What Can I Do To Gain Weight

[PiscesLove]

My cd4 keeps going up but my weight keeps going down & I'm not understanding. My meals mainly consist of fast food yet I've lost 20 more pounds within the last couple of months. I'm now back down to 115 in which I weighed in high school. Is there any type of medicine I can take to help? My Dr says my body mass is good for my height & age. I'm not trying to look sickly. Any suggestions

[leatherman]

What HIV meds are you on now? Do you have issues with vomiting or diarrhea?

Why would you suggest another medication?  Especially to gain weight. Pills don't fix everything. 

Perhaps, especially with the big loss you're describing, if you start keeping a calendar monitoring your caloric intake, you (with your doctor's assistance) could figure out if there's a problem, as CD4s and weight are unrelated. Maybe there's an underlying gastric issue that needs to be addressed. Or maybe you're just not taking in enough calories.

[PiscesLove]

I take Complera. I went from 145 to 115 in a matter of 3 months. My last doctor prescribed me Periactin. A steroid used to help cancer patients but  my new Doctor won't give me anything I was wondering if there was something over the counter that would help. Do you think those one a day women vitamins will help? Just tired of my family asking if I'm eating & I clearly am. This is the second time this has happened in my almost 2 years of being poz. Oh and no diahrea or vomit more constipation if anything

[OneTampa]

Have you asked your doctor to check for Type II Diabetes?  Sometimes rapid weight loss signals the onset of diabetes.

There could also be other gatric issues as others have suggested.

You should again consult with your doctor.

Take care.

[texaninnyc87]

what about doing it the old fashioned way? tons of milk shakes.

[friskyguy]

if you are not suffering from an identifiable illness affecting ur weight than try the simple following formula as mentioned in the above posts.......

Calories intake (eating) > Calories utilised (exercise and stress) = WEIGHT GAIN

and get lots of sleep

[Jeff G]

Your doctor probably has already checked but ask if you have been screened for hyperthyroidism .

Thyroid issues can work both ways when it comes to losing or gaining weight .

http://www.ehow.com/about_5382046_thyroid-weight-loss.html

[PiscesLove]

Thanks everyone for the replies....Stress may just b the key factor. But I'm def trying the milkshake thing never heard of it, & def more calories. Thanks everyone I will let u kno how it goes.

[texaninnyc87]

drink a milkshake with every meal. Use whipping cream instead of milk.

[davidclark]

I have the same issues.

I have always had issues with weight and being slim even before. Although I'm eating well and exceeding 2500 calories a day, I'm still losing weight. And I agree it's not a good feeling when the first thing people comment on when they see you is how much weight you have lost
Wish there was an easy fit to gaining weight, but seems not

[mecch]

I disagree with a fair amount of this casual advice of trying to stuff yourself with more calories.
It just seems to me that something is wrong with your system, and you need a doctor and perhaps a nutritionist to get some answers.
You are eating mostly fast food.  Fast food means to me, already a diet likely high in salt, and saturated fat..  So it seems like a BAD idea to try to gain weight by adding MORE SATURATED FAT (milk shakes!?) to your diet.  I would go for high quality proteins and high quality unsaturated fats - healthy oils, fatty fishes, if you must...
But it seems there is some sort of absorption problem. Or diabetes. Or thyroid.  People taking in enough calories, and it sounds like you are, shouldn't be dropping weight....   Adding yet MORE calories frankly does not seem the best route to a solution.  Unless a trained nutritionist recommends it.

[Jeff G]

I couldn't agree more with mecch . I used to have a similar probelem and the advise I got was to just eat and eat and eat . I will save you the long lecture but this is clearly a medical question or a nutritionist question at the very least . I so very wish I had paid more attention to the kind of calories I put in my body , if I had I may not be injecting insulin 5 times a day and fighting the lipid battle .

I'm not making this about me , its a cautionary tale and the point is to get professional help with this ASAP .   

[wolfter]

weight can also be a psychological issue.  I'm no expert on the topic other than the obvious.

[skycee]

I was about starting a topic on this when I ran into this. I've always had a small frame  and even before diagnosis found it quite hard to put on weight as of may last year I weighed 72kg and now 6months after infection I've lost about 4kg. Looking into a mirror or seeing my shadow makes me cringe and last night I cried myself to sleep after looking at a pix of mine my girl friend recently took. She says I look great buh I can't remember the last time I saw myself this lean.

During my last visit to the doctor to confirm my numbers i told him my concern about the weight loss and he too agreed there might be an underlying factor since ideally I shouldn't be losing weight at this early stages of infection. Cd4 is over 600 and vl is 6702. He adviced I monitor and record my weight weekly and see if we can find anything. 

I rest very well, I think I eat well too and I don't exercise that much and I want my weight back. 

[freaky_dream]

I am in the same boat however I have not dropped weight just want to gain it. I wonder if the basal metabolic rate for individuals with HIV is higher then non positive people. Has there ever been a study on this done? I would assume that we need extra calories to account for highly active immune system.

Your posts make you appear a bit apprehensive. Are you still eating the same as you did prior to your diagnosis?

[oksikoko]

I wonder if the basal metabolic rate for individuals with HIV is higher then non positive people. Has there ever been a study on this done? I would assume that we need extra calories to account for highly active immune system.

Heya, freaky. Yes. According to the linked WHO report from 2003:

"Energy requirements are likely to increase by 10% to maintain body weight and physical activity in asymptomatic HIV-infected adults…"

"During symptomatic HIV […] energy requirements increase by approximately 20% to 30% to maintain adult body weight."

Nutrient requirements for people living with HIV/AIDS (Links to PDF)

[freaky_dream]

Thanks Oksikoko, I went searching for something similar and could not locate a documented study.

[mecch]

I was about starting a topic on this when I ran into this. I've always had a small frame  and even before diagnosis found it quite hard to put on weight as of may last year I weighed 72kg and now 6months after infection I've lost about 4kg. Looking into a mirror or seeing my shadow makes me cringe and last night I cried myself to sleep after looking at a pix of mine my girl friend recently took. She says I look great buh I can't remember the last time I saw myself this lean.

During my last visit to the doctor to confirm my numbers i told him my concern about the weight loss and he too agreed there might be an underlying factor since ideally I shouldn't be losing weight at this early stages of infection. Cd4 is over 600 and vl is 6702. He adviced I monitor and record my weight weekly and see if we can find anything. 

I rest very well, I think I eat well too and I don't exercise that much and I want my weight back. 

You could start HAART....  I got whip thin my first my first months HIV, but then I had viral loads in the millions.  Still, active HIV infection with any VL could put a naturally thin person into the very skinny zone.