcohol can be fatal, I thought that maybe it was an overreaction. Here is a full list of side effects of Liraglutide:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhoea 
• Constipation
• Upper respiratory tract infection
•  Intestinal and digestive tract problems
• Headaches/migraines
• Sinusitis
• Dizziness
• Back pain
• Flu-like symptoms
• Injection site reactions
• Bloating
• Loss of appetite
• Fatigue

These shown above are common side effects. Less common side effects include:

• Shortness of breath
• Weight gain
• Horse voice
• Lump in the throat
• Throat swelling
• Easy bruising or bleeding
• Infections
• Increased thirst
• Palpitations/Arrhythmia
• Less frequent urination

The final side effects as listed below are the most serious kind of effects resulting from the use of Liraglutide:

• Pancreatitis
• Pancreatic cancer
• Thyroid cancer
• Kidney or liver problems resulting in the need for dialysis
• Death

Up until recently thyroid cancer had only been reported in rats, however humans are now presenting with it more frequently than before, I have decided that I am not going to include any statistics about the drug i.e. how many people have been diagnosed with what side effect because honestly there is so much contradicting evidence online, one report said 19% of patients presented with pancreatic cancer, another said only 1-3% of patients presented some kind of cancer after treatment. One report said people using it for weight loss have lost up to 10 stone and another said the best weight loss seen on Saxenda was only 19lbs in 56 weeks. For me the information is far too jumbled, mixed and contradictory, so until I can properly find out about the real statistics I will not post anything that may not be accurate, up-to-date or correct. It is also important to note that earlier I mentioned that those using Saxenda for weight loss purposes will receive a double dose, these side effects are laid out for those receiving a single dose, therefore it is to be assumed that side effects are more likely to occur when taking double dose of 3mg (according to my doctor at the RVI).

It is pretty obvious to me that this drug is extremely serious and is nothing to be taken lightly, the side effects could end up killing somebody taking it, I have a history of cancer in my family and I'm honestly not sure what to do, if I take it an react badly how many doses before I develop a cancer? Pancreatitis? How long before you see results? Would I need to take a leaf of absence from university? I of I wouldn't be able to work or afford the costs of getting to my hospital appointments as I cannot rely on family to drive me. I'm scared for my health as I cannot afford to gain anymore weight, I'm scared I'll never get to spend my life with Simon and my family, enjoy my time with friends and work in a job I love. I'm scared that my only management option at the moment could be the thing that kills me ultimately. I don't know if I should risk it or not and these are the times I want someone to tell me what to do. I've watched Simon cry because he's scared of losing me to the drug, my condition and such, I've watched my Mam and Nana cry because they can't help me. My head is in bits everyday about this. 

I don't know what to do at the moment but I promised at the beginning of this blog I would keep you all up to date and be as honest as possible about my feelings and how any treatments affect me, I hope you keep reading and please if you get offered this drug for whatever reason think very carefully before jumping right in. 

Thanks for reading and bye for now. 

XO