Re: Gaining weight with LD

[Guest guest]

I have lost about twenty pounds, but I have no waist [?buddha belly?].

I assumed that most of this is the result of the treatment with

antibiotics causing water retention. I have never had a water

retention problem before.

Kathleen

I gained weight too.  In the pattern that indicates high

cortisol....the buddha belly.   My free cortisol level went through the

roof, as measured by 24 hour urine collection.  Normal is 45.  My last

test was 202.   I assume it is caused by the stress of LD, but I am not

sure.

[Guest guest]

Looking into cortisol level would be a great idea - I know for sure

that abx didnt have anything to do with my weight gain - as I am pretty

sure that the lyme messes with your hormones - my adrenals were not

working and I am sure my thyroid is not working right either due to the

lyme - I feel that is what is behind my weight gain - just have to

figure out how to get them all going again -

I feel your pain or should I say I carry your weight lol

Peace and healing -

Diane

>

..

>

[Guest guest]

The weight came on slowly at about three pounds a year-- but the

Buddha belly is new in just the last three years or so. Before that,

it was all going to my thighs, arms, back, and hips.

Interestingly, I'm having the opposite reaction to the antibiotics. I

had edema in my face and extremities -- and it's remarkable to see it

going away. I'm going to have to have links removed from my watchband.

Boots that were tight on the calf last winter are almost too loose to

stay up now.

I'm liking this part.

Sara

On Nov 30, 2008, at 7:50 AM, Kathleen Pelley wrote:

> I have lost about twenty pounds, but I have no waist [?buddha belly?].

> I assumed that most of this is the result of the treatment with

> antibiotics causing water retention. I have never had a water

> retention problem before.

>

> Kathleen

>

[Guest guest]

I was fortunate to be diagnosed with silent thyroid disorder and

probably adrenal burnout nearly a decade ago, and have been addressing

that pretty effectively ever since. It was one of the first two or

three things I did that began to fuel my recovery from a functioning

level of about 25% to one that's closer to 65%.

The problem with Lyme-related thyroid disorders is that they're not

usually caught by the standard thyroid panels doctors order. My own MD

looked at me at my physical every year for six years running, and

said, " I swear -- there's something wrong with your thyroid. " Her

clinical intuition was telling her the right thing; but the tests

always came back " normal " (for a certain definition of " normal " ), so I

went untreated another year. She should have listened to her common

sense, instead of the dratted test.

Finally, I dragged myself off to a heretic named Shames (you

can google him) who believes in treating symptoms, not test results.

He did some other thyroid tests (including Free T-3 and T-4, which are

telling), and found that I had full-blown Hashimoto's. So I went on

Armour thyroid, plus some DHEA for my adrenals (note that I can't

tolerate either of these drugs apart from the other -- they complement

each other), and life got markedly better after that. (And my doctor

fired me for seeing him, after 10 years as her patient.)

Interestingly, I'm tolerating my thyroid meds less well now that I'm

on abx. It's like my body is saying, " Thanks -- we can take it from

here. "

More on silent thyroid disorder at <www.stopthethyroidmadness.com>.

-----------------

BTW, I'd like to offer my list of stuff that made my life bearable,

and invite other people to share theirs.

1. Sleep study, diagnosing sleep apnea. Lyme patients often have sleep

disorders, many of which are treatable. A good night's sleep does

wonders to help the body cope.

2. Getting thyroid and adrenals checked and treated. As noted, this is

pretty much always messed up in Lyme patients.

3. Getting reproductive hormones checked, and supplementing with

bioidentical progesterone and estrogen. Lyme messes with the endocrine

system, so even women who aren't in their 40s can have really screwy

hormones. (So do men, but they need other kinds of help for that.)

This also will help control weight gain, hair loss, and other

unpleasant physical effects.

4. Discovering I was allergic to soy (and later, nightshades), and

taking it out of my diet. That greatly reduced much of my FM-type

joint pain.

5. B12/GSH injections, NAC, ALA, NADH, and ProBoost to help immune

function.

6. Controlling mood swings and brain fog with St. 's Wort, 5-HTP,

DLPA (for dopamine), niacinamide (magic stuff for brain fog) and

lithium orotate (it only takes a little).

7. Magnesium, zinc, and molybdenum supplements to reduce skeletal

muscle pain and paralysis.

Sara

On Nov 30, 2008, at 8:54 AM, dkbmama wrote:

> Looking into cortisol level would be a great idea - I know for sure

> that abx didnt have anything to do with my weight gain - as I am

> pretty

> sure that the lyme messes with your hormones - my adrenals were not

> working and I am sure my thyroid is not working right either due to

> the

> lyme - I feel that is what is behind my weight gain - just have to

> figure out how to get them all going again -

> I feel your pain or should I say I carry your weight lol

> Peace and healing -

> Diane

[Guest guest]

I've lost 7 pounds which is a lot for me, but I've lost it all in my

legs and arms...my stomach is starting to look like the largest part of

me. This happened before antibiotics with the onset of severe lyme

symptoms.

Maureen

[Guest guest]

Sara, what were your symptoms with the thyroid & adrenal problems?

Pam

Sara wrote:

>

> I was fortunate to be diagnosed with silent thyroid disorder and

> probably adrenal burnout nearly a decade ago, and have been addressing

> that pretty effectively ever since. It was one of the first two or

> three things I did that began to fuel my recovery from a functioning

> level of about 25% to one that's closer to 65%.

>

> The problem with Lyme-related thyroid disorders is that they're not

> usually caught by the standard thyroid panels doctors order. My own MD

> looked at me at my physical every year for six years running, and

> said, " I swear -- there's something wrong with your thyroid. " Her

> clinical intuition was telling her the right thing; but the tests

> always came back " normal " (for a certain definition of " normal " ), so I

> went untreated another year. She should have listened to her common

> sense, instead of the dratted test.

>

> Finally, I dragged myself off to a heretic named Shames (you

> can google him) who believes in treating symptoms, not test results.

> He did some other thyroid tests (including Free T-3 and T-4, which are

> telling), and found that I had full-blown Hashimoto's. So I went on

> Armour thyroid, plus some DHEA for my adrenals (note that I can't

> tolerate either of these drugs apart from the other -- they complement

> each other), and life got markedly better after that. (And my doctor

> fired me for seeing him, after 10 years as her patient.)

>

> Interestingly, I'm tolerating my thyroid meds less well now that I'm

> on abx. It's like my body is saying, " Thanks -- we can take it from

> here. "

>

> More on silent thyroid disorder at <www.stopthethyroidmadness.com>.

>

> -----------------

>

> BTW, I'd like to offer my list of stuff that made my life bearable,

> and invite other people to share theirs.

>

> 1. Sleep study, diagnosing sleep apnea. Lyme patients often have sleep

> disorders, many of which are treatable. A good night's sleep does

> wonders to help the body cope.

>

> 2. Getting thyroid and adrenals checked and treated. As noted, this is

> pretty much always messed up in Lyme patients.

>

> 3. Getting reproductive hormones checked, and supplementing with

> bioidentical progesterone and estrogen. Lyme messes with the endocrine

> system, so even women who aren't in their 40s can have really screwy

> hormones. (So do men, but they need other kinds of help for that.)

> This also will help control weight gain, hair loss, and other

> unpleasant physical effects.

>

> 4. Discovering I was allergic to soy (and later, nightshades), and

> taking it out of my diet. That greatly reduced much of my FM-type

> joint pain.

>

> 5. B12/GSH injections, NAC, ALA, NADH, and ProBoost to help immune

> function.

>

> 6. Controlling mood swings and brain fog with St. 's Wort, 5-HTP,

> DLPA (for dopamine), niacinamide (magic stuff for brain fog) and

> lithium orotate (it only takes a little).

>

> 7. Magnesium, zinc, and molybdenum supplements to reduce skeletal

> muscle pain and paralysis.

>

> Sara

>

> On Nov 30, 2008, at 8:54 AM, dkbmama wrote:

>

> > Looking into cortisol level would be a great idea - I know for sure

> > that abx didnt have anything to do with my weight gain - as I am

> > pretty

> > sure that the lyme messes with your hormones - my adrenals were not

> > working and I am sure my thyroid is not working right either due to

> > the

> > lyme - I feel that is what is behind my weight gain - just have to

> > figure out how to get them all going again -

> > I feel your pain or should I say I carry your weight lol

> > Peace and healing -

> > Diane

>

>

[Guest guest]

God, it's been so long I'm not sure I remember them all now.

I do remember the constant low-grade ache in my throat, like my

thyroid was pining for something. That created stress from my jaw

(TMJ) down to my shoulders and mid-back. That went away within the

first couple months of treatment. I remember that my gum health

improved markedly, as did my skin, which was dry and pale.

My doctor noted the skin texture and color, along with my constant

chill (I was running 1-2 degrees under normal most of the time), and

the tiredness. Also, there are body shape changes, especially around

the face. I see women on the street all the time with these same

symptoms: thin, weedy eyebrows with their tails missing; facial edema,

especially around the eyes; thinning hair. Something like 40% of all

women will be thyroid deficient by 60, so we think of this as natural

aging-related stuff, but it's not.

There's a complete symptom list at stopthethyroidmadness.com. I think

I had 80% of those symptoms. A lot of them, of course, are also key

symptoms of Lyme.

I reacted very badly to the medication at first, and called my doctor

in a panic. He said that it was a sign that my adrenals were probably

underperforming, too: apparently, metabolizing thyroid requires some

stuff that the adrenals make that I wasn't making enough of. He

suggested that I try DHEA as a first step; and if didn't work, we'd do

a more serious adrenal workup. The DHEA (which I'd tried before on its

own, and also reacted badly to) worked like magic to make the Armour

go down, so I never did get that adrenal workup.

It wasn't until I did the Yasko genetic testing that I had conclusive

proof that my adrenals were underperforming. I was messed up on

several genes that are critical to effective adrenal function, as well

as glutathione production. A year later, I started having really awful

mood problems, which another doctor suggested were due to insufficient

dopamine -- which also ties into adrenal function. I started taking

DLPA for that, which brought me back quite nicely.

One of the ways I know I'm getting better on the abx is that physical

or emotional stress doesn't whack me nearly the same way it did just

six months ago. The biggest thing the Armour did for me was make me

feel less brittle in the face of stress; the antibiotics have taken

that to the next step.

Sara

On Dec 1, 2008, at 6:23 PM, Pam Norman wrote:

> Sara, what were your symptoms with the thyroid & adrenal problems?

>

> Pam

>