"New research announced Monday found that when human stem cells -- the blank slate of the cell world -- were exposed to a common virus they turned into fat cells. They didn't just change, they stored fat, too."
It's been noted that CFS patients tend to gain weight in relapse, which has been attributed to a change in metabolism.
I've been in and out of relapse many times. As I'm going into relapse, I'll gain weight without changing my eating and exercise habits one iota. And as I'm coming out, at least half of that weight will drop off without doing a thing about it.
So I have no doubt that my weight gain is directly related to having a virus, because before I got sick, my weight never varied by more than a pound.
12 comments:
Well, this is one for the books.
I have heard of gluttony.
Thyroid malfunctions.
"Big boned"
Genetics
"low metabolism"
but never in all my studies have I heard anyone try to blame that their obesity was caused by a virus.
And your weight never before varied more than a mere pound, you say? And due to a virus you now pack an extra 75 pounds?
Read the research yourself, and not merely what a news network reported and you will see that the variant was all of 5-7 pound weight increase, not the girth you are claiming it has caused you.
That is the results of pop tarts, twinkies, ice cream and no activity.
The incredible thing however is that you honestly seem to believe all the crap you write here.
Surely you don't believe sensible thinking knowledgeable people do.
This blog is every bit as humorous as I was told it was.
Once again, assumptions that bear no relation to the facts.
As I was going into this relapse, I gained 20 pounds in a couple months without changing either my eating or exercise habits. When I go into remission, at least half the extra weight invariably drops off without me doing a thing to assist it.
As far as "Pop Tarts, Twinkies and ice cream", I only eat Pop Tarts on those days when I am bedridden and have no other options. I hate Twinkies, probably haven't eaten one in 35 years (last time I shared lunch with a chocolate-allergic friend). Ice cream, yeah, it's in my freezer, and if I go through 3 pints in the course of a full year, that's excessive consumption for me. My standard diet is heavy on vegetables, shrimp, baked chicken and broiled steak, with a daily total of about 1200 calories. I'm not a big eater; I cannot even finish a Happy Meal in one sitting.
And where do you get the "75 pounds"? I have not gained 75 pounds in this relapse.
But let's not let the facts that you don't know get in the way of a good accusation.
From the pictures of you on the internet you are, from a medical standpoint, easily 60-80 pounds overweight.
I had thought from your post that you were blaming a "virus" for your obesity, which if you had been following all the research and not just pieces of it you would have realized that the data thus far supports a negliable gain of 5-7 pounds.
If you were at this high weight previously to be coming "ill" then that is an entirely different matter.
Pictures? You've seen pictures of me?
I only know of two online; one taken at my normal adult weight of 140-145 (which is perfectly acceptable for my height -- I'm a tall woman) and one taken a couple years ago where I weighed a bit more. According to the government height/weight charts, even my highest weight (when I was too sick to have photos taken) was not 60-80 pounds overweight.
I still find it amusing that a STUDENT thinks that reading the one paragraph about CFS in the standard medical school textbook means she knows more about it than someone who's read dozens of books, including Dr. Jason's textbook, and tons of research studies.
And that someone who has never met me thinks she knows what and how much I eat.
For the record, one PopTart contains about 200 calories, so eating 3 PopTarts in lieu of 3 cooked meals leaves me at 600 calories for the day. My doctor told me that 1000 calories is "starvation level" and I should try to stay above that. So, your assumption that my emergency stash of PopTarts under the bed is at fault for my weight gain is totally flawed. It is well-known among CFS experts that the disease alters the metabolism, which not only causes weight gain, but is also at the root of the abnormal responses to medication.
There are more pictures than 2 that I was shown.
Glasses? Red-blonde unstyled hair? Definitely you due to the sites the pictures seem to have been taken from. And you are without a doubt closer to the 200 pound mark and nowhere near 140-145.
You are off on your assumption on what is taught regarding CFS, which goes to further show your bias of the medical community. All the professionals I have been taught by and work with acknowledge it. What is not accepted is that all the people who claim they have it actually do. More likely there are a number who attempt to use it much as migraines, back pain and such are claimed. None can be definitely proven, and are often used in ruses to claim disability, gain sympathy and defy a diagnosis of depression. Even you must agree that there are people such as those who claim CFS falsely.
But as been noted among those who visit this blog, it was most prudent, fortunate and lucky that you took out disability insurance on yourself just a few short years before you were struck with CFS and therefore became "disabled" and able to benefit that policy, wasn't it?
What sites are you finding these photos on? Because I know the two photos that were put out by me, and I know what I weighed when each of them was taken, and in neither case was I anywhere near 200+ as you claim. Point the rest of my readers to those photos so they can judge for themselves what size I was.
Yes, I took out Disability insurance in 1984, and put in a claim on it 16 years later. Most people who are committing fraud would cash in after a year, with a diagnosis that didn't show up until just before they made their claim. I had a diagnosis for 12 years before making my claim, a diagnosis which has been confirmed and reconfirmed by doctors -- including their own doctor -- and is not the product of one sleazy doctor who'll sign anything for $100.
SSDI's own doctors document numerous objective orthopedic problems, and SSDI's own VocRehab experts are unanimous that those problems alone would make me "disabled", even without the CFS. You can't fake an x-ray of three fractured vertebrae.
There are people who think that they can fake CFS to get Disability, but with proper testing, those people can be proven as frauds. Contrary to popular belief, there are blood tests and brain scans that can identify those with true CFS.
When I first applied, I was told by several people who are on SSDI for fibromyalgia that they got their benefits by claiming to be depressed and suicidal, because that could never be disproved. I refused to lie. I will get mine with the truth, despite a judge who refuses to acknowledge objective test results.
Let's not forget those doctors who make an erroneous CFS diagnosis for any case of fatigue, being unaware that there are neurological and endocrine abnormalities in the real thing. One can hardly blame their patients for saying they have CFS, based on the doctor saying so, even though they don't meet the diagnostic criteria and would be excluded by the objective testing.
My initial diagnosis came from a CFS researcher, who knew exactly what to look for. He commented that only half a dozen symptoms had been publicized in the general media, but my list was much longer; he knew I was telling the truth because there was no other way I'd know to mention those except if I was experiencing them.
If you want to talk suspicious behavior, let's talk about how you found my photos when this blog doesn't link to them, nor mention my full name. Are you Christine?
Your blog has been passed around via conversation and e-mailing lists in the medical pool for quite a while it seems. While I have not read it completely you must have put enough information in it for various people to google and find them. I myself haven't, lacking the desire or need - they were included in the original link sent to see. And actually I cannot even say positively they were taken off the internet. I assumed they were but perhaps the people who included them had other sources. I mentioned your weight only because having seen your post regarding weight gain due to virus exposure I knew the weight you exhibited in the photos could not be the under 10 pounds that the research you quoted has shown.
I find it odd that disregarding any reference to CFS you can not get disability due to the orthopedic issues you state.
Is that also due to a judge who refuses to view objective evidence?
Had you ever considered that if the photos you saw were received via e-mail, someone might have been playing with PhotoShop? Given that this blog is the target of scorn in the medical community, someone might want to "prove" that my fatigue is due to morbid obesity, knowing that you're never going to meet me F2F to learn otherwise.
The two photos which I put online, which I know are accurate depictions, do not, to anyone, appear to be substantially overweight.
The same judge who is ruling on my CFS claim is the one looking at my orthopedic limitations. The transcripts of the hearings show that the VocRehab experts testified I could not work, and the written opinions show that there is no reference at all to their testimony, only to the judge's conclusion that I don't meet his standards for benefits. He is known to not give benefits to people under a certain age. On our last trip to the Court of Appeal, my lawyer was given the impression that he was given one last chance to consider ALL the evidence, including that which contradicts his desired result before the Court of Appeal stepped in.
"you must have put enough information in it for various people to google and find them"
Actually, immediately after I mentioned in an e-group that a hometown luminary had died -- the online obituary identified my hometown which is not named on my website, so that's the only way she could have known that tidbit -- someone with an axe to grind checked my alumni profile (unaware that I am notified who looks at it) and started making nasty comments in a related group using the information in my alumni profile.
She has connections in the medical community and it was shortly thereafter that I started getting comments here from people claiming to be medical students using the same phrases she does and knowing things that were not discussed here, but were discussed in groups she's a member of.
If she is at the root of the e-mail you received, I have no doubt that she found someone to PhotoShop my head onto her substantially overweight body, since the original photos would not support the claim that I'm fat and lazy.
I know what information about me is online where, so I can figure out who knows what.
Sweet Jesus! You're off to a good start, missy, at being exactly the type of doctor Karen complains about, one who lectures the patient based on ASSUMING and not on facts.
I know people over 300 pounds who NEVER have snack food in the house. I even know fat vegetarians. They wouldn't dream of touching a preservative laden Twinkie but think nothing of eating a gallon of organic oatmeal for breakfast and 1000 calories of juice (the caloric equal of a sixpack of soda) because it's healthy food. There's nothing wrong with eating one cookie a day or a tablespoon of ice cream now and then if you're eating a reasonable number of calories a day. You have no idea how much Karen eats or what. You're only guessing if you haven't sat at table with her but you presume to lecture based on your fantasies.
You think the medical profession deserves respect? Then start showing it to patients. Doctors are not the only people who can read and think. Patients read research too and often know more about their disease than their doctors because they have more time to read about it.
And while you're at it, respect your elders, who are me and Karen. The sass of an arrogant young student is not welcome by those who are much older and wiser.
I was badgered endlessly in that group to answer the question "are you Karen?"
Why won't you answer the question "are you Christine?" Tell us your real name instead of hiding behind a made-up one and maybe we'll believe that you're someone other than the whackadoodle with a personal vendetta.
Karen never said she hates all doctors. I've heard her say wonderful things about doctors who took her seriously and treated her with respect. Who can blame her for not liking the doctors whose treatment ruined her life? You won't find many patients who like doctors who are only in it for the money and don't care if the patients get worse.
If she were a cancer patient fighting hard for a change to a newer form of chemo, she'd get applause for her bravery. But because you judge her by her controversial diagnosis, you think she's not entitled to the best available treatment and think she's a troublemaker for wanting to be cured. If you were in her shoes, you wouldn't tolerate being sentenced to a lifetime of disability because your doctors won't listen to facts. You'd fight just as hard for your health.
I applaud her for speaking out that not all doctors are gods.
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