On my own and desperately in need of help!

I am new here. Hello! I don't really even know where to start. Heh, what a symbol of my life thus far. 

Well, I am only 21. Almost 22. I weigh 558 pounds last time I checked. I have been overweight since 4th grade. It sort of snowballed and the only one to blame is me. I have tried sticking to diets but always end up relapsing. I honestly don't even know how. 

Currently, I live with my mother. I sleep in a bedroom with my sister as my mom doesn't have a big place. I sleep on a mattress and box spring (no frame) on the floor. It's difficult to get up and down onto my bed, but that is the only place I have. If I sit anywhere for longer than a half hour, my feet and legs swell up so bad they hurt. 

I have even been hospitalized for my leg before. The swelling causes healing to slow down and so if I get a cut in my leg, it leaks water until the wound becomes too bad and eventually a varicose vein is affected and bursts and I bleed so bad I have to call 911. I once even lost over 2 pints. 

I can barely keep up personal hygiene. I only use the restroom before I shower. Any other way and I wouldn't be able to clean myself. 

I am always hungry. Always. And I eat until I'm so full my stomach hurts and I feel sick. And I hate it. I don't know why I always do it. But I do. And it only makes me hate myself and feel shame. I know I can diet if im forced. I lost about 100 pounds once on diet and exercise alone. But I relapsed. 7 months down the drain. 

Here is what I need help with and advice on. While I wait for AHCCCS Mercy Care to approve my gastric sleeve and SSI to approve my temporary benefits, I need to know how to survive. So to speak. 

Currently, I need to find a way to make 194 dollars in food stamps actually last a while month for myself. I need to know where I can get clothes for my size (64 waist and 7x shirts) where I won't break my bank. Or rather the bank of anyone willing to buy me clothes as I have to ask friends because I have no job. I can't even bend or turn or reach, much less work. I also need to know how people even get those recliners for people my size that can hold me, recline all the way back, and help me get up. 

I just don't know who else to ask. 

I would really appreciate any help.

Also, any health advice would be nice. I'll list my problems, diagnosed, undiagnosed, and spoken about. I will also list medications. 

Diagnosed problems - Hypertension, Anemia, Headaches, Chronic Pain (Back, Legs, Joints, Feet), Hypothyroidism, and Spinal Narrowing, Asthma, Severe Anxiety

Undiagnosed - Depression

Talked about (speculation) - Borderline Personality Disorder, Misophonia

Medications - Coreg (Lisinopril causes Acute Angioedema), Lasix, Potassium, Levothyroxene, Fioricet, Topomax, Oxycodone (10Mg, no Tylenol, 5 a day), Tizanidine, Albuterol

Hi, First of all Id like to say, I feel for you. And I truly hope you get the help you need. Have you asked your doctor to refer you to someone who can help with some counseling? Have they refered you to a surgeon willing to work with you? As hard as I know it is, you have to commit yourself to eating better so you can feel better. I know all to well about eating junk and gaining back weight already lost. Ive done it many times in my life. I think we all have. You said you get 194 a month in food stamps. You have to make healthy food choices to start off with. I know its hard but if you want help, you first have to help yourself. Ive dedicated myself to eating low carb and high protein. It seems to be the best for me to lose weight. It may work for you too. I eat lots of meat and salads. I also put shredded cheese, tomatoes, bacon bits on my salad with ranch dressing. Its better than just a lettuce salad. Lots of protein. Sometimes Ill eat meat and maybe broccoli and cauliflower mix. I love my sugar free jello with whip cream. Low carb but not as nutritious. Get some blood work done. I keep my carbs between 20-30 a day. For you maybe lower than 50 to start out with. You have to be conscious of what you eat. Sugar free pops help if you have a sugar craving. Start tracking all you eat in a day. I use My Fitness Pal to track all I eat. It helps be accountable for calories, carbs and protein you eat in a day. I gave myself 1200 cal. a day but most time I dont get even 1000. I feel full and the weight comes off easily. Im much older than you. You shouldnt have any trouble getting weight off. Or perhaps go back to what worked for you when you did lose the 100 lbs. Most likely you'll have to lose some to even qualify for surgery. STICK WITH IT!!! Its all worth it in the end. Im sure others will have some other advise for you. I wish you luck and Ill be praying for you. Remember, your doing this for yourself!! Get healthy!!! You wont regret it!

These are some options you might try:

1. Call your local department of social services - they may have resources to help. 

2. Your local United Way might be able to get you assistance by utilizing their volunteer roster. 

3. The local food bank should be able to help you stretch your food budget and once again, with their many volunteers help you access additional help. 

4. Since you have a doctor prescribing medications, see if the hospital he/she is affiliated with has a wellness program you could participate in. These are often subsidized and could lead to more resources. 

5. Romaine's catalog has the sizes you need for clothes and the prices are very reasonable. 

Good luck and I hope you're approved for your procedure soon. 

I didn't catch that you're a guy so no, Romaine's catalog is not an option. You might try calling the district or regional offices of Goodwill and the Salvation Army. They may be willing to coordinate with the stores in their areas to have clothes in your size sent to your local store. They won't do it indefinitely but will usually help someone get a basic wardrobe. 

Check for clothing banks... Not sure if you shop Walmart, but check the clearance sections for X size t-shirts in store works best $3- $5 for clothes can help. Joining a WLS support group, and some do gifting from their closets for group members. Not sure if you get vitamins in with all the other meds, but they are gonna help, since almost everyone is missing something in their diet. Starting here is really great too. I would also like to recommend viewing YouTube video-journals of people; search topic of your choice to see how they are/did/ and use it to cope on your journey. My favorite is "YOU ARE WORTH IT!" You are! Good luck, and keep the faith.

I'm so sorry to hear about your situation, and I hope your surgery and SSI are approved so you can get on your way to better health soon. You describe a less-than-optimal situation, but you're seeking help and looking for ways to improve your life -- that motivation will be what makes you successful. So many of us here have lost and regained hundreds (or even thousands) of pounds in our lifetimes. I'm very newly post-op, but I'm hoping this is the tool that will finally make me successful at it.

I'm also a big proponent of logging everything you eat with MyFitnessPal. I lost over 25% of my weight in the 7 months before my surgery by using it. The key though is not to beat yourself up for a bad day, and not to throw away a whole day for one bad choice. Take baby steps and aim to be a B student.

Judging by the way you listed your clothing size, am I correct in assuming you're male? I don't have any good recommendations for cheap clothing, but my husband had his sleeve surgery a few weeks ago and has lost a good amount of weight already, so I have some 6X shirts I can send you if you want to PM me your name and address. They're mostly short sleeve button down shirts. If they don't fit yet, I'm sure they will soon.  =)

I know you don't need anything added to your health problem list, but if your insurance covers a sleep study or home sleep test, I would strongly encourage you to see a sleep specialist about sleep apnea. 70% of people with BMIs over 40 have significant sleep apnea, and the higher your BMI, the more severe it can be. Asthma can complicate things even more and lead to greater dips in your oxygen levels during the night. It can usually be really successfully treated with a CPAP or BiPAP machine, and treatment can really make a big difference in your overall health and how you feel during the day. Treatment can also help as you attempt to lose weight -- sleep apnea messes with your digestive hormones, plus better sleep gives you more energy during the day, which will help as you're able to become more mobile.

Just out of curiosity, how did you find out that lisinopril caused angioedema for you? Was the swelling somewhere like your hands or face? I know how miserable that can be...in 2012, I spent 7 months in an out of the ER because of extreme pain (getting treated like a drug seeker every time), getting every test known to mankind, to finally figure out through an endoscopy of my intestines under general anesthesia that lisinopril was causing angioedema only in my small intestine. None of the other doctors ever suspected it because I didn't get any swelling anywhere else. It wasn't fun, but as soon as I stopped the med, I had no more issues. I hope you had an easier time getting a diagnosis!

Let me know if you want the shirts. I'm rooting for everything to work out for you!

Yes, I'm male. And that is very kind of you to offer! I will most certainly pm you. As for the sleep apnea, I definitely should get that followed up on. Especially if it will improve how I feel during the day. And my Angioedema was found because it was causing my uvula to swell so large it interfered with swallowing and stuff. Im also going to have to look up that myfitnesspal thing. Is it a separate app?

Sounds good! It took me 2 years to get my husband in for a sleep study (and I work in a sleep lab!), but he finally did and said after he'd been on CPAP awhile that he didn't realize how bad he felt until he learned how much better he could feel. I know I'm totally partial working in the sleep field, but I really do see it change lives every day.

Ah, that sounds like how people usually get their angioedema discovered. I'm glad it was something readily evident for you! Mine was very cyclical, so the intestinal swelling would actually subside before they could do a CT scan, so the CTs kept coming back clean. It was really frustrating.

MyFitnessPal is both an app (for iOS and Android) and a website, and they sync together. I usually use the app on my phone because it lets you scan the barcodes on food to search...it's really easy to use. All of the foods are user-submitted, which is great because you can pretty much just search for anything and find it, but you also want to be careful, because sometimes they're entered incorrectly. The first time I log something, I'll double-check the nutrition info with the label, then I know it's good for the next time.

I had RNY almost 7 years and have been very happy with the results.  You received some great advice so I won't repeat.

You do have to take control of your eating and you are the only person that can do that.  In addition to tracking your food, set up a schedule for your eating.  Eat every 3 or 4 hours and don't allow any eating between those meals.  Drink water. 

I hope you are able to get some assistance and some counseling.