Extreme weight loss

[dbrownalive]

My daughter, 19 yrs old, is in her 8th month of treatment for Hep C.  She has a wonderful attitude, and is battling very bravely.  Unfortunately,she has dropped from 110 pounds to 90 pounds.  Two weeks ago her doctor (Univ of Chicago) added Procrit to her treatment.  Has this significantly helped anyone gain weight?  Any other suggestions?  It breaks my heart when I look at her, and I am worried about continued weight loss.

[hepCC]

Good to hear that your daughter has made it this far!

I understand your concern, and being underweight is not good. I am on tx and I have had to work hard to keep weight on. This is what I do:

- Try to eat often. It's much easier to eat something little than a whole meal.
- Find things you crave for and get it. This appears to change from week to week on tx. Just go with your cravings!
- Try to add some fat when possible. A little cream, butter, peanuts, whatever you can think of.

When I was struggling hardest with nausea my husband made me fresh fruit salads, and with that I could get some whipped cream down too. Smoothies were sometimes ok. If your daughter likes ice-cream, get her some every day! Many people find it easy to eat ice-cream even when they don't have much appetite. Treat her to anything she likes, and try to make her snack during the days.

[Trish77]

My heart goes out to you and your lovely daughter who is so courageous.  I'm too new at this to offer you much of substance.  She's eight months in and when she's off the meds, she'll be able to eat properly and she'll gain it back ... in the meantime, I hope others weigh in here with suggestions to keep the weight up.  I think alot of us are eating weird meals and I have maple walnut frozen yogurt for supper if I need to and just eat whatever appeals to me.  It's better than nothing at all.

I like Jim's suggestion about adding Ensure, etc. to ice cream .. if she can tolerate  something like a milkshake, then high-caloric additives to it will be good.  

I hope you can find some creative solutions to help her and I wish her good luck with her treatment outcome.  How is she doing with results so far?

Take care.

Trish

[redeemed1]

on my 1st time on treatment 2 yrs ago i lost weight as well.keep food she is willing to eat on hand.since she is so light already,weight gain supplements might be a good idea.peanut butter sandwhiches and pasta are good to keep weight on.lots of luck and god bless you guys

[jmjm530]

Medical marijuana is often recommended as an appetitite/weight stimulate for those on treatment. There is also another drug, Megace,, but the weight gain is almost entirely fat, but it is an option. You can also try caloric dense weight-gain products like Ensure and Prosure. You could also add some ice cream to the prosure or Ensure if she can tolerate. The doctor prescribed Procrit to raise her hemoglobin, and I don't think it will have any effect on her weight unless a higher hemoglobin levels translates into a better appetite, but I wouldn't solely count on that.

All the best,

-- Jim