Excessive weight loss following C-Diff Treatment?

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MMD
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Excessive weight loss following C-Diff Treatment?

Postby MMD » Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:55 pm

Hello,

Posting on behalf of my 76 year old mother and trying to help her get to bottom of her weight loss. What are the possible causes of excessive weight loss following C-diff treatment? Is it just that the intestines were so damaged? We are 7 months post vanco treatment. She does not have diarrhea, and we are assuming she no longer has C-dif. She does take some sort of gummy fiber probiotic that she complains gives her multiple bowel movements a day. Not sure if that could be the culprit. She eats a variety of foods that do not cause her any significant GI trouble but she has steadily lost weight since she was treated for the C-Diff. Her weight loss is up to 34 lbs. which started shortly after treatment and she continues to lose about a pound or more every week. I am at my wits end and it's getting scary. We are seeing a Gastroenterologist tomorrow, Monday, January 8, 2018 to try to get to the bottom of why. Any thoughts appreciated. Please note that I researched 'weight loss' in the search field and have read much about it already but picking brains to see if any new ideas are presented or suggestions to try. Thanks!

beth22
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Re: Excessive weight loss following C-Diff Treatment?

Postby beth22 » Mon Jan 08, 2018 2:30 am

I kept losing weight too. I had SIBO which gave me a lot of food intolerances, but I also developed chronic pancreatitis. If you are seeing a GI ask to have her pancreatic enzymes checked and maybe have stool tests done too to make sure she doesn't have some other kind of pathogen. I also had low grade c diff for a while. I'm not sure what causes the weight loss. While one has D, that is one thing, but a lot of people have posted that they continued to lose weight. I know that after c diff many have malabsorption to one extent or another and if you don't absorb the nutrients from the food, then you don't get the vitamins and minerals you need and you can also lose weight. That is what I was told by my GI. I was deficient in vitamin D and A and others in B12 and iron, etc. I would ask your GI about all of this and see if perhaps she can supplement her diet with something like Ensure. It doesn't agree with everyone, like me, but many have taken it (the shake kind) and it has helped them to gain weight. There are other nutritional drinks that are by Rx. Ask the GI if this might be something that would benefit her.

Bobbie
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Re: Excessive weight loss following C-Diff Treatment?

Postby Bobbie » Tue Jan 09, 2018 4:31 pm

I also lost a lot of weight. Now, years later, I am too heavy.

I made myself eat 3x a day - sometimes very small portions. I tried to eat the easiest digestible food -'chicken and the other foods mentioned in CDI - Nutrition. I made a smoothie every morning - soy milk, bananas, and blue berries - mixed in a blender - made 3 or 4 servings.

I drank two can of Ensure plus (vanilla) a day. There are many varieties of it and Boast now. Make sure she stays hydrated - 8 or so,glasses of water per day.a

I stayed away from dairy foods (after a GI upset our bodies can lose the ability to digest dairy foods).-

There are some new products out now like Entergram. Ask the GI about them.some docs recommend probiotics. Some don't. They are a "might help, might not")' subject.

Smart move going to a GI.
Let us know what he/she said. Tell your mom hi from another young person - I am 77. BTW, buy her a few new clothes in between sizes - always a "pick me up."

justme
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Re: Excessive weight loss following C-Diff Treatment?

Postby justme » Tue Jan 09, 2018 8:52 pm

I had the same experience as Bobby (and she and I are close to the same age - I'll be 74 in February). C. Diff brought my weight down from 145 lbs. to 104 lbs. in less than 6 weeks. It took quite awhile to gain it back (and I added another 5+ lbs. and now would like to lose some). I ate 4 meals a day and as many fatty foods as my intestines could tolerate. Actually, some of the fattier food is easier on the digestive system. Bananas are great as they add calories and are very digestible. I added as much food as I could that had a high calorie count, but while avoiding those that gave me IBS. If she can't eat a lot at one sitting, eating several small meals throughout the day will also help add the weight. As for probiotics - some of us can take them and some cannot. I've never had good luck them and now only take them if I have to have an antibiotic. Good luck in finding a good fix for your mom.
Aloha,
Anne

MKW
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Re: Excessive weight loss following C-Diff Treatment?

Postby MKW » Wed Jan 10, 2018 1:03 pm

Hi, I am 46 year old female and had a successful
FMT in March of 2017. At my worst point with c Diff I got down to 102. I am fairly sure I weighed around 130 and am 5’4” when I got sick the first time. When I had my FMT done after two months of Vanco I weighed 112. After the FMT I lost a few pounds staying around 108-109 for months no matter how much I eat. Over the holidays I went back down to 102, which really scared me. I just went to my GI specialist Friday and they are running a bunch of tests for pancreatic enzymes, complete medabolic panel, inflammatory marker tests, stool culture for pathogens. I have had ibs since my FMT but no regular or significant D. I remain literally clueless as to why I can’t put on weight and so easily lose weight. I kid around and tell people my stool donation must have come from a skinny college student needing extra money. As of now, I am waiting on my test results. So, your mom’s GI specialist will likely run a similar round of tests. -melanie

Davidtm
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Re: Excessive weight loss following C-Diff Treatment?

Postby Davidtm » Wed Jan 10, 2018 7:34 pm

Thought I would chime in about my own weight loss. Fmt in February of last year with a few scares since. My last scare being over Christmas. Things seem to have stabilized so I’m trying to keep optimistic. The only thing that isn’t stable is my weight. I started this around 235 and am currently 170ish I was 190 I believe when I got the fmt. My dr was concerned about the continued weight loss so he checked my thyroid. Normal. Will ask about it pancreas enzymes. But he concluded it was most likely due to my diet. I cut out all sweets, treats, alchohol, and dairy. I’ve read a lot of others have also cut things out of their diet so I’m sure it plays a roll. Trying to get up to 180 again.
Hope you find out what’s going on.
And Melanie my donor was my brother who has always been very thin and lean. Maybe there is some truth to that

beth22
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Re: Excessive weight loss following C-Diff Treatment?

Postby beth22 » Thu Jan 11, 2018 12:31 am

I lost weight after fmt too, but I think it was malabsorption and SIBO in my case. I was,similar to Melanie when I started c diff around 127. Went down to 102. Then slowly gained to 110 - 112 and stayed that way for a few years. It is,only in the last 18 months or so that I am about 120 - 122 and back to my old clothes size. When I was in the hospital in 2016 with flu complications I was given antibiotics that resulted in my testing positive for c diff on pcr, but I think they helped the SIBO and IBS and that enabled me to gain the weight and expand my diet. I also did FMT enemas. My donor is not heavy, but heavier than I am.

MMD
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Re: Excessive weight loss following C-Diff Treatment?

Postby MMD » Sun Jan 14, 2018 12:47 pm

Thank you all for your ideas and thoughts. I have shared each of your messages with her. She is beside herself with fear and has told me that she wants "to get her affairs" in order. She hates the way she looks on top of the weight loss being scary in and of itself. Yesterday, she went to a get together with friends she has not seen in awhile and they all commented about how much weight she has lost. This really brought it home for her. Last week, we saw the GI Doctor I mentioned. He has ordered the pancreatic enzyme tests and a stool sample to look for bacteria, I think. She will also do the test for SIBO. He really had nothing for us, and was uninspriing, and said that "weight loss was not something he's seen after C-Dif and he's seen a lot of C-Dif." <Insert wide eyed emoticon> Not sure what to think. This was not a particularly young doctor, so I would think he should have seen weight loss as part of his C-Dif patients but he has not. Anyway, I have researched this morning all sorts of snack ideas for mom to get her weight up. The problem is that her bowels will not let her have things like milk and nuts, which have the highest calories. If she could do a nut, milk smoothie! Oh boy, we'd be in business!! She also was never very adventurous with her foods. So I've told her she needs to eat things that she wouldn't normally eat for certain times of the day--like s slab of red meat for breakfast or eggs with avocado. She really finds it hard to break out routines she has had for 77 years. I felt good that I could tell her that she is not alone and that others have also struggled to gain weight. It was nice that some of you had gained the weight back and in fact had to go back to losing. Thank you for your ideas! I'm still checking this forum so any additional posters, please feel free to add on anything you've got. Many thanks!!!! P.S. Have any of you tried the weight lifter, weight gaining powders? They always try to gain weight, right?

NanciT
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Re: Excessive weight loss following C-Diff Treatment?

Postby NanciT » Sun Jan 14, 2018 7:41 pm

I would recommend she see a nutritionist who can guide her. I cannot imagine a GI saying patients don't lose weight with CDIFF, honestly that is shocking!
I do question how much experience some GI's have with CDIFF.

Please tell your Mom so MANY of us have lost a great deal of weight during this illness, it has taken me time to put it back on and I am not where I was 3 years ago when diagnosed.

It takes time and getting a health professional to help with a balanced healthy diet would be your best bet

Nancit

MMD
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Re: Excessive weight loss following C-Diff Treatment?

Postby MMD » Tue Jan 16, 2018 10:36 am

NanciT wrote:
> I would recommend she see a nutritionist who can guide her. I cannot
> imagine a GI saying patients don't lose weight with CDIFF, honestly that is
> shocking!
> I do question how much experience some GI's have with CDIFF.
>
> Please tell your Mom so MANY of us have lost a great deal of weight during
> this illness, it has taken me time to put it back on and I am not where I
> was 3 years ago when diagnosed.
>
> It takes time and getting a health professional to help with a balanced
> healthy diet would be your best bet
>
> Nancit

Seeing a nutritionist is our next step this week! I will tell her that she is not alone! Thank you!


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