I do think there is a difference between increased appetite and weight gain. One sometimes causes the other but they are not the same effects from abx. I think it's generally accepted that abx use disrupts the gut flora, which can disrupt a whole bunch of other stuff.
Research now shows that some bacteria cause weight gain, the absence of some bacteria can cause weight gain. I love the research that was done on fecal micro biome transplant where a mother used her daughter's feces (I think it was to cure c diff) and became obese. They linked that outcome to the fact that the daughter was obese. They have done similar studies with twins (one slim, one obese) and transferred the bacteria to mice--the fecal matter from the obese twin made the mouse obese; the reverse was not true (meaning, they could not reverse obesity with using the thin twin's feces).
This subject is very upsetting to me. I almost skipped posting but decided to go ahead and post.
I have always been small, athletic and very active. But ever since contracting lyme & co, I have gained a shocking amount of weight. I have struggled with a poor appetite my entire life and it only got worse after starting treatment so I'm eating less, not more. I am VERY concerned I won't be able to get the weight off because I know first-hand my issue is not a calories in/out sort of thing.
about
6 yrs ago when my GI issues were at their worst, like Jenny, for about
6 months I was on a liquid diet-- if I ate at all (pureed veggies and chicken soup, mainly) and I GAINED WEIGHT. This past February I had a horrible GI episode and couldn't eat for a couple weeks and the two wks after that I had horrible nausea and cramps and barely ate. I did lose about
10 lbs because I literally wasn't eating. But once I started eating again (basically broccoli and chicken) the weight came right back. My diet is very strict. My GI seems to hate food (I feel immediately bloated, crampy, distended stomach and my intestines ache after eating--no matter what I eat) so I end up fasting a lot. But I can only do that for a couple of days because then I get weak and start feeling ill.
I think lyme has destroyed my metabolism and my eating habits are so erratic, which doesn't help. And even though I ride my bike almost every day, it's not true exercise (not like I'm used to). So I really don't know how I'm going to be able to lose weight until I am way past the lyme treatment and able to work out really really hard again. But being overweight this long has to do some damage.
When I did DNA testing I ran my data through an interesting program which was supposed to indicate for you what your "formula" was--some people only have to watch their diet, some people only have to exercise regularly, and some people need to do both vigorously in order to maintain a low weight... I was the latter, of course.
A lot of people talk about
how they've lost weight due to the illness and it's worrisome and embarrassing, etc. I feel horrible for anyone experiencing any part of this disgusting illness. But to be this ill and have so much falling apart in your body and fighting so many fronts at the same time with very little support... AND to be considered "fat and lazy" by a very harsh society (including a ^$#&@$% cardiologist!!) is something uglier than I ever imagined. Unless you've walked a day in these shoes you have no idea how miserable life and lyme & co can be--physically living in a body that just isn't yours but also a body that people despise. And make no mistake, I've lived as a skinny person and now living in this body I can tell you absolutely that people don't HESITATE to judge you and let you know it. It's nasty and hateful.
/rant over.
-p
Post Edited (Pirouette) : 4/27/2016 11:01:06 PM (GMT-6)