Re:A Weighty Question

[Guest guest]

Sara,

I've seen the movie and honestly didn't notice the weight of the Lyme patients

other than Mandy who was just so sick that the wasted away look just seemed to

go along with that. One of the vague and easily overlooked symptoms I had

before I knew it was Lyme was weight gain. I gained 15 pounds in three months

without a change in activity or diet. My thyroid tested fine at that time so

I'm pretty sure it's a Lyme symptom. Once I started treatment and got really

sick I gained a bit more from lack of activity but now, in my fourth month of

treatment, I'm starting to lose it... I can't do all the activities I used to

yet, like horseback riding, aerobics and weightlifting but I did start going for

walks recently and if you can manage that, it really helps both to stay a little

active and just to get outside. I know I tend to notice other's weight more if

I feel self-concious about my own. Please don't feel badly if you've gained

weight from this - try to stay focused on getting healthy and including a

healthy diet and as much exercise as you handle as part of your daily regimen...

-

[Guest guest]

Hi Sara:

I, too, gained soooo much weight. I had been thin all of my life - I would

hover between too thin and sometimes slightly " puffy " (which I now think was

also Lyme related as I was first bit when I was about 7, 8 or 9 years old).

Altho' I have always had a poor appetite (which started around the time of the

first bite), when I got really, really sick, I lost lots of weight in a short

period of time and then begain gaining weight, and gaining, and gaining. I had

chronic pain so some of it was due to inactivity, but I later discovered that my

thyroid completely " pooped out " and that was the main reason for the weight

gain. I gained almost 100 pounds before I found a dr. to run " alternative "

thyroid testing: temperature, heart rate & blood pressure charted for a month

(every hour these systems were " taken " and charted). All of these systems were

slow or low (average temp. ran 96.8) heartrate was slow and blood pressure was

low. My hair fell out by the handsful, as well. She put me on Armour thyroid

(not synthroid or any other synthetic thyroid). This was before my Lyme dx, so

I was lucky to find a doc who used the proper type of medication for a Lymie.

Anyway, my weight gain pretty much stopped increasing. I never lost much (I

still go up & down), but at least I didn't continue to put on more and more

weight.

I am still waaaaayyyyy overweight, but the thyroid has helped w/the hair loss,

too. I know that my inactivity still causes me to not lose weight, but if I

ever get the chronic pain and breathing problems under control, I hope to be

able to excise again.

good luck, hope this helps a bit.