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Rapid weight loss, hard keeping weight on despite eating A TON of food. HELP!!!

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Kickin'Lyme
Regular Member
Joined : Oct 2015
Posts : 95
Posted 12/14/2015 8:33 AM (GMT -7)
So the thread header pretty much sums it up. I am 5'3" and naturally petite - I have always weighed between 107-112ish, which is normal for me. However, one day this summer (before diagnosis and most symptoms) I got on the scale and my weight had dropped to 102. I don't weigh myself weekly, so maybe it was somewhat gradual, but I remember thinking "whoa, how did that happen?" My family said I looked fine and didn't seem concerned, so I just pushed it to the back of my mind until all of my other symptoms came pouring in. As I searched for a diagnosis over a period of two months for all my strange symptoms, I continued to lose weight and dropped below 100 lbs. Once I began antibiotics, my weight improved and was 104 at its highest.

However, I hit a plateau on antibiotics, and my symptoms are back to square one - including my weight, which is now the lowest it's ever been (well, since pre-puberty), at 95 lbs. I am freaking out because I eat A TON of food - and the right foods, too. Lots of nut butters, coconut oil in my coffee and morning brown rice porridge, scrambled eggs with lots of olive oil, avocado on everything, organic/grass-fed meat. I know some of the weight loss is due to cutting out cheese, bread and sugar (the three major food groups of my pre-lyme diet), but I feel like I am compensating well with healthy alternatives. I eat, and eat, and eat and food passes straight through my system. I'll go to the bathroom just a few hours after eating, and think, "Great- another meal that my body didn't absorb".

Has anyone else experienced this? WHY is this happening? Family and friends can't believe my appetite (which is bigger than my husbands), and not only can I not gain weight, I keep losing weight!
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CD3764
Veteran Member
Joined : Sep 2014
Posts : 4510
Posted 12/14/2015 8:36 AM (GMT -7)
Sorry to hear of these issues!

Have you done a calorie-for-calorie comparison of your pre-Lyme diet to your current one?

Please know that 100 calories of a healthy food is "better processed" by the body than 100 calories of junk food so you might find the need to increase your intake to compensate.

Another thought is hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid). When was the last time you had your thyroid checked?
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Kickin'Lyme
Regular Member
Joined : Oct 2015
Posts : 95
Posted 12/14/2015 8:54 AM (GMT -7)
Hi! Thanks for your response. I have not done a calorie-for-calorie comparison, but that makes sense.

I had my thyroid levels checked while searching for a diagnosis. My PCP said it was normal, but then I switched to a naturopath who had further testing done. She found that it is a little on the hyper side, but nothing extreme.
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finisului17
Regular Member
Joined : Nov 2015
Posts : 233
Posted 12/14/2015 9:32 AM (GMT -7)
Hello I had the same problem first time around last year I lost 6-7 kg in 2 months. I ațe but not well and it all passed trough not beeing absorbed. I went to the bathroom 3-4 times a day. Really it got better progressively with treatment, in the month I did Abx. most consistently (I took 5 of which 1 was Artemisin ).And I gained 4 kg în the last two months of treatment. I heard the fast passing trough of food trough the digestiv tract is due to bartonella and babesia has also some contribution. Do you know your coinfections?
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Traveler
Elite Member
Joined : May 2007
Posts : 36318
Posted 12/14/2015 9:52 AM (GMT -7)
If you cut out cheese & bread just because you have Lyme, add it back in. You have to maintain a healthy weight to heal. If you have issues with candida, it can be tricky, since cheese and bread can add to the issue for many.

Try using protein shakes instead of just some of your water.

You're biggest issue with this though is leaky gut: "I eat, and eat, and eat and food passes straight through my system. I'll go to the bathroom just a few hours after eating, and think, "Great- another meal that my body didn't absorb"."

This will have to be addressed very soon, as you aren't absorbing the things you are taking in. When at my lowest, I had whatever I ate pass through me (with food easily seen undigested) in 20 minutes, which is also painful.

/sites.google.com/site/marylandlyme/lyme/leaky-gut-syndrome

goodbyelyme.com/plugging_leaky_gut
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PeteZa
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Joined : Jul 2015
Posts : 9729
Posted 12/14/2015 10:08 AM (GMT -7)
There are non-dairy cheese substitutes. They taste very different, but are an option. Gluten free bread is an option too, if you are avoiding gluten.

I agree with Traveler about the protein shakes. Not the ones in the store in a can, they have a very high sugar content. Get whey powder.
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CD3764
Veteran Member
Joined : Sep 2014
Posts : 4510
Posted 12/14/2015 10:15 AM (GMT -7)

jbousquet said...
Hi! Thanks for your response. I have not done a calorie-for-calorie comparison, but that makes sense.

I had my thyroid levels checked while searching for a diagnosis. My PCP said it was normal, but then I switched to a naturopath who had further testing done. She found that it is a little on the hyper side, but nothing extreme.

While I agree that the other suggestions made on here have great merit, please know that people can progress with hyperthyroidism.

Now, if your naturopath was looking at just your TSH level and said it was a little on the hyper side, I doubt you have anything to worry about. Your TSH can be as low as .3 and truly be considered healthy.

If your TSH was something like <.005, then I'd suggest complete thyroid testing (Free T4, Free T3 at the absolute least)
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Kickin'Lyme
Regular Member
Joined : Oct 2015
Posts : 95
Posted 12/14/2015 10:31 AM (GMT -7)

Traveler said...
If you cut out cheese & bread just because you have Lyme, add it back in. You have to maintain a healthy weight to heal. If you have issues with candida, it can be tricky, since cheese and bread can add to the issue for many.

Try using protein shakes instead of just some of your water.

You're biggest issue with this though is leaky gut: "I eat, and eat, and eat and food passes straight through my system. I'll go to the bathroom just a few hours after eating, and think, "Great- another meal that my body didn't absorb"."

This will have to be addressed very soon, as you aren't absorbing the things you are taking in. When at my lowest, I had whatever I ate pass through me (with food easily seen undigested) in 20 minutes, which is also painful.

/sites.google.com/site/marylandlyme/lyme/leaky-gut-syndrome

goodbyelyme.com/plugging_leaky_gut

I cut out gluten because I was having bad abdominal paint after eating it. Dairy I could tolerate, but I cut out only because I have lyme. Should I add it back in? You mentioned healing leaky gut first - don't I need to cut out dairy and gluten, sugar, nuts, legumes and even some vegetables to do that?? That seems so extreme and I surely will lose even more weight by doing so. Suggestions?

Post Edited (jbousquet) : 12/14/2015 10:35:00 AM (GMT-7)

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Traveler
Elite Member
Joined : May 2007
Posts : 36318
Posted 12/14/2015 11:41 AM (GMT -7)
I had leaky gut and did not cut those out to heal - although exactly what I did I'm not sure to be honest with you. I used a Traditional Chinese Practitioner who worked very hard to help correct my numerous digestive issues, but the main thing I did was drink fresh ginger tea (made with fresh ginger, a must) 3 times a day - about 30 minutes before eating. I would often drink it as I was preparing the meal. My doc wanted me to drink it warm not chilled.

I know I took other herbs as well though to help heal my digestive tract. You might want to look into alternative medicine for help in healing your digestive tract.

You don't want to add back in anything like gluten foods since you have had issues with it, but I would second PeteZa's suggestion about gluten free breads, and some non-dairy cheeses. There are even non-soy options out there, as I am allergic to soy and did the non-dairy cheese thing for a bit due to food allergen testing.

If you can switch to raw goat milk dairy products, it is by far the healthiest dairy there is. It's the only milk that both the Naturopathic Doc's society and Traditional Chinese Medicine agrees is healthy and uses it in their healing practices.
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Razzle
Veteran Member
Joined : Aug 2007
Posts : 4415
Posted 12/14/2015 10:33 PM (GMT -7)
Could also be parasites. Parasites are considered to be among the most common of Lyme coinfections by some LLMD's/LLND's.

For thyroid info, check out stopthethyroidmadness.com

And I also agree about checking your calorie intake now vs. prior to changing your diet.

Also, most of us don't chew our food enough times before swallowing. Digestion begins in the mouth, with the mixing of the food with enzymes in our saliva. This is particularly important with carbohydrates, but also the food itself needs to be very broken down by the teeth first before sending it along to the stomach. The stomach doesn't have teeth, so large pieces of food can't be broken down easily once swallowed, which means the nutrition in those large pieces won't get digested & metabolized.

White bread, cheese, and other similar "soft, white foods" typical of the "standard American diet" will eventually dissolve in liquid solution, but high fiber healthier foods don't break down well even when wet. Thus the teeth must do more work, so that the enzymes in the stomach and small intestine can get to all the nutrition in the food to enable absorption.

It is also known that Bartonella and Babesia (in addition to Lyme borrelia) can affect gut transit time, either speeding it up or slowing it down. Furthermore, these critters can cause inflammation in the gut, which causes leaky gut, protein loss into the gastrointestinal tract (a marker for inflammation), and malabsorption. All of this can lead to weight loss.

Marshmallow Root, DGL, zinc carnosine, Slippery Elm Bark, okra, L-glutamine are all things you can try for helping to heal the leaky gut. Omega 3 fatty acids (from fish oil) are also very important for healing a leaky gut.

Candida can also complicate this (by making leaky gut worse), as can taking antibiotics that destroy beneficial bacteria in the gut. Probiotics are an important part of restoring health to the gut, but start carefully because a leaky gut can make tolerance of probiotics difficult.
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astroman
Veteran Member
Joined : Mar 2014
Posts : 7615
Posted 12/14/2015 10:56 PM (GMT -7)
Leaky gut and candida are best friends, and your best enemies.

I went G/F years ago for a while. Now I eat gluten again, but for bread at home I only buy real sourdough. Its the way bread was made hundreds of years ago and is way better for you, its fermented dough. Many celiacs can even eat it.

www.culturedfoodlife.com/can-sourdough-change-the-gluten-free-diet/
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mpost
Veteran Member
Joined : Missing Key Value : en-US, 577 2015
Posts : 1698
Posted 12/14/2015 11:57 PM (GMT -7)
I went through a similar experience, while on antibiotics i decided to go gluten free, dairy free, sugar free. Started to loose weight rapidly. BAD IDEA.

My LLMD told me to add dairy back. I'm also eating gluten free bread. There you go, 5m later i am feeling much better and have put some weight back on.

I no longer have any gut issues at all (and that was the first place where Lyme has hit me). I believe it's important not to eat gluten during treatment, but dairy does not seem to be such a big issue (at least not for me). But it can become a big issue if you don't eat it as it is a great source of energy. Also Calcium levels can drop if you don't eat dairy.

jbousquet said...

coconut oil in my coffee

Im eating around 1.5 pounds of coconut butter per month. That coconut oil you put in your coffee is too little to do anything IMHO. Maybe if you would have had huge candida overgrowth it would have help cut it back a bit. Coconut is a great source of healthy fat, especially for lymies which have a restricted diet, so im seeing it more as food now and less as a medicine.

Another thing that helped me tremendously is this calorie app. I've installed it on my phone and i've just put EVERYTHING in. I have found in horror that i am not eating enough to maintain my weight, even though as you, i was sure i am "full tank" and eating all the time. But it makes a huge difference what you eat. Some veggies have very few calories and can make you feel full... So i ended up force feeding myself an extra meal before bed just to reach my daily calorie threshold. Ofc that was partly because i was not eating any dairy and gluten free bread...
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Summersun
Regular Member
Joined : Apr 2014
Posts : 451
Posted 12/16/2015 2:17 PM (GMT -7)
The same thing happened to me when I first got sick. I lost 20 lbs pretty quickly and was down to a size 0. Like you I am petite and I was very worried about it. No matter what I ate I couldn't gain weight, but then after being in treatment for a year or so, after my gut started to heal, I suddenly gained back 3 lbs. Then a few months later I had gained 10 lbs in total. Now I am almost back to my original size. The pounds are creeping back on and truthfully, I wish it would stop now! I am still not able to exercise much so now I am worried that I will gain too much weight. Crazy.

So, if I were you I would focus on healing the gut - a good quality probiotic and bone broth are very good for that.
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tbohl
Regular Member
Joined : Nov 2014
Posts : 420
Posted 12/16/2015 2:40 PM (GMT -7)
I have the same problem... I'm exactly you weight/height, the Lyme, stress and anxiety caused my weight loss and actually eating healthier, made me lose weight
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reminder
Regular Member
Joined : Dec 2015
Posts : 467
Posted 2/15/2016 2:45 PM (GMT -7)
gut feels better,however,started Rifamin 2 weeks ago and now starting to drop weight? I eat paleo (mostly)
and now wondering....what else can this be...i get light bouts of fatigue on this stuff?

thyroid is interesting......next

)
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