He weighed himself on Monday, and found out that he has gained back the 12 pounds he had lost, and then some, all in about a week. Well, he hadn't been feeling well, so he went to the clinic to see if they could figure out what was wrong. He had been feeling really weak for about a week, and then Monday he got to the point where he was falling down at work because he couldn't keep control of his muscles.
I went with him to the clinic, and the ARNP was worried that he was either having a heart attack or a stroke...so I piped up..."Could these things be symptoms of being malnourished or something like that?" She looked quite puzzled, but then replied that it was a possibility and wondered why I was asking. I told her that I had been paying attention, and I noticed that he felt worse on the days he worked, but after he ate supper he felt better. I had also noticed that he wasn't eating breakfast or lunch at home hardly at all.
Turns out that his body had been hoarding all the calories it could from what little food he was eating, but that it had also been attacking his muscles for nourishment/energy.
Watch signs that something is amiss... Some symptoms of malnourishment include anemia, diarrhea, disorientation, night blindness, irritability, anxiety, and attention deficits, goiter (enlarged thyroid gland), loss of reflexes and lack of muscular coordination, muscle twitches, amenorrhea (cessation of menstrual periods), scaling and cracking of the lips and mouth.
I'll step down now.
