What does protein malnutrition feel like?

I got sick. I mean two weeks of massive diahorrea and lost about 7lbs off my scrawny frame. I was tired but couldn't sleep soundly. Tried to study but my mind kept wandering, I'd just zone out and stare vaguely into space like weird little micro sleeps. Oh and I felt really anxious as if my adrenal gland was working over time. I didn't know it at the time but I think I could have been suffering from the early onset of malnutrition.

It didn't matter that I was eating 100grams of protein, it was running out of me because of my bacterial overgrowth. I got pimples around my jaw line and cracked lips, my gums turned pale and I had heart palpatations every now and then. I should have known straight away what it was but my labs were excellent....and it was only 2 weeks of the skitters. Surely it takes longer than that.......


I guess not. I was very surprised to realise how many of the posters on my protein powder thread had suffered malnutrition. So for the newbies and the idiots like me who are too smart to ever have this happen to them.... What is your story?

 Sounds a lot like the symptoms of anemia...

As for me,  the "secret" is that I've never gone more than 4-ish months without doing labs.    That's a lot of labs in 11.5 year,  but there you have it.  If anything trends down,  I adjust right away.    This way I never get too low in anything.

I have high iron levels and had only had my labs done the month before. It is amazing how quickly your trends can go off with severe gastric upset. I should have taken Flagyl sooner and taken x3 supplements a day while I was sic****pt assuming I had a wide margin before I started getting symptoms. It just goes to show how variable we all are.

So Kirmy for us newbies are you saying that if we get into any severe GI upset especially diarrhea that we could be in malnutrition even if our protein grams are where they should be?   I am so new at this all of this is confusing me!  LOL

As I sit here 20 days post op trying to down a sytrax strawberry kiwi shake made with jus****er from vitalady (yuk) and try to also get 64 oz of liquid too!!

Nope I'm saying I started to show symptoms of malnutrition after two weeks of acute on chronic diarrhoea. It is pretty extreme on a normal persons system let alone a DSers. Your albumin is bound to dip as too your potassium. I was still in the mind set that I'd just get over it but over growth doesn't just go away without treatment. It is the second episode in almost 18 months.

As a nurse I've spent the last 17 years trying to avoid antibiotic contact so I don't become resistant due to occupational exposure. It is a difficult mindset to over come when your Ds requires you to medicate with Flagyl when required.

The reality is many DSers never have over growth or associated symptoms of malnutrition but a percentage of us do. I'm conscious this is coming off alarmist when what I'm trying to show is that you must intervene early with diahorrea and keep an eye on your protein intake at these times as you are losing your nutrients at a rate of knots. Here endith the lesson.......

 The DS does not "require" us to be medicated with Flagyl (metronidazole).  I am allergic to Flagyl and have never taken it in 11.5 years since my DS.

I have taken Cipro a few times which has been effective for me as an alternative to Flagyl.

Ciprofloxacin is a second line antibiotic therapy. I would usually prescribe that in cases where Flagyl is ineffective such as a resistant bacteria or a positive micro culture and sensitivity suggesting it's use. Why were you prescribed that? Was it because of a positive stool culture? Just curious. Lots of different prescribing behaviours across the pond.

Oh you're allergic! Sorry re-read.

I've been off the Flagyl wagon for many years.  I found that just keeping yogurt or Kefir on hand daily works wonders for me.  I can definitely notice the difference when I've not had some for a few days, and it only takes 2 days to get me back to normal.

Early on it feels like...
Getting tired easily, feeling weak; legs feeling heavy walking up stairs, feeling winded easily.
May feel a few palps. Oddly, less appetite. Weight loss. I'd say it feels a bit like when ya get over a virus and ya still got that jjellyfish feeling. Mentally, foggy..strange, absent feeling.
It may not be all these at the same time and it may be only after working part of the day, so it's easy to think it's just a tough, exhausting day...

Later on after it has progressed it feels like...
All of the above, the mental part gets worse, can't put together sensible thoughts, and also anxiety set in, (I was scared to get a picc because I had convinced myself that my K was low and hep locking my picc would cause me to bleed out and die.)but also for me thrush, shortness of breath, heart palps (the fluttering, beat skipping, makes you gulp and catch your breath type of strange beats), swelling. I have to mention about swelling that the first time it happen, total pedal foot edema. This last time mostly in my calf and ankle. No idea why the difference. Pressure sores? I suppose that's the correct word for it. They occurred where my shoes touched me, pants rubbed/sat on my hips and all around where my bra touched my skin. It starts out feeling sore/dry and then starts to open up and weep some, later they scab over.
Severe weakness, as in a chore to raise my head or couldn't lift my own leg once I was severely malnourished.

This last time, I had a "sore throat" one day that by the next day turned into thrush, swelling, palps, sob and pressure sores. It all hit fast.

(ps the extreme, severe diarrhea wasn't a part of this last episode, the first it was and the culprit of my protein malnutrition)