User Profile

My user name is short for Tractor Beam. Not so appropriate any more, but was easy to remember and anything's shorter than my surname... It was related to my ability to pull, my friend Maz started it. However, I think that was more to do with suddenly loosing 4 stone at the age of 18, from my major first porphyria attack, being diagnosed with VP and getting some confidence in myself. I then made up for lost time with relationships/shagging when I got to uni. :-)

I am currently working as a Civil Engineer, though I'm looking to specialise into something possibly involving water flow/environment/modelling and a large amount of maths (which I luurve!). Looking into funded Masters courses for this year or next.

At the moment I work part time (normal except Wednesdays at the moment) due to having a medical disability called Variegate Porphyria. I am hoping though that soon my specialist will be able to solve most of the problems I'm having (eg allergic to my own hormones;).

The reason I lost 4 stone when I was 18 was from spending 3 months throwing up anything I ate, 6 months later they diagnosed me with Variegate Porphyria. VP, for anyone who's interested, means there's a problems with my metabolism of heam (needed for allot of things, blood included) in the liver, that creates a backlog of Porphyrins. In high doses these act as toxins. This is worsened considerably if I have certain drugs (including alcohol and more than half the prescription drugs available) or a severe illness. They effect my brain and my nervous system, and also accumulate in my skin.

This means I'm very slightly allergic to sunlight and, worse, inclined to be slightly crazy (or is that me normally? Hard to tell sometimes ;). It's as much depression etc, but I don't like showing that if I can help it. I also have had to go into hospital around every couple of years, due to attacks where I can't stop vomiting and need morphine for the deferred pain in my nervous system. It’s been several years since the last though, and the longer it is the less likely I am to have another attack. They think King George III had it (though being a bloke he was only ill in late life when they gave him the wrong drugs), there's so few people with it it's cool to know he may have had it.

If anyone ever wants to know more the website for the British Porphyria Association charity, with which I am involved, is at http://www.porphyria.org.uk/

There is a number of articles on the BBC news website. The most recent one is at the address below, and has links to the other articles
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4585631.stm

The BPA also have a website you can buy stuff through (ie Amazon etc) that donates a small amount of money to the BPA each time you buy something, if anyone ever feels like being nice:-) We're also just trying to raise awareness of the condition, especially as it's triggered by half the drugs around. http://buy.at/BPA

Enough selling of the medical condition and the charity..

I am also a member of Friends of the Earth and have strong views on the environment, as I'm quite left-wing/liberal/green etc. Though haven't had chance to do much with FoE yet due to the above..

I'd quote something cool, if I could think of anything……!

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