I lost my entire former life to chronic illness. I got to the point where death was imminent. Just managing symptoms and living whatever life I could wasn't an

I lost my entire former life to chronic illness. I got to the point where death was imminent. Just managing symptoms and living whatever life I could wasn't an option. The best advice I got was to treat it as if I were at war. Nothing else mattered until I won the war, because if I lost, nothing would be left. This meant I had to find a way to reverse the progression of the illness, which meant an accurate diagnosis and a cure. To do this, I used my environmental engineering background, free access to research (thanks to open access and sci-hub), ability to communicate with others in my position (thanks to social media), and ability to communicate with some of the best biochemists and doctors in the world (thanks again social media). It took about 4 years of 60+ hour weeks studying biochemistry and anatomy. Well over 10,000 hours. And this is a conservative estimate. My ability to focus on studying was uncanny. It was survival instinct, but instead of focusing on a predator I was focusing on knowledge. I could barely think about anything else even if I tried. Entertainment became boring to me. Relationships became meaningless. I had to find a cure. This was in addition to the previous 10 years of 5-20 hour weeks studying. Part of me knew by age 18 that it was not going to end well unless I figured out what was going on, so I was always learning about my symptoms. After all that I came to an accurate diagnosis and cure. This was not a linear process. It happened in fits and starts and I went down tangents many times. These tangents all tied together in a unified understanding once I found the root cause. I've been pursuing treatment for almost 3 years now. Progress has been slow, but nothing short of miraculous, and I expect to make a full recovery within the next 2-5 years. For those curious, as I always get asked this question on HN, my diagnosis is chronic mercury toxicity, and a key part of the treatment is chelation therapy with emeramide. Emeramide is currently in phase II clinical trials and will probably be approved by the FDA within 5-10 years. The right nutritional supplements, taken in the right forms, and at the right time, is also key. That, unfortunately, gets very messy and controversial, and all the chronically ill people I know spend a tremendous amount of time trying to figure this part out.