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Post-hernia surgery issues: unintentional 80+ lbs in 8 months
My 74 year old husband got UTI shortly after having surgery for hernia. Since then he has had 2 other UTI’s which were treated with antibiotics, the last one was a 6 week course. He has started eating less and less complaining about constipation at first but now diarrhea all the time. Doctors have done many tests, ultrasound, X-ray, CTscans, MRI, endoscopy, colonoscopy. The only finding has been C-diff but doctor says it is not active or producing toxins. He has lost over 70 pounds and is barely able to eat. He has been only getting a few hundred calories a day because he says it feels like the food gets stuck or makes him choke. His Gastroenterologist has him scheduled for Barium swallow with pill and Gastric emptying study but those don’t take place until 3 weeks from now. At this point he is skin and bones, loosing weight daily, is very weak and in the past few days doesn’t want me to leave him and becomes very anxious if I do go to the store or run errands. I am having a very hard time getting him to eat much of anything. We are experimenting with soups, smoothies, applesauce, soft scrambled eggs, protein drinks like Ensure, but he never can eat much of anything.
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@reesethecat I can relate to your concern somewhat.
My husband is in treatment for prostate cancer and osteoarthritis. The medication he is on for both conditions caused him to lose his appetite - and a lot of weight over the past few months as a result. He would not, could not eat or drink and complained he could not taste anything. A few bites of any food was all he could tolerate. His oncologist and rheumatologist finally tweaked his dosages and now he has begun to eat normally because he can taste what he is eating.
Has your husband had a PSA test done recently? My husband’s previous physician brushed off any requests to order a PSA test for years, saying they are not recommended anymore and simply increasing the dosage of medication for his urinary tract complaints. We moved to another city, found a new doctor after a year long search for one. New doctor ordered a PSA test and the resulting number was through the roof: over 200! Biopsies on all twelve areas showed cancer. With treatment now, his prostate cancer is in control (albeit causing some side effects) but we hate to think what might have been had we not moved here!
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4 ReactionsBased on your husband's medical history, including antibiotic use and an abdominal surgery, I would suggest asking his doctor to test him for SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth). Many of the symptoms you describe are common symptoms of SIBO.
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2 ReactionsThey need to do a endoscopic. I have lost a lot of weight, did a modified barium and just barium ended up doing endoscopic, i had a torqued esophagus
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1 ReactionI also tested positive for cdiff but negative for the toxins but my gastroenterologist is still putting me on medicine for cdiff. Had a few rounds of antibiotics and it keeps coming back ( I’ll have relief for a day or two but it keeps coming back. ) I think they send me for spore therapy next. I find if I eat very mild (no coffee, alcohol, eat scrambled eggs, toast, rice, cooked carrots, mashed potatoes,… and eat smaller portions ( also taking visbiome)… I get some relief. I hope your husband can get better.
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1 Reaction@rashida
Thank you for the information, I am not sure if he has had a PSA test. I wish you and your husband the best.
@skim3737
Thank you for the suggestion.
@snootsThank you I appreciate the input, we will ask about that.
@chrismkc
I am not sure why they don’t treat the CDIFF if it is not producing toxins because the doctors and home health visitors sure do take a lot of precautions whenever they visit because of the CDIFF diagnosis. For his appointment with the gastroenterologist they told me they have to do a exam room cleaning after his visit that takes 2 hours!
I am so to hear sorry you and your husband are going through this ordeal. The day I read your post, I just happened to see Bryan Johnson on TV discussing his Autoimmune Gastritis (AIG) that is often an overlooked diagnosis. It seemed like it could be something your husband has so I showed AI your post and asked if AIG might be a match for him. I don’t automatically go with everything AI has to say, but find it to be a good starting point – food for thought and things to check into. This was the AI response and other suggestions.
The patient's severe weight loss, diarrhea, and dysphagia likely stem from intense gut dysbiosis following a six-week antibiotic course, resulting in potential C. diff issues or candidiasis, alongside potential gastroparesis or autoimmune gastritis. The sudden onset of anxiety may indicate advanced nutrient deficiencies, requiring an immediate transition to nutritional support to prevent further decline while awaiting motility studies. Given the critical, rapid weight loss, an immediate emergency room evaluation for intravenous nutrition and expedited testing is advisable.
Autoimmune Gastritis (AIG): The tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson recently went public with his diagnosis of AIG, which causes profound fullness and massive weight loss. In older adults, it can also cause severe Vitamin B-12 deficiency, which can trigger sudden, intense anxiety and muscle weakness. Even though he had a normal endoscopy, AIG is often missed unless the doctor took very specific stomach biopsies to look for parietal cell loss, or ran a blood test for Parietal Cell Antibodies.
Esophageal Candida (Thrush) from Antibiotics: A 6-week course of antibiotics is exceptionally heavy. It frequently causes a fungal overgrowth in the esophagus, which makes food feel completely stuck, causes choking, and prevents eating. This is highly treatable with an antifungal medication if his GI doctor looks for it. If the scope was done early in his medical journey, his esophagus might have looked completely clear at that time. This takes time to develop.
The C-Diff / Gut Flora Wasting: That length of antibiotics completely destroys the gut microbiome, which can cause severe chronic diarrhea and stop the body from absorbing any nutrients.
Sorry so long, just trying to give ideas and reason why. I hope you can figure it out soon. Prayers for you both!
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1 Reaction@californiazebra
Thank you so much for this information! It really does sound exactly like what he is experiencing.
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