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Post by Patti on Nov 20, 2005 10:02:02 GMT -5
abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=special_coverage&id=3636503WPVI-TV, ABC Channel 6 Philadelphia PA November 16, 2005 Bug Blamed for Obesity November 16, 2005 - Overeating, genetics, and lack of exercise usually get the blame. But one doctor says for some people, it all begins with an insect bite. Pat Keller-Berrett: "I'd put on something like 30 pounds that I could not lose." Pat Keller-Berrett first noticed the trouble losing weight after a bout with Lyme Disease 8 years ago. It worsened after she got Lyme Disease again. Pat Keller-Berrett/Oxford, Pennsylvania: "I couldn't lose more than a few pounds, no matter what I did." By early 2003, she weighed over 240 pounds. Keller. "I just basically gave up, and said - Ok, I'm going to be a 240-pound woman for the rest of my life." During her battle with Lyme Disease, Keller went to see Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker, a Maryland physician studying the tick-borne ailment. Dr. Shoemaker noticed Keller had high levels of leptin, a hormone that regulates how the body stores fat. He suggested an unconventional approach - restricting some foods in her diet, and taking cholestyramine, an old cholesterol-lowering drug. Keller. "The first week I lost 7 pounds." Eighteen months later, the pounds are still dropping off. Keller: "I've gone down something like 5 sizes." Dr. Shoemaker says he sees a lot of Lyme Disease patients with weight problems. Dr. Shoemaker: "This is an illness that makes people tired, in pain, and fat." Dr. Shoemaker believes that when a person is bitten by a tick, the tiny organisms that cause Lyme Disease unleash toxins. In many people, these toxins disrupt the body's ability to handle leptin, which is produced by fat cells. Instead of burning fat, these people store it, adding more and more weight. Dr. Shoemaker says the toxins remain, long after antibiotics wipe out Lyme Disease. Dr. Shoemaker: "Cholestyramine, a very poorly tolerated, but very old-fashioned cholesterol medication, will bind to Lyme toxin." He says once the toxins are out of the body, a Lyme patient can lose weight again. Penelope Pattenden says she's shed 20 pounds since trying Dr. Shoemaker's regimen. Penelope Pattenden/St. Michael's, Maryland: "The weight came off quite rapidly. I was quite surprised." Shoemaker's eating plan restricts foods high in amylose, a form of sugar. Pat and her husband don't eat wheat, potatoes, or refined sugars, but do eat a lot of fruits, vegetables, and dairy products, like cheese. Kory: "We've got swiss cheese, jack cheese..." So what do other physicians think? Dr. Rob Danoff of Frankford Health System says there's no science to support the Lyme toxin theory. He says these patients lose weight because they're cutting out certain sugars and starches. Plus, the drug cholestyramine is notorious for upsetting stomachs. Dr. Rob Danoff/Frankford Health System: "You really wouldn't feel like eating. Not only that, cholestyramine can block some fat absorption." Pat says, whatever the reason for her new shape- she's happy to have gone from this to this. Keller: "I really like the way I'm eating, I like how I'm feeling." (Copyright 2005 by Action News. All Rights Reserved.)
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Post by Newby on Nov 20, 2005 12:31:17 GMT -5
Patti,
Thank you for the information. I have been suffering with morgellons for four years. Extreme symptoms for about 1 1/2 years. I have put on 50 lbs in the last 8 months and it is not due to over eating. My closet has pants in it that won't go much past my knees. This gives me even more hope. Thanks again.
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Post by Administration on Dec 1, 2005 12:04:58 GMT -5
Newby, I got sick with Lyme back in 98..The first year or so I just felt aweful, tired, no appetite. I was a perfect weight but thought for sure I would have lost a ton from not eating.. I think it was the following year when I got so much worse I put on 100 lbs in 8 months.. Again one of the strangest things, I was sick, in pain and depressed.. and would literally go days without eating anything. Had no appetite whatsoever and still dont. I should be a skeleton with what I eat, (or dont eat), yet the weight stays. This really is a strange disease, seems people either lose large amounts of weight no matter how much they eat.. or gain large amounts eating nothing. In my pre sick days I could work out at a gym all day and maybe try taking the weight off that way, but now, with so many of my larger muscles hit so hard, thats impossible too. This is the main thing I keep asking about.. what in the world is my body living off of? My family is always on me about not eating.. so when they are here I throw some salad in a bowl and try to get that down, as soon as they arent paying attention, I ditch it in the garbage. I understand the article about Lyme throwing the body out of whack, but really... what is the body living on? Very strange indeed.. Kerry
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Post by DOCP on Dec 1, 2005 13:05:00 GMT -5
Holy Moly you guys... that's so much weight so fast. When healthy... I can remember gaining 10 lbs and how that can damper your mood, thus I can't imagine how 50 or 100 in 8 months must have freaked you out. So I did opposite and started dropping dropping to like 125 which was the only thing that was going my way but became too tired to be that excited about. Then others became concerned about it happening so fast questions of eating disorders etc. and I was like... no way, I swear, it's just this weird virus i can't seem to shake cuz I'm actually eating same things same amounts. Then dropped to 110 and then I was freaking out. Bony and hollow looking. I think I got down to 98 at one point (as in my 6th grade weight) and was sure I had AIDS and that my labs must be faulty. My friends thought I was doing drugs, etc. But where the heck was my food going? I'm guessing the Bb was affecting the regulation of that hormone "leptin" as Dr. Shoemaker suggested. I finally started putting some back on which was good, but now a bit worried because it seems so rapid lately and am surpassing my "normal" weight and it's cellulite and loose sagging kind of fat and skin and no muscle and I still look drawn... just heavier. Uhg!
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Post by Newby on Dec 1, 2005 22:03:09 GMT -5
Hi Kerry,
I shudder to think, (because I know), what my body is living on. Die off? Uhg!!! Doctor says that when this is under control, at least 60% of the weight will "melt" off. I also have edema that you wouldn't believe. If you press my shin midway between my knee and my ankle, and not too hard, it looks like a teaspoon full has been removed. When I remove my socks, there is about a half inch difference in size as compared to the skin just above it. Do you have terrible edema as well? DOCP, with the benefit of hindsight, I was a size 4, yes FOUR, two years ago, and believe it was also attributable to Morgellons because up to that point, I was always a size 6.. So BE CAREFUL. My body responds to even small amounts of salt. I blow up, even at my new size, and it is noticeable for the next few days. I am sure that I need the iodine, but not necessarily the sodium. On a lighter note, wanna trade? Fare well.
Love and health
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Post by Administration on Dec 1, 2005 23:24:47 GMT -5
newby, yes.. I have the edema as well... right where you describe.. my lower legs. I probably have it all over but cant tell from the fat.. as with you.. when I take my socks off they leave an indentation. For awhile I was swelled even worse.. I found drinking large amounts of water does help a bit with that. I was down to a size 5.. only 5'1.. now I am 5 foot.. I swear all this weight has shrunk me down. So you can imagine how I look now.. My Dr told me the same thing.. when I get better the weight will drop off.. but what will become of this stretched skin I wonder? I shudder to even think about it. If you saw what I eat in a day you would wonder how I am alive.. I wonder. I swear.. it must be living off the fat? I have no muscle left.. and its a weird looking fat.. reminds me of those pics of Lyme in Europe where those people get that elephantitis looking fat.. forget what its called now. All I know is I gained weight when I was pregnant and it sure didnt look like this fat...very strange. If I had the money I would get liposuction just to see what it looked like when it got sucked out.. compared to regular fat I mean. And yes... I would trade places too.. would gladly be 95 lbs compared to this.. Im looking more and more like a sumo wrestler..not good for a 39 year old woman who is already bitter.. Kerry
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Post by Newby on Dec 3, 2005 7:44:48 GMT -5
Kerry,
Good laugh. I too could enter a sumo wrestler's competition. You are also right about this not being normal "fat". I look like myself in a fat suit. About the stretched skin, my doc said that when this is over, I will look like I have had a body and face lift and look 10 to 15 years younger. Long before I knew about morgellons, I thought that our aging was due, in part, to parasites that all of us on this planet have. In dealing with this plague the usual parasites Will be killed, thus rejuvenating us with healthier organs and blood. Stay strong because will be delivered.
Love and health, Newby
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Post by glennb on Jul 13, 2006 2:34:38 GMT -5
I also have Lyme and gained alot of weight, about 60 pounds. I think some of it is from water retention in my legs and abdomen. I have been getting lymph massages and that has helped a little with the water in my legs. Sometimes I think the weight gain is from all the parasites that are in my body, there seem to be so many that they must make up a significant portion of my weight.
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Post by patricia1 on Jul 13, 2006 3:42:16 GMT -5
Have lyme too but lost weight. I to am 5"1 and barely a 100 pds, don't know if wanting to have lost weight opposed to gaining would be better, like DOCP mentions above, I to was accused of drugs, eating disorders and anything else but the disease. Looked sikly and gross, sunken in. Feel like people stare and think " ewe, stay way away from me". Had one family member tell me that I look like i'm going thru Chemo therapy! Well anyway it presents is bad, It is strange the things that happen! Sorry that anyone is here, but thankgooness their are others to talk to!!
Patti2
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Post by patricia1 on Jul 14, 2006 4:50:37 GMT -5
Hi Mari, even though was losing weight, I ate like a horse but only the things I craved. For about the first year with this crude it was Oreo cookies and milk, I had to have the oreos, then that craving left and then the next two years it was the breads especially Pretzels, thought "well at least they have salt on them". The craving is almost over whelming! Patti2
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Post by Patti on Jul 14, 2006 9:44:23 GMT -5
When I just had the chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, I gained 40 pounds real fast and over the next year I gained 20 more.....back then I was eating pretty healthy and there wasn't any logical reason to be gaining. Then after my gallbladder surgery 8 years ago, I started losing and it hasn't stopped since, even though I eat normally and am not trying to lose (I've lost 100 lbs. on the nose as of last week). I do have carb cravings but they come in cycles and I try to limit my sweets as best I can, eating only bits of dark chocolate when the cravings are bad.
I know that I'm eating too many processed foods but that's all I can afford......money-wise and health-wise, since I'm too sick to cook anymore. If I have $30 to spend on groceries, you know it's a good month but they are far and few between. I don't know how we are supposed to eat correctly when this disease has bankrupted many of us and food is so high, especially the food that is good for us.
I guess I need to be thankful that I have any food at all, since so many are much worse off than I am.
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Post by glennb on Jul 19, 2006 1:59:04 GMT -5
Stumbled across some info on Magnesium deficiencies and blood sugar abnormalities/insulin resistance (which can cause weight gain).
Lyme creates a high need for Magnesium in the body. Most with Lyme who are not supplementing with Magnesium are Magnesium deficient. Magnesium deficiency is a contributing factor, strongly linked in several Pub Med abstracts that I read, to the development of blood sugar abnormalities, hypoglycemia, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and HBP.
Based on this I wonder if magnesium deficiencies are the underlying reason so many of us have put on large amounts of weight.
Perhaps we are not getting nearly the magnesium that we need. Since most of us are not getting specifically tested for low mag it is possible that even if we are supplementing with mag we are not taking enough or it is not being properly absorbed.
Other signs of mag deficiency are irritable muscles, weakness, muscle spasms, cramping, low energy, depression, sleep problems, heart rhythm irregularities. Anyone with Lyme experiencing weight gain, hypoglycemia,insulin resistance or any of the other sings of mag deficiency should probably consider increasing their mag supplementation.
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