Fat loss / Wasting / Atrophy ? I am scared.

[AppleJack]

Hi,
New here. Positive 30 ish years.  Mostly LUCKY, numbers wise....high T's, No V-Load.
Never needed Protease Inhibitors.  Like I said, Lucky.

I am 56.  I lived a reasonable healthy, sober, sexually active life up until I was 49. I went to the gym 4 x's per week. I walked all over NYC. I was physically fit.

7-8 years ago I had a meltdown - depression, drugs, etc. Left NYC and came back Home, to South Louisiana.  I HAVE NOT been physically active or fit.  I am treated for Depression and have good MD's for that and Infectious Disease that I see 3 times per year.

Two things:
 -I recently saw my Butt or THE FIRST TIME literally in probably 6 years.  I had no reason to look.  I saw sagging skin and have since paid close attention.  It appears that I have lost a large majority of the Fat and Muscle that were once there. And SITTING is becoming a problem; it is starting to be painful because, I assume, there is no natural padding back there.

 I am blaming myself for having been so sedentary for the past 6-7 years. I have honestly been a Slug, mostly because of depression and serious lack of motivation.

My question to this quandary is: Can I Regain any of the Fat and Muscle that I have lost? I am not looking for suggestions about padded items to sit on or anything like that.  I guess I need to know if I can recover any of what I have lost?  I know that I can get back to the gym and do specific Glute exercises. Will it help?

Second, and in ways, related problem...

I have suffered from Neuropathy in my feet off and on for a few years, and up until now it only occurred when I did not take care of my feet, walked in Thin flip-flops, etc.  When I did neglect my feet, I would feel pain for a day or two but it always got better.  Recently, I did it again....thoughtlessy ran around doing lots of errands one day in the thinnest flip-flops.  The pain has not subsided like it always did in the past.

I take Gabapentin and 1000mg of Acetyl-L-Carnitine daily. I use various ointments like Capsaicin and others that provide temporary relief.  My question here is there more that I could be doing , (besides throwing out the THIN FLIP FLOPS!).

OK, I REALLY APOLOGIZE for the length of this post. But there is more...

In order to strengthen and hopefully gain muscle in my Glutes, I need to do exercises that mostly require my feet.  And that is not possible while this foot pain persists.

And lastly, all of this is causing me to feel SO HOPELESS.  Never before did I feel like my body was failing me. Now I do, and it is very scary.

I spoke with my Infectious Disease PCP over the phone and asked if Physical Therapy might kick-start my Glute renewal, as it were.  She was sceptical, and said I will not regain the lost fat. She mentioned over the phone that she had noticed some Lipodystrophy in my arms (I didn't know that was possible!).  And I have had Sculptura injections in my face 4 times over the past 11 years.

My diet is terrible.

I am now on Discovy and Truvada and have been on this combination for at least 12 years (well. Viramune up until 3 months ago).  Before that, I was on Epivir, which I was taken off of because of the side effects, some of which I now demonstrate. 

Again, I AM SO SORRY for the length of this post.  I am sorry if it is unwieldy and confusing.  If anyone has any advice or experience with similar issues, I would love to hear from you and value your imput.

Thanks to you all for being here,

Tom alias AJ

[harleymc]

G'day Tom AppleJack,

Sorry you are scared, but glad you are putting together an action plan even if it's a bit vague in the details at the moment.

Ok if you have lipo, as your doctor has confirmed, you're not going to regain your old fat distribution.
But even in our fifties we can gain muscle tone and muscle bulk. it just takes a bit longer than it would have when we were younger. And of course once we get it back it can disappear if we slack off again.

There are lots of exercises that target your glutes, you don't need weights, use body weight and or resistance bands) so there should be no more pressure on your feet than you get just standing up. You tube and google are your friends for finding exercises that target particular parts of the body.

Remember you never regret having done a workout, but you will regret the days that you don't. Oh by the way exercise seems to hep me with my depressive moods.

Hugs and tugs all the best for 2017