I have Chronic Lyme and Bartonella and I have been gaining a lot of weight. I excercise and I don't eat excessively - in fact, I don't eat enough, but I am gaining weight.
What do you guys do about the weight gain? Excercise isn't really helping because I'm gaining weight anyway.
-------------------- "Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful."
posted
I'm the opposite. I've lost dramatic amounts of weight and I look waaaay too thin. How do you manage eating? My appetite is goneeeeeeeeeeee.
I'll trade you problems. Looking at myself being so skinny, reminds me that I'm sick and makes me worry even more.
Posts: 63 | From Hell - Or at least it feels like it, Oh, I mean Tampa, FL. OOOps! :D | Registered: May 2009
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Ocean
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3496
posted
I'm sorry, I can relate. Right now I'm having the opposite problem being underweight, but when I first got sick, 1996-1998 I gained weight even though I wasn't eating more and I was trying to walk a few times a week (had CFS diagnosis, so it was really hard to exercise without getting worse).
It was horrid! I was a teen and saw a guy that used to have a crush on me at a store. He had the nerve to tell me that I needed to start exercising a little more!!!
I wasn't even really that heavy, about 140-145 lbs (I'm 5'4 1/2"-can ya tell I always wanted to be tall, gotta add the last 1/2" on!).
People can be so cruel, esp when they don't understand that you are sick.
Both weight gain and loss are annoying, I don't think one is better than the other, I know what you mean Nessa about looking so thin though and worrying. However, having people tell you that you need to lose weight when you literally cannot help it, is very emotionally damaging.
Just remember that you cannot help it, so please please don't feel 'bad' like I used to. I would suspect that your endocrine system is very messed up (I know mine was), probably your pituitary/thymus/thyroid.
I would report it to your doctor though.
One last thought, have you started an SSRI around the time the weight gain started (Zoloft, Paxil, Lexapro, ect)? They will make you gain weight, also birth control pills can do the same.
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
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Just take the best care of yourself as you can. This book shows that unwarrantedly weight gain is not uncommon with lyme and Cpn infections. There are actually many medical articles that link infection with weight gain but, somehow, that connection gets lost.
If you follow good nutrition and be sure to eat ENOUGH good food (yes, really - too many of us don't if we are overweight) . . . . well, when the infection(s) are --- word loss --- the weight can drop off once the infections are dealt with fully. However, along the way, attention to the endocrine system is vital to better address this matter.
Be sure NOT to take anything to boost your energy as that may have the opposite effect by further wearing down your adrenal function. Support, however, is the key. Siberian Ginseng or Ashwagandha are two good choices.
Good sleep is also extremely important.
Several examples of that in this book. One LLMD has a startling example of that here:
------------
This book is specific to lyme and other chronic stealth infections. The author discusses the endocrine connection and effects of STRESS on a person with such infections - and what can help.
You can read customer reviews and look inside the book at this link to its page at Amazon.
The Potbelly Syndrome: How Common Germs Cause Obesity, Diabetes, And Heart Disease (Paperback) - 2005
by Russell Farris and Per Marin, MD, PhD
============
This book, by an ILADS member LLMD, holds great information about treatments options and support measures, including endocrine support during treatment:
[ 05-31-2009, 03:08 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
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You might need more protein. But, also, be sure to have moderate amounts of complex carbs with non-gluten whole grains but mostly with many colors of vegetables and dark berries. Food gives our bodies the energy to loose weight.
If you are not gluten-free, you may see pounds melt away with that one change, itself. This would be due to the inflammation that gluten seems to cause many lyme patients.
Are you getting enough fat? That's a shocker of a question but fat, itself, is vital. That is, the good kinds with essential fatty acids.
Protein helps our bodies make glutathione and that helps the liver detox . . . protein's amino acids help our brain, our hearts, our muscles, etc., etc., etc.,
If you don't get enough protein, it will be harder to maintain a healthy weight in either direction.
THE REQUIREMENTS OF PROTEIN & AMINO ACID DURING ACUTE & CHRONIC INFECTION . . .
Anura V. Kurpad - Institute of Population Health & Clinical Research, Bangalore, India
129. Indian J Med Res 124, August 2006, pp 129-148. Review Article.
Excerpt: " . . . In general, the amount of EXTRA protein that would appear to be needed is of the order of 20-25 per cent of the recommended intake, for most infections. . . ."
- Full article at link (or google the title if it does not go through).
luvs2ride
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8090
posted
Ha-Ha! I think Keebler and I have been posting simultaneously. Here is a post I put on another thread about this same topic.
I have packed on 20lbs. Initially, I lost 20 with the diet change. I kept it off the first year of treatment but when I switched to my current doctor and she put me on so many meds, the 20 lbs came back.
Far worse though is the bloated stomach. I take probiotics and do not seem to have yeast anymore. I have taken months of meds for that as well.
My doctor says it is the toxins moving from my tissues into my fat cells and when we finally move them all out of my body, the weight will drop and the belly will flatten. I hope so.
I got the book "The Potbelly Syndrome" from the library and it talks completely about bacterial causes to potbelly including lyme and CPN. Two things I have.
However, I am deep into the book and he has yet to give any solutions. In fact, so far, he has sounded rather hopeless. The bugs can't be killed. No amount of diet or exercise will remove the potbelly,...etc.
Bummer!
-------------------- When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power, there will be Peace. Posts: 3038 | From america | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
I have gained weight also, aboutn15 lbs. I had blood tests done with a fast by my PCP, and my thyroid level is very low.........thus, I guess the weight gain. I guess the Lyme disease or the meds or anything caused it, but my thyroid is off kilter now.
-------------------- RWM Posts: 18 | From New Hampshire | Registered: Oct 2010
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