I have similar symptoms as
@bart32 including subcutaneous fat loss, joint cracking, and muscle atrophy. I haven't had my glucose level checked recently so I can't say if there is a similarity there. My suspicion for myself is catabolic wasting being driven by an underlying disease.
For some background, Figure 1 shows my weight and BMI over roughly the last 5 years. In late 2011, early 2012 I started working out and eating a lot and put on 15-20 lbs. I slowed down with the working out mid 2012 and eventually stopped altogether. Over the summer of 2015 I got a few comments about being skinny from people who know me. In September 2015 I started noticing my joints cracking a lot. This corresponds with the low dip in weight in 2015 in Figure 1. My knees have been the worst. I've noticed weakness in my legs in general. They get shaky after standing for extended periods of time. I also notice if I get to that point, my legs hurt more in the following days or weeks. It's not muscle pain though, it's like the tendons behind the knees constantly ache. A rheumatologist said my knee caps were very loose which indicates thigh muscle weakness and contributes to the cracking. She recommended physical therapy exercises. It's just odd that they would be getting so bad when my routine hasn't really changed over the last few years. It's also hard to say how much of the weight I lost was just due to no longer working out and a lower appetite versus a malignant catabolic process.
Regarding fat loss, I seem to be losing it from basically everywhere. The most troublesome is the bottom of my feet. The rheumatologist examined my feet and said the fat pads were very thin. I started noticing this in October 2015. I can no longer walk around on hard floors without some kind of footwear as it's too painful. So now I wear flip flops all the time when I'm inside but the problem remains. My face has also lost fat which is noticeable around my eye sockets and cheeks. The pressure from a pillow can be a bit uncomfortable when I'm laying down on my side due to the reduced padding on my cheek bones. Similarly, my butt and the underside of my thighs get sore from sitting in a chair. I have to avoid hard chairs as they are now very uncomfortable. I also have some pain grabbing things with my hands like door knobs and have to be careful. Since December 2015 I've noticed deep wrinkles in my fingertips on and off as shown in Figure 2.
They seem to be most prominent after holding something like a phone or steering wheel. They are distinct from the wrinkles caused from being submerged in water. I'm wondering if they're also a sign of fat loss in the finger tips. Anyone else have similar issues?
