A woman has shed an incredible 13 stone after her weight caused a condition with worrying side effects – with doctors initially believing she may have a brain tumour as a result.
Chanice Higgins had struggled with her size since secondary school and was tipping the scales at 23 stone and wearing a size 26 when she started to experience severe migraines.
The 31-year-old was admitted to the hospital during a particularly bad episode, with doctors concerned something sinister was at play, spending three days there before she was diagnosed with Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension.
The condition – which occurs when there is a build-up of pressure around the brain – was causing her splitting headaches, and doctors believe her weight was to blame.
“I was suffering with severe migraines that felt like I’d been hit with a brick, flashing lights in my eyes and blurred vision, especially in the morning,” Chanice, a carer from Wolverhampton, told Need To Know.
“I could feel pressure at the back of my eyes and across my forehead, dizziness and neck pain and stiffness.
“I Googled the symptoms and they were similar to meningitis.
“When I got to the hospital, a doctor said it could be a tumour which was frightening.
“They couldn’t work out what was wrong with me because they couldn’t do a lumbar puncture with me being so big.
“I was diagnosed with a CT scan, MRI, and eye exam.
“When I was told it was related to my weight, I was relieved that it wasn’t too sinister – but shocked that my weight could cause something so severe.
“It was a wake-up call because I was shocked that my weight could do so much damage to my health to the point I could go blind.”
The young woman first started dieting when she was 18 and says she has tried every diet in the book – but never managed to keep the weight off.
She said: “I started putting weight on when I went to secondary school and could eat what I wanted.
“I’d gone from home-cooked meals to chips, mayo, burgers and sausage sandwiches.
“I got teased a lot, but would try to laugh it off.
“Kids would say they’d need a crane to get me out of school.
“The boys who said that stuff are the ones who like all my photos these days so it’s a big turnaround.
“A lot of the old people at work would say ‘you’re a big unit’ because some have dementia and they do say what comes to their head.”
Chanice tried diets including Slimming World, WW, SlimFast, liquid-only meals and OMAD (one meal a day), but says nothing stuck.
She was unhappy with her appearance, felt unhappy looking in the mirror and even avoided public transport out of fear of being stared at.
Chanice said: “I was looking at myself in the mirror and thinking “what the hell”.
“I used filters and would try and hide in the back of photos because I was comfortable but I was deluded and told myself I was ok.
“My job is really active. I had to walk up and down three flights of stairs a day and I was so out of breath and had pains in my feet.
“It affected my confidence massively and I had a lot of anxiety.
“I didn’t want to go out or on public transport because I thought people were looking at me.
“At lunch, I’d sit on my own and I didn’t want to make friends.
“I wouldn’t use communal showers at the swimming baths and felt uncomfortable in little clothing.”
Following her hospitalisation in September 2017, she finally took the concern seriously and dropped three stone by cutting her calories down and walking 10,000 steps a day, before undergoing a life-changing gastric sleeve funded by the NHS in February 2024.
Since the gastric sleeve, she has dropped down to 10 stone and is a slender size ten – and she has been able to reverse the side effects of her condition.
She said: “My life has changed massively and my health condition has completely reversed.
“I had a six-month post-op check-up and my optical nerves are no longer swollen, my headaches and all the other symptoms have gone.
“My blood pressure used to be elevated but now it’s perfect.
“I wear what I want. I couldn’t get my clothes from H&M or Primark because they didn’t have my size.
“Even now I still go straight to the back of the rail looking for the bigger sizes.
“I didn’t expect to get so small.
“I’ve never been a size ten in my life.
“I went to Egypt last year and wore a bikini without thinking people were looking at me.”
Incredibly, as a result of her drastic change in appearance, Chanice says family members can barely recognise her.
She said: “After I lost the weight, we had a family gathering and my own cousin didn’t recognise me.
“She said ‘Oh sorry I thought you were Chanice’.
“I said ‘It is Chanice’ and she couldn’t believe it.
“A few weeks ago, I was walking down the street and a family friend who I’ve known all my life walked by and blanked me.
“I shouted her over and she said ‘Is that Chanice?’
“It’s crazy that people don’t recognise me.”
The carer is now sharing her story in the hope of inspiring others who are struggling with their weight.
She added: “Deep down, you think you’re happy being big but I don’t think many bigger people are.
“You just need to start small, get off the bus a stop early or park a bit further away.
“Little and often is the way.”
DIET BEFORE:
Breakfast: Skip.
Lunch: Fruit, yoghurt, four bags of crisps, two chocolate bars, a packet of biscuits, Fanta, Lucozade, Coke.
Dinner: Sandwich, potatoes, rice, chips, Indian takeaway, Chinese takeaway, chicken, pizza, Caribbean food.
DIET NOW:
Breakfast: Protein yoghurt with fruit, protein Weetabix, eggs and cottage cheese.
Lunch: Tuna salad, ham salad.
Dinner: Steak, eggs, chicken, wraps, salad salmon and wraps.
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