'Bizarre pregnancy craving saved my life as gastric sleeve starved me to death'

A mum says her gastric sleeve was starving her to death - until craving ketchup sandwiches while pregnant revived her appetite and saved her life.

Rosie Lee weighed 21 stone and was worried about her health when she got a gastric sleeve in August 2021.

The 31-year-old's appetite decreased until February 2023 when she was 'living off crackers' and had lost a staggering 11 stone to become clinically underweight.

She visited hospital when she struggled to keep down food and was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) during a two-week stay.

EDS are a group of rare genetic conditions that affect connective tissue that support the likes of skin, joints and muscles.

Doctors reportedly told 5ft 10in Rosie the condition stopped her stomach from working normally after it had shrunk from the gastric sleeve, causing her to throw up food.

Rosie had to be tube-fed for almost two years but her desperate situation changed when she got pregnant with her second child in late 2024.

She said she started craving and eating ketchup sandwiches until she was able to remove the tube and eat regular meals a week before her son was born.

The mum-of-two, who now weighs a healthy 13 stone, credits getting pregnant and craving food like pizza and Chinese takeaways for saving her life.

Rosie, from Luton, Hertfordshire, said: "I was morbidly obese so I wanted to be healthier for my daughter and feel more confident.

"I started to notice [the gastric sleeve] was slowing down what I could manage and I was being sick a lot more. Eventually I was living off a cracker.

"I could only tolerate really small snacks in the evenings so I'd have a cracker or a couple of biscuits.

"When my stomach had shrunk it then stopped working properly so I got to the point where I couldn't eat enough to maintain my calories and my nutrition.

"I was so restricted and I didn't manage to get my weight up to what you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

"I couldn't keep anything down, I'd just throw it back up. I was underweight and I ended up in hospital.

"I was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and they believe the connection between the two is what made it go wrong.

"I was tube-fed for nearly two years and I would have still been there now if I didn't get pregnant with my son. He literally saved me which is crazy.

"I started to feel hungry because I was growing a child, so I started trying to eat little bits of plain food and actually they were staying down.

"I was craving ketchup and just bread in a sandwich. I think that was a good opening taste and then it went from there.

"I very slowly increased what I was eating and I got to a point where I was sustaining my nutrition on my own.

Rosie admits she worried she would never be able to eat normally again."

The full-time mum said adjusting to the tube was emotionally difficult and made it hard for her to be in social situations where food was involved.

Rosie said: "I had the desire to eat. I didn't have an eating disorder but my body would not let me.

"The tube takes a really long time to feed. It runs for about nine hours.

"You're constantly connected to a wire and constantly have a tube with you so when you're out and about people stare at you and ask questions.

"You're dictated by the tube, what you can do, how you can do it. Day-to-day life is completely different. Food is such a big part of life.

"I had a four-year-old and it was hard to navigate mummy being different and having this tube.

"If I went out with my friends, I would order a starter or something from the kids' menu but I would have to go to the bathroom to be sick.

"It was really hard to navigate from a social aspect because I didn't want to just be sitting there having nothing.

"When it got to a point I could eat normally again it really meant so much and I could put on a substantial amount of weight.

"I know for sure if I didn't have my son I would still be in the same boat."

EDS is a group of genetic disorders that make connective tissue, that supports the likes of skin, muscle, bone, blood vessels and internal organs, weaker.

There are several types of EDS which share some symptoms, including increased range of joint movement, stretchy skin or fragile skin that breaks or bruises easily.

For some the condition is relatively mild, while for others their symptoms can be disabling.