A DEVASTATING ME diagnosis at 15 nearly put paid to Hayley Donald’s dream of becoming an athlete. She suffered a relapse two years ago, rendering the 22-year-old from Lincoln too ill to lift a knife and fork.
But after joining Slimming World and losing four stone, miraculously her debilitating symptoms have eased, giving her a new lease of life. Here she shares her story…
EVEN though I’d had the first diagnosis of ME when I was only 15, I’d never experienced anything like how I felt when I woke up that morning in November 2016. I honestly felt like I was dying.
Overnight I’d had such a drastic relapse, it was like being trapped in a nightmare. I was working as a sales assistant at the time and I kept trying to go to work but I physically couldn’t.
When I tried to speak to my mum she couldn’t understand what I was saying. My speech was so slurred and the pain in my head was unbelievable. It was the worst I’d ever felt.
I’d been so active and fit before I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. As a teenager I was a sprinter for Lincolnshire and my dream was to pursue a career in athletics.
But then I went into hospital for a routine appendix operation and contracted a viral infection. I was in hospital for weeks and at first the doctors didn’t know what was wrong with me. I was just so tired all the time, I felt like a zombie.
I had an MRI and it showed my brain and spinal cord were inflamed – key indicators of chronic fatigue syndrome and ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis).
It did take a while to adjust but I got support at home, and with help from the school I kept it controlled enough to do my GCSEs and A levels. I even managed to get a triple distinction in an Extended Diploma in Photography while I was working as a sales assistant.
That’s why it was such a shock when I had the relapse. As well as the awful tiredness and headaches, my hands and legs would go numb for no reason and I had really bad pins and needles.
I remember once sitting down for dinner and trying to lift up my fork and not being able to. I physically couldn’t raise my left hand, my brain just wouldn’t send the signal.
I had mental delay and cognitive problems too, so if I was crossing a road I’d just walk out without thinking about traffic, or I’d touch a pan without registering it was going to be hot.
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A brain scan ruled out multiple sclerosis, which was a relief, but I was only 22 and everything was a struggle.
There were days when I just wanted to put my head under the pillow and stay there because my sensitivity to light and sound were so bad.
It was hard to stay positive but I thought, if I don’t change, this won’t change.
My neurologist had put me on nerve pain medication and I was starting to feel a bit better so, in April 2017, I set myself a huge challenge – to do the Lincoln 10k.
I’d run it the year before, so I rested as much as I could beforehand and managed to walk it – but then I saw a photo of myself on Facebook and I was horrified.
I’d put on a lot of weight because I was in bed all day, snacking and eating when I could rather than having full meals. My diet was all over the place but I was too poorly to care and I’d gone from a size 8 to a size 16.
Four days after I saw my race photo I joined Slimming World.
When I first started going to classes I had to get weighed and go straight out because I physically couldn’t stand the noise and light in the room.
Then as I started to lose weight I challenged myself to stay and week by week I got more involved.
I switched to a vegetarian diet and instead of having no breakfast, a late lunch and a ridiculously massive dinner followed by crisps and packets of biscuits, I made myself Slimming World mug cakes for breakfast, cooking oats, an egg and a tablespoon of natural yoghurt in the microwave.
They kept me going until about 2-3pm, so I wasn’t tempted to snack. In three months I lost two stone.
It was then I noticed my ME symptoms disappearing. My pins and needles went, as did all the migraines, slurring and memory problems. My life just started to change.
I went back to see my neurologist in July 2017 and he said the difference was incredible.
I’ve now lost four stone. I’m still on nerve pain medication but I’ve got my strength and my motivation back.
I’ve joined a running group again and I do pole fit classes every week. I’ve started my own interior design business too, and got a new job at a school.
MOST READ IN FABULOUS
Even when I was at my lowest I was determined to get better, I just wasn’t 100 per cent sure how. I had no idea losing the weight would reverse my symptoms but it has.
Now I feel like a different person to the one I was two years ago – I feel normal again.
Earlier this year we told how the family of girl killed by ME said doctors told her it was all in her head – before it robbed her of everything.
https://textbacklinkexchanges.com/i-was-too-ill-to-lift-a-knife-and-fork-but-i-shed-four-stone-and-reversed-my-crippling-me-symptoms-by-eating-cake-for-breakfast/
News Pictures I was too ill to lift a knife and fork… but I shed four stone and reversed my crippling ME symptoms by eating CAKE for breakfast
You don’t have to pack away your bikini just because you’re the wrong side of 20. These body-beautiful stars reveal their secrets to staying in shape and prove you can smoulder in a two-piece, whatever your age. Read on and be bikini inspired!
TEENS
Hayden Panettiere
Size: 8
Age: 18
Height: 5ft 1in
Weight: 8st
To achieve her kick-ass figure, Hayden – who plays cheerleader Claire Bennet in Heroes – follows the ‘quartering’ rule. She eats only a quarter of the food on her plate, then waits 20 minutes before deciding whether she needs to eat again.
Hayden says: “I don’t have a model’s body, but I’m not one of those crazy girls who thinks that they’re fat. I’m OK with what I have.”
Nicollette says: “I don’t like diets – I see it, I eat it! I believe in eating healthily with lots of protein, vegetables and carbs to give you energy.”
kim cattrall
Size: 10-12
Age: 52
Height: 5ft 8in
Weight: 9st 4lb
SATC star Kim swears by gym sessions with Russian kettle bells (traditional cast-iron weights) and the South Beach Diet to give her the body she wants. To avoid overeating, Kim has a radical diet trick – squirting lemon juice on her leftovers – so she won’t carry on picking.
Kim says: “I am no super-thin Hollywood actress. I am built for men who like women to look like women.”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/NINTCHDBPICT000449882656.jpg?strip=all&w=640
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