To think I'm not "a fine and healthy weight" and it's okay to lose a bit more?

[murmuration]

Because I've stopped taking the drugs the Dr's gave me to stop the weight loss

I understand why they are concerned - I lost 5 stone over 6 months, until they drugged me up this autumn. Before, like many overweight people, I had been trying to lose weight. When it started dropping off like magic, I was thrilled. 4 weeks and a stone lighter and I thought perhaps I should get it checked out. So I had all sorts of scans and 'scopies and such, and they found no reason at all. So they gave me two drugs to treat the symptoms: one to keep from feeling sick to my stomach when I ate (proton-pump inhibitor) and one to stop massive stomach pain when I ate 'too much' (smooth muscle relaxer). And the weight loss stopped.

I saw a gastro who gave me a stern talking to, saying that I needed to eat and if I continued to not eat, they may need to tube feed me. But it's not like I'm refusing to eat, as if I were anorexic. I have in fact been concerned that I might develop an eating disorder with this rapid weight loss, but I don't think I have. I still love food, and enjoy eating. But yes, if I start to fill ill and my stomach hurts, I stop.

But my BMI is 27, and my waist 34". Every single thing I see anywhere suggests that is not yet in a healthy range. Yes, definitely better than BMI 37 which I was before, but just because I lost a bunch of weight, does that mean I need to stop while still overweight? Had I done this on purpose, people would be telling me just a bit more, not castigating me for any further loss!

Due to a mix-up with the repeat slips, I ran out of the PPI two weeks ago. So I didn't have it for a few days, and I noticed that I felt so much better. So when I finally got it, I didn't take it again. I've been ill all winter with a series of seemingly never-ending colds, so I attributed my fatigue to that (and that I have CFS/ME, but I had been feeling considerably better since the spring, when, coincidentally - or not - I suddenly started losing weight). But I've developed two new overlapping illnesses since then, and while I feel miserable from the colds, I have noticeably more energy. I've also lost 3 pounds.

AIBU to think that it's okay to not take medication that makes me feel tired and keeps me from losing weight, when I am in fact still overweight? Surely I mustn't need to stay overweight for the rest of my life just because I had some medical issue that caused unexplained weight loss.

Have you been checked for allergies and intolerances? There's got to be something causing it. Weight loss like that just shouldn't happen.

Endoscopy, yes. Colonscopy, no. Biopsy taken endoscopy from stomach lining, and they didn't find anything.

No tests. GP did ask about potential gluten problems, but in fact I tried gluten-free for 4 months once with DH, and it had no measurable effect.

This summer, there were days I could barely manage 1000 calories due to illness/pain, so low intake of food probably explained the weigh tloss then. I've had 1600 calories so far today, before dinner, so I don't think that holds anymore. And I'm not losing ridiculously fast, either, just 1-1.5 lbs a week or holding steady at times. I don't feel like I should go out of my way to eat more so I don't lose weight when I am in fact overweight.

WTF? Counted calories, and I've had ~2200 both Mon and Tue. But my scale told me I lost 2 pounds Tuesday morning - I didn't believe it, surely it must be water or something, but it's still gone today. Not convinced it's not all water, but where did the 2lbs go?? I've been running a fever and absolutely ravenous - but lying down all day! - could I really have burned up all those calories and more?

At least I'm not undereating. But I'm so mystified - I can't be suddenly over-counting calories because I 'want' to be eating more, since I'm using exactly the same app I did when I was counting myself at 1400cal/day and being frustrated at still gaining weight. I'm just checking off the same foods I had then, just a bit more of them!

Perhaps it's just the fever. I'll keep counting and I talk to the GP on Fri. I know I have been eating more than normal, so I don't expect to keep up 2200 calories (surely if I did I'd quickly balloon back to my old weight, no matter what two days has done). But I must say this has really startled me.

If you don't actually need the PPI then surely you shouldn't be taking it, or any other medication that you don't actually need? I'm pretty sure any doctor would agree with that. So if you aren't suffering from acid reflux, I think you can stop it without any worry.

As for threatening to tube feed you when you're still overweight - I'm really shocked that you would be threatened with that and it seems counter to any reasonable diet advice, unless you are wilfully starving yourself (which you say you aren't).

Unexplained weight loss is indeed cause to worry - even in someone who really needs to lose weight for their health. If your doctors have not got to the bottom of why this is happening I would keep going back until they do. But I would not take medication I don't need in order to make them feel better if that medication actually made me feel worse.

Whatever it is that's causing the lower appetite, it isn't being treated by the drugs, AFAICT. So the drugs are just to prevent you losing weight? I definitely think you should get checked again to look for the underlying cause, but I can't understand why you would need to keep treating the weight-loss symptom if weight loss is not a problematic symptom for you at the moment.

Yeah, the drugs just address the immediate reason for less eating, which was I got ill and/or had stomach pain, particularly in the evening, after eating. So with the drugs I eat a bit more. The PPI was prescribed on the basis of bile reflux, and I took it for four weeks before I felt I could say, yes, it was making a marginal difference in that I felt slightly less ill at times. And I can feel that has come back - just a slightly more stomach upset in the evening. Yet that pales in relation to the fatigue that I think it was now connected to.

I feel sort of like they looked at everything, couldn't find a problem, and so are just trying to stop the proximal causes of lower food intake. I was also made to feel like it was 'all in my head' somehow, especially with the speech about how I had to eat. He also told me if I don't eat, my stomach gets used to no food, and so reacts. But I am eating. And now I think I'm eating pretty reasonably (or a bit much!).

If you're getting indigestion in the evenings after eating is it relieved by an ordinary indigestion medication, or it is just the PPI that seems to help (albeit minimally and probably causing other problems?). Do certain foods trigger your indigestion, or it all foods? I ask because I have IBS and I find I get heartburn and indigestion with certain foods (specifically spicy, greasy, certain vegetables, etc), whereas eating lightly and quite blandly in the evening really helps a lot. So could you get the same changes from simply altering the kind of foods you eat in the evening to ones that don't upset your stomach?