What Causes Excessive Weight Loss When Diagnosed With CFS?

Posted on Thu, 23 Jul 2015

Question: I have been diagnosed with CFS and my last dr diagnosed m with fibromyalgia. I recently began seeing a new dr, he doesn't believe the fibromyalgia diagnosis (i have recently been losing weight....i have lost about 30 libs in the last 2 months, i am down to 105 lbs.). He has run labs (my tsh was high but that was it), had scans done, and he cant figure out what is going on so i am just being treated with a sleeping pill and drinking ensure. I sleep 12 to 13 hours a day anyway, so the sleeping pill isnt really helping. A friend at work (i am a clinical lab scientist, i work in a hospital lab) suggested i talk to him about methylphenadate but i thought that was only for ADD. I just saw him yesterday so i cant get back in to see him for a couple of weeks and was curious about this. Any info would be really helpful, i am so sick of just getting the lets wait and see, this has been going on for almost a year now and have seen 2 different doctors, have had every test imaginable done and nothing is working! I currently take bp meds and amitryptline to sleep.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Matt Wachsman (50 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
amphetamine is a BAD idea

Detailed Answer:
Ok... what do we have here: increased sleep, feeling bad, and weight loss. Amphetamine is otherwise known as "DIET PILLS". That can't be a good fit.
So... cannot say in your particular case without being there, AND... anyone with a significant amt of weight needs a full work up likely with scans...cancers including gynocological ones, infections including TB, chronic viral diseases, autoimmune disease, malabsorption (but if the stool is normal then not that). Standard metabolic panel, GYN exam, urinalysis, CBC, other metabolic indicators such as prealbumin and ferritin, a screen for autoimmune diseases and screen for infection (like a chest x ray). Then... mood,sleep, energy, weight change is enough to make a diagnosis of depression and begin treatment with an anti-depressant that increases appetite.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar