Doctors said the ‘stroke-like’ symptoms could be down to Claudia’s weight, so she found a way to finally get into shape
A woman who had tried to lose weight for years finally made the decision to turn her life around after being left paralysed six weeks after giving birth- with doctors saying her weight could be to blame. Claudia Rooks, from Spalding, Lincolnshire, struggled with being overweight, attempting diet after diet, including Slimming World, Weight Watchers, and calorie counting.
Then six weeks after the birth of her youngest son, her health took a dramatic and frightening turn. She experienced what doctors initially believed was a stroke. She was rushed to Lincoln Hospital by ambulance, unable to speak, paralysed, and having lost her ability to swallow. With four children at home, ranging in age from nine years to just six weeks old, the prospect of permanent disability was terrifying. Due to ambulance delays, it was too late to administer the clot-busting medication often used in stroke cases. As Claudia lay in the hospital bed, unable to see or care for herself, the consultant listed potential causes of her condition. Among the possibilities, her weight stood out starkly. Claudia said: “My relationship with food has always been unhealthy. I can remember from being just five that I would use food as comfort. My first memory of me eating, then realising I wasn’t actually hungry, was when I was about 10.
“We’d have a roast dinner every Sunday, my dad and stepsisters would have gone and I would sit downstairs, eating the leftover Yorkshire puddings. I wasn’t hungry, I just wanted the comfort because my step sisters had gone and dad was at work all week. If there was a challenge of who could eat the most doughnuts, I’d be straight into that and I always won then went the extra mile.
“If people were preparing food, I’d snack instead of waiting for tea. I’d always worry there wasn’t enough to go round, thinking about what I would want to eat next. It wasn’t healthy and this continued to my adult life.” As she grew up, her relationship with food got worse. “I always thought I was fat growing up, with everyone else around me, including my three sisters, being skinny,” Claudia said. “I was always the ‘chubby’ one. From the age of 16 my eating habits got worse and my weight would fluctuate constantly. “When I was 19 I went from a size 12 to a size 22, very fast. It was not until I fell pregnant with my first child, Isabella, that I got hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) while pregnant and lost a lot of weight due to this, returning to a size 12 shortly after giving birth. “Not long after giving birth, the emotions of being a single mother going through heartbreak and suffering from pospartum depression caused me to comfort eat all day everyday, again gaining all of the weight back. I have always hated my weight, my size, my body. I’d often stare at myself in the mirror, finding more and more faults with every second. I knew I was getting bigger, I just didn’t realise how big I had got.
“I tried to go it alone with my weight loss, from Slimming World, Weight Watchers, calorie counting and would always end up losing near a stone. Then something would happen, my emotions would be back on that rollercoaster which made me comfort eat. I’d slip up once then began to think ‘what’s the point?’ or ‘I’ll never lose weight’.” After the ‘stroke’ Claudia underwent tests and her symptoms began to improve. Her right-side mobility returned, her vision cleared, and she was able to swallow again. Doctors diagnosed her with Hemiplegic Migraines, a rare condition that mimics stroke-like symptoms. They warned that the migraines could persist, particularly if her weight remained a factor. This marked the beginning of her journey. Initially, she lost 4 pounds on her own, but she recognised the need for additional support. Her PTSD from the traumatic experience caused her to turn to comfort eating, making sustained weight loss feel impossible.
That’s when she discovered Mounjaro through TikTok. Encouraged by testimonials about its ability to silence “food noise,” she took the leap and ordered her first pen, despite initial nervousness about potential side effects. She orders her prescriptions from Oushk Pharmacy, a UK-based online pharmacy.
“After all of my health struggles, I took the leap,” Claudia explains. “It involved a lot of self control, buying my medication and starting it.’ In 11 weeks, she lost 1 stone 8.2 pounds and experienced a dramatic improvement in her overall wellbeing. It helped her regain control over her eating, and her migraines reduced significantly, dropping from three per week to only five in the entire 11-week period. She also began calorie counting, developing a healthier relationship with food while still enjoying it in moderation. Counselling for PTSD further supported her journey, helping to address the emotional triggers behind binge eating. Her ultimate goal is to reach 13 stone 4 pounds, a requirement for NHS approval to undergo sterilisation. This procedure will address her fear of another high-risk pregnancy and alleviate the trauma of her prior hospitalisation, which kept her away from her family for 11 weeks. “I have gone from 16st 5.3lbs to 14st 10.9lbs in 11 weeks and feel so much healthier,’ says Claudia. ‘I still have weight to lose, but I’m on the right path and have never got so far in a weight loss journey. I have gone from size 20 clothes to nearly fitting in size 16 clothes in just 11 weeks. “I feel so much better now, I suffer from PTSD from the trauma of my pregnancy and birth with my son and health anxiety. I don’t suffer from my Hemiplegic Migraines as much, I don’t fear for my children that my weight is going to cause a stroke or a heart attack. I’m not scared as much that I’ll leave my children alone without a mother.”
Claudia wants to raise awareness that using Mounjaro is not “cheating”, and that she has worked extremely hard to lose the weight. “The people who support me, they tell me that they can see a difference in me, not only physically but emotionally too,’ she says.
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‘They compliment me on how much better my clothes fit, they tell me how far I’ve come and that this may well be the thing that helps me finally achieve my weight goals. It is incredibly hard to lose weight, I think people who don’t struggle with their weight don’t truly understand how hard it is. It is not the case for many, of just ‘eating less’. Yes eating less, moving more, you’re bound to lose weight. “But when you have mental health issues, emotional struggles and have comfort ate for most of your life it is not that simple. Be kind to yourself, do not listen to the negativity of others. They aren’t going to contribute to your weight loss, they aren’t going to contribute to you bettering yourself, so why listen to them? Even losing a few pounds is amazing, you feel so much better in yourself let alone seeing the difference in the mirror or how you feel in your clothes. “It may feel impossible to start, but when you start, 1lb lost at a time, you’ll enjoy it more. You’ve just got to push through & believe in yourself that you can do it. Document your journey. Take the photos of your body at the start, measurements, whether you like to see them or not. “You will not regret it when your body starts to change, your measurements drop. When I see changes and measurements dropping, I take it as a round of applause to myself. The first step, is believing you can and then listening to positive people, while accepting there’s negative people out there, who thrive on putting people down. “Learn to love yourself again, flaws and all. You’re the only person who is you. No one else knows you or your journey. You do you and the rest will fall into place.”
