Longterm antibiotic use stalling?

[gloworm07]

Pretty technical question. I'm on longterm antibiotics for Lyme Disease, and am back on Atkin's from the weight gain and carb cravings the disease can cause.

I did atkin's in 08, lost 9 pounds in induction (2 weeks). Now, I've been on induction pretty consistently for over a month and only lost about 4 pounds. 5"4, currently 140lbs.

Do antibiotics interfere with the process? Is this even worth doing? I am on it to cut carb cravings but the weight loss is so slow that it's disheartening.

[cheri]

What plan are you doing? Do you have a sample menu of what you eat every day? What are you drinking? There are many things that can stall you. It might not be the antibiotics at all. Also, any medication can stall you. So it is hard to tell what is causing slower weightloss until we see what you are eating and drinking daily.

[GreytMuse]

Lyme Disease is an awful disease. So glad you have a medication regimen to follow.

How long will you be taking the antibiotics? From a casual look around the internet, I don't see any evidence of antibiotics stalling weight loss, but the internet is not always reliable.

My first thought (and hopefully other people will weigh in here) is that your intestinal flora are taking a beating from daily antibiotics. Are you counter-balancing that with any probiotics? I'd worry about Candida overgrowth and the other microbiota that can thrive during long-term antibiotics treatment. An overgrowth of Candida can negatively impact weight loss. I believe Dr. Atkins mentions this in at least one of his books.

Personally, I think my first step would be to talk with my pharmacist about what you could do to keep a healthy balance in your gut -- they may have some advice. Ask about if and when to take probiotics, so that your antibiotics are still effective treating your disease. I'd follow that up with a talk to my doctor about your weight loss goals and the side effects of antibiotics.

As to your weight loss -- you do not have that much weight to lose, relatively speaking, so you most likely won't see the HUGE initial drops that many of us do. Four pounds may be about right for you and your goals, though it seems slow.
Good luck!

[gloworm07]

GreytMuse,
Thank you for that clear and thoughtful reply!
truthfully I could be better about taking my probiotics. sticking the dosage in the middle of the day around the rest of the meds... sometimes i forget. A question about Candida- doesn't a low carb diet help that (I know that when I'd indulge those Lyme carb cravings I'd feel terrible afterwards)? I suppose taking the meds (which will be at least another year) isn't the reason for the stall but agree that it's the nuttiness happening in my gut.
Cheri , im taking antibiotics for Lyme Disease, which has a side effect of carb cravings, weight gain. So im back on atkin's to combat both. i'll talk to my doctor. Good to know that maybe a smaller weight goal makes this a little harder. thanks again!

[jeaniem]

glowworm
Sorry to hear you have lyme. Do you know where you contracted it from? I foolishly went for a walk in the woods last week and found three very very tiny ticks on my clothes and socks the same day. I washed everything in hot water and dried on high heat, but still found another tiny tick attached to my side a couple of days later. DH removed it and it left a small red mark and I am nervously keeping an eye on the area where I was bitten!

[gloworm07]

Jeaniem, I got it in Maine but really, it happens in a lot of areas. Get checked out by someone called an LLMD in your area (they usually don't advertise so you'd have to find Lyme listserv in your area to get a name) Its screwed up, but its a very misunderstood disease and doctors don't like to treat it/talk about it.
Don't wait to see what the bite does. There's a million things that can happen in that area and one of those things is absolutely nothing. Get checked out stat, and see about a month of Doxycycline. You should be fine if you check it out early.

[jeaniem]

Originally Posted by gloworm07

Jeaniem, I got it in Maine but really, it happens in a lot of areas. Get checked out by someone called an LLMD in your area (they usually don't advertise so you'd have to find Lyme listserv in your area to get a name) Its screwed up, but its a very misunderstood disease and doctors don't like to treat it/talk about it.
Don't wait to see what the bite does. There's a million things that can happen in that area and one of those things is absolutely nothing. Get checked out stat, and see about a month of Doxycycline. You should be fine if you check it out early.

What were your symptoms? So you are saying I should just assume I have lyme? I read that the tick needs to stay on you for a couple of days. It is crazy trying to find info, so many different opinions.

[gloworm07]

nah, never assume, but if you see ticks, the right dr to see asap is a LLMD- a lyme literate doctor. there are definitely different opinions , levels of knowledge about particular ticks.... it's exhausting . Im only saying its better to be safe than sorry if you are experiencing any symptoms. everyone's symptoms are individual so mine -which were neck pain, muscle pain, cognitive issues and trouble swallowing- all happened 2 weeks after the camping trip. But that;s just my experience. Dont panic. Just get it checked out.

[cheri]

I hope you are feeling better glo.. I really hate to hear you have Lyme Disease.. I second the probiotics!!! I took antibiotics that ended up killing all the good bacteria in my intestines and ended up with C-diff.. I don't know why I didn't think of that like GreytMuse.. Its getting more common these days when it used to be older people and people that have been in hospitals. You do not want to get C-diff like I had.. It is super awful and can hurt your intestines permanently like it did mine. I can't even drink soda anymore because it kills my tummy.. so please take those probiotics like GreytMuse suggested!!! Everyone should make sure they do that when taking antibiotics. You do not want any added issues because of taking those.

cheri