POZ Community Forums
Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits => Lipodystrophy & Metabolic Problems => Topic started by: Doombs on January 19, 2017, 08:17:54 pm
-
Hey guys,
This is my first post on the forum. I was diagnosed about 8 months ago, have been on stribild almost the entire time and am doing very well with it.
This month I am beginning to notice that I am accumulating a lot of neck fat under my chin. I've always had an insecurity about my double chin, but it was tolerable. Now it's getting bigger, sometimes the way I sit makes it look like a massive neck roll. It wasn't this big months ago, and it's never been this big even when I was heavier.
A few things are keeping me hopeful though. First of all, I have gained a few pounds over the holidays and a recent vacation. I've been sort of letting go on the dieting and I hope that getting it back into gear will help me lose some of it. I am also thinking about switching meds.
Has anybody had experience with this? Will it get smaller if I lose 15 or 20 lbs or so? Are there any other meds that are known to not have this side effect? If I switch will it go away???
I am really starting to worry about how bad this is going to get. I am really worried that my confidence will evaporate over time.
I would greatly appreciate hearing about anybody's experience with frontal neck fat growth.
Thanks
-
Hi
Welcome to the forum, glad to hear your on treatment.
Yeah I have a chin starting to come through nothing to do with meds in my case its age and a combination of diet.
You will notice how few posts are about this concern and to be honest that does not surprise me as newbies with modern meds simply don't face the same issues from what was a common side effects of the first generation of antiretrovirals.
Anyhow talk to your doctor about the meds switch if you are concerned, in my opinion it would be highly rare, and not this soon after starting the treatment your on.
Look good luck with that diet, and dropping the holiday weight gain and getting back into shape, keep working on that.
Take it easy
Jim
-
I had the huge double-chin. It was quite depressing. I couldn't wear a button up shirt and it changed my looks. I saved and saved and had a lower facelift. The surgeon removed most of the fat and six inches of skin from my neck. It took her about an hour longer than expected. I forget how long in total I was in surgery but it was quite a while. I will never have my sharp jawline back but at least now I look like a normal late middle-aged man. The good news is is that there is little chance the fat will come back once it is surgically removed.
While I was there I had the bags removed from under my eyes as well, I had accumulated quite a bit of fat there, too. I still have the crix belly and no butt but hey, you can not have everything.
-
i`m 6 months on Genvoya and found i was 9 months pregnant in january..which is to say my stomach appeared almost overnight,was very pronounced and the whole family noticed in a shocked pointy laughy kinda way.i`m the tall and rangy type so to have this full semi circular birth overnight was somewhat alarming.Got on the scales and i was 16 stone 10 Lbs(235 lbs).Every middle aged man suffers from a slowing of the metabolism but this had a David copperfield touch to it so i put it down to the meds and changed my diet(no starchy carbs just meat and veg) on January the 2nd and started hitting the weights again.Within 10 days i was back to 16 stone(225lbs) and no baby.
Whether it`s middle age or the meds or a combo of both,i know i`ve never had that pot gain so quickly.The solution it seems is vigilance.. as are most things in Hiv world.
Stay active and thank the heavens you`re on the new drugs.
-
Hey man...
Good to know that this is your biggest issue, haha.
I have the same problem, if I get some more pounds I start feeling like Big Momma every time I see myself in the mirror... and worse: I can't take selfies.
What have I done for fighting that?
Keeping an eye not on my weight, but in my percentage of body fat.
I realised that if I keep my body fat below 13-14%, that neck fat concentration disappears.
YES! That means having healthy food and going to the gym, but it's been working.
Hope u get through it.
-
My theory, and it is only a theory, is that whilst you have HIV your metabolism increases as your body is always in a state of high alert, fighting a rampant viral infection.
Once you start treatment, everything ticks back to normal - your viral load disappears and your body doesn't have to keep fighting the infection so everything sloooows back down.
That was the case with me anyway. I was eating the same amount as I did pre-diagnosis but weight was steadily piling on. I could blame the meds for this, but reality is it was because the meds were doing their job.
Anyway - I reached a tipping point about 2yrs post diagnosis where my blood sugars were in type 2 diabetes range likely due to the abdominal fat I had gained reducing my insulin resistance. So, since then I have been on a low-carb-high-fat diet and I've so far lost 2stone, I can now get in clothes I haven't been able to wear for the last two years and my fasting bloods are back in 'normal' range. I'm looking forward to my next clinic appointment in a few months where hopefully everything is back on an even keel.
Takeaway message is - we all put weight on as we get older, and starting HIV treatment may cause more weight to be accumulated due to the changes in our body as we are no longer fighting an out-of-control infection. In nearly all cases, it will be stuff like diet and exercise that will get us back to normal.