Attempting to identify members of my subgroup - Subcutaneous Fat Loss

[lint7]

Sorry for the super late response. Doxy is an MMP inhibitor and an anti-inflammatory agent. They prescribe it for receding gumlines. If it were just a connective tissue-like disorder, this alone could be exerting an effect.

I think however, yes, it's an undetected bacterial infection. Mycoplasma, bartonella, are some options.

@dyllanmurphy how is everything going now? Have you considered taking doxy and cefdinir again for a longer period?

 

[vision blue]

Do you have a linnk to something that shows pictures of what its looks like to have lost the sub cutaenous fat in various places? As distinct. from say ordinary weight loss or rapid aging. Thanks.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

Do you have a linnk to something that shows pictures of what its looks like to have lost the sub cutaenous fat in various places?

well it happened to me...and various results include:

tips of my fingers are deflated and collapsed and the fingerprints mutilated and unidentifiable. I'm actually afraid about when I go see my daughter, I'll be trapped in customs and never freed.

I cannot deploy the Swiss army knife to open the can: the padding on my hand is gone.

Last week I tried on these Rieker sandals I bought, and they are fairly comfortable but then I walked into the kitchen. My feet have lost the fat on the bottoms and it seems I cannot even walk in normal shoes on a hard floor.

(I live in wool slippers on wall to wall carpeting).

I was immediately limping and some bone on the bottom of my foot is un-padded.

I lost a fair amount of weight some years ago and mostly it stayed off. I've gained a few pounds recently, this subcutaneous fat stuff isn't any better- its all still missing.

My finger tips are flat/ typing.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

As distinct. from say ordinary weight loss or rapid aging

thinking about this, in my case, I'm thinking that maybe it's NOT the fat that has been lost.

I'm thinking its the collagen and connective tissue going missing which adds physical structure to these areas that also normally have fat.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

Regarding the FOOT PADS: this is a really complex topic and seems all inter-related.

the video below left...is about working on somebody's foot with a heel pad issue and I think this is going on with my feet so I"d like to figure out more about it.

If the protein components is damaged, then the associated fat may lose some of its structural integrity. The muscles which hold together heel fat for instance must include connective tissue and collagen. Something about it all ...

I'm going to be leaving soon to visit my daughter where everything is tile or stone. I may need major orthotic support.

https://www.physio-pedia.com/Heel_Fat_Pad_Syndrome

 

[Rufous McKinney]

Do you have a linnk to something that shows pictures of what its looks like to have lost the sub cutaenous fat in various places?

Now that I gained some weight (which seemed impossible there for a while)...I don't see a loss of subcutaneous fat...in my stomach. Nope, thats shifted to storage mode, no problem.

Its these padded areas where I notice the loss of fat having implications....

I was reading about fingertips and there were some good diagrams but it got too gruesome to post (medical info on fingertips included when one goes missing)

And I realize I've really got a serious problem in the feet...and I'll need to get myself more orthotic padding...for some shoes...should I ever return to the hard floors.

edited to add that somewhere in PR was a thread with comments from men having issue with another area which has "padding" and the padding is, I believe, breaking down...)

 

[Violeta]

While looking up information about the mevalonate pathway, I found this:
The Mevalonate Pathway is indispensable for adipocyte survival
I am wondering if this is what is causing the subcutaneous fat loss.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6223239/

I am seeing people who have had COVID talking about losing subcutaneous fat. Found this.

Dysregulation of the mevalonate pathway during SARS-CoV-2 infection: An in silico study​

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33331649/

 

[Rufous McKinney]

I still think the fat is still there, and its the connective tissue that has gone missing.

But maybe both are occurring. we lose BOTH. both whats creating a fat pad fat and protein bundles holding it structurally.

 

[Garz]

i agree - although the fatty layer may be reduced - its likely the collagen that is responsible for the structure of this tissue that is actually the root cause

several chronic bacterial infections can cause tissue loss - due to upregulated inflammatory changes in the blood vessels and skin

however infections with borrelial species ( I.e. Lyme disease ) are most notable for this presentation as it is known to break down collagen in particular and also elastin

example paper here

Damage of Collagen and Elastic Fibres by Borrelia Burgdorferi – Known and New Clinical and Histopathological Aspects​

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3751012/

in my experience, almost all chromic lyme patients have collagen loss

testing is very poor - primary care providers are either ignorant about the disease and its prevalence - or are miseducated - many many cases are missed or passed off as something else - CFS being the most common mis diagnosis given by primary care doctors in multiple published studies

there have also been studies investigating why this happens - and in these studies individual doctors were interviewed anonymously - where they stated that they felt personal risk to their livelihood if they diagnosed Lyme disease - because of controversy in the medical profession around the disease's - and the fact that long courses of antibiotics are frowned upon.
but they also stated they felt at personal risk of patient action if they did not diagnose lyme disease - because they felt they could be subject to malpractice suits etc from disgruntled patients
They therefore felt they were in a no-win situation and that they therefore feel the safest course of action was to make no mention of Lyme disease at all in the diagnosis record - and instead use a term that no one can test for to confirm or deny - eg CFS or Fibromyalgia.

this is exactly what happened to me and my fiancé who both became ill with Lyme disease after a picnic on farm land.

• doctors denied that lyme disease was present in my region - i later found 2 universities had in fact studied the surrounding area and even the park in our local town had a high prevalence of ticks infected with lyme disease
• doctors denied that our symptoms matched lyme disease - saying we would be much sicker than we were and becoming sicker by the day - but studies show chronic lyme is anything but a rapidly progressing illness - it is instead characterised by years or decades of illness - and a significant portion of diagnosed lyme disease sufferers can actually still hold down jobs - so - they were just ignorant of the facts
• doctors stated our inflammatory markers would be off the charts if we had lyme disease - later reading shows this is rarely the case with chronic lyme disease - again they just didn't know what they were talking about - but were adamant they did.

so it seems sadly - doctors who took the hypocratic oath to put patients needs first and do no harm - are in fact prioritising their own prosperity - and doing untold amount of harm by refusing to follow the science , preferring to cover their own asses

many here may well have been fobbed off with this same complete nonsense - because it is typically stated with confidence as if its an established fact - when in reality they know nothing about the disease and want to have even less to do with it.