husband- unexplained weight loss 80 lbs so far...

[slyster]

My husband, 32 years old, has been steadily losing weight for roughly a year now. He was at 250lbs and now he weighs 170lbs. we started by seeing a family doctor and he did some blood tests and they all came back normal. After that he sent us to a gastro doc and they did an endoscopy with biopsy for celiac disease and came back normal, they also ordered a CT scan of abdomen, pelvis and chest and all came back normal as well. He now has a colonoscopy scheduled in a few weeks and a ton more blood tests like we are rechecking his thyroid again, and PSA and doing CEA levels to check for cancer markers. he has lost a total of 80 lbs now and really starting to get worried. He has not lost his appetite on the contrary, he is actually eating more. they have also tested for diabetes and everything else under the sun. i was just wondering if anyone else has gone through something like this and if they have any answers for me or anything would be greatly appreciated.


This discussion is related to Unexplained EXTREME weight loss.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
There are many causes for unexplained weight loss and since your husband is eating a lot and losing weight, worms in stool should be ruled out first—tapeworm, round worm, giardiasis, etc. Hence a stool test is a must. The second thing to rule out is hyperthyroidism. Other causes are depression, anorexia nervosa, AIDS, cancers especially colon cancers, drug abuse, infections and loss of appetite. Increased metabolism as in hyperthyroid states, HIV, cancer etc also cause weight loss. Poor absorption as in irritable bowel syndromes and malabsorption syndromes too is possible. Malabsorption syndromes are seen in intestinal tuberculosis, HIV, tropical sprue, parasites in stool and Whipple’s Disease. Several other causes have been looked into.
Discuss this with your husband’s treating doctor.  It is difficult to comment beyond this at this stage.
Hope this helps. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!

[kd4now]

A friend of mine gained 30 lbs in one month despite being a marathon runner and eating very healthily.  It turned out that she had a benign pituitary tumor.  It was removed and she was fine.  I believe a tumor can also cause overproduction of hormones as well as block the production of hormones as it did in my friend's case.  I am sure they will be checking for this.  It is good that they are thoroughly checking his thyroid as that is another likely culprit.
Good luck.