I used to work in a gym, and I took some classes on physical fitness in college. I have been interested in eating healthy /working out every since I was in high school. The science behind gaining losing weight is pretty simple.......take in more calories than you use, and you will gain weight; use/burn more calories than you take in, and you will lose weight. There can be a little more to it , but that is basically it.
I'm 6"1 and 220 lbs. My body fat/muscle ratio is good , so I'm not obese, even though some BMI( Body Mass Index) might suggest that someone with my height/weight could be. My point is, I haven't lost a single lb on tx. I believe I have lost a couple lbs of muscle, but I have replaced that weight with water; due to the fact I have been drinking so much of it. But sometimes since I have been on tx, I've had to "force" myself to eat

I know you have said you have had a little bit of nausea. You have to make sure you eat, even if you're not necessarily hungry. Especially if your weight is getting really low like what you are describing. If you lose too much weight, it could jeopardize you being able to stay on tx. I know you are eating a healthy diet, but you are still going to have to make sure you are getting plenty of calories. This might mean you have to eat some foods that you may deem as unhealthy (i.e foods that are higher in fat/calories) to keep your weight up. There are foods that are high in fat/calories that are still good for you. For example, foods like nuts/avocados are high in fat/calories, but there still have plenty or healthy benefits for you.

You may need to end up seeing a dietician/ nutrition specialist in order to help you maintain some weight. Tx seems to be working for you, and with your expected duration and genotype, you really need to do everything to stay on tx. You have a good shot of getting rid of this dragon, and it will only get harder for you as you get older.

God Bless, and eat a little something! lol As my Mom would say......you are nothing but skin and bones!
j.k. Seriously, you do need to make sure you get some extra calories somehow!
Take care- CK

I started buying "Boost" which is a cheaper version of "Ensure" to drink with my meals to add more calories. It worked for me.

See if they still make "Carnation Instant Breakfast" and compare the nutritional ingredients to that of Boost and Ensure. It's a much cheaper alternative that we used in Nursing Homes because of the high cost of Nutritional Supplements. We never had a problem on State Inspections. Tastes pretty good, too. Be careful of "empty calories" that have no nutritional value, though. Chriskeith's advice was right on.

Man, I used to be a " hard gainer" when I was lifting weights to build muscle. I could eat , eat , eat , and not gain any weight. My metabolism had a lot to do with it. But as hard as it was, I was able to gain weight. I did exactly what I said above, I figured out exactly how many calories I was burning, and compared that to what I was taking in; and I adjusted my diet accordingly.
Weight gaining supplements ( which include stuff like Ensure and Boost) can get to be very expensive. And a lot of them are just High fructose corn syrup. What I would suggest is use them if you have to( and can afford it), but really try to just load up on your calories from food. Things like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches can give you sometimes more calories than a weight gaining drink or meal replacement drink.

Plus, your body will absorb more from the food as it passes through he digestive track. The drinks tend to run right through you if you know what I mean! You just have to start thinking a little more high calorie when you do eat. If you are eating enough calories, you will gain weight, trust me!

And one last thing.....I would eat a lot of times late at night or sometimes a small little snack right before bed ( or sometimes I would even set an alarm clock to wake up and eat in the middle of the night to eat). This will ensure you have plenty of calories while your are sleeping, and that is the time you build muscle /turn left over food/calories to fat. This will really help you put weight on.
I know it isn't best to eat late at night, but if it isn't real hard to digest ( and isn't a full course meal) you'll probably be ok. I never had a problem as long as I kept the snacks/meals to a small to normal size.

Good luck and I just thought i would mention that.

I wanted to make sure I didnt loose weight, I ate ice cream ,junk food,donuts and I have not lost or gained although I do make sure I eat right too,barb

Keep the diet healthy. Try adding nuts, carbs, and proteins. Ice cream is a good one to keep on weight. Protein takes longer to digest. Peanut butter really packs it on! Eggs too! Hmmmm????Lots of dairy products!!! I know it's hard to keep weight on during tx. Ice cream smoothies with fruit and popsickles were my life savers when I just couldn't eat. CAthie

I lost 16 pounds on treatment I am small so that was like 50 for me Its 7 months since I finsihed and I gained like 8 pounds back....you will loose I think its also muscle and alot of water weight........eat icecream.......alot of people loose weight......its normal.....

Ben & Jerry's Karmal Sutra ice cream is the answer. Not knowing I had Hep C for thirty years, I gained about half a pound a month for thirty years and have not been able to get it off no matter what I do, I am looking forward to my liver working better and metabolising the food better. I know that ice cream is not the kind of weight you want, but it will make you gain weight, when my best friend had cancer, she lost a ton of weight and we fed her ice cream, it really worked and was easy on her tummy.

In this case ice cream is the weight you want to gain! Any weight you can put on now is good. Ice cream is just fat/calories and nothing else. Like I said above, its not rocket science. Just take in more than you use and you'll gain weight.

Hi, I have lost 20 lbs this month, I have lost 25 all together. I have been very sick this month. But before my tx I gained like 30 lbs., and I don't know how. I was overweight for the first time in my life. 165, and 5' 2". I now weigh around 140. which is still too much for me.

statistics say 90% of people on treatment will loose 10 to 20 pounds. If you are loosing too much weight too quickly make sure to tell your hep c specialist so they can do some testing to see why your loosing so drasticly.

If you want to maybe have your docs check your TSH levels and make sure your thyroid is still functioning properly. I lost weight only in the last half of my treatment when my thyroid started screwing up.

Protein shakes, I take them about 2 times a day! Use the good stuff. Don't use that stuff old people buy, "ensure"! I use designer whey protein. Read body building mag's those guys are the experts on losing and gaining weight.I was told ensure was not good stuff if you drink it too much.

i gained 40to do this treatment , i have lost 30 lbs of that ! i have been working out for about a month , gotta get those muscles stronger ! a better diet has alot to do with it , im sure , have ya had you thyroid checked ??? also try ensure !

I make it my mission not to lose weight. Real oats, not instant, not overcooked with raisins or real cream of wheat not insant. I use these when I just can't eat anything else. It is a struggle but these foods are bland and tolerable for me. I cook them in bulk four serving at a time and keep them in indivual bowls. Pop them in microwave when I need replacement meal. It may help . I also use a little sugar and milk.

I was one of the minority who gain weight on tx.

While the weight loss was one side that I did not think would be a bad thing for me, unfortunately I got the other possible side: weight gain.

I had heard all the nitemares about horribly large weight losses and all the nausea, so I took great care to eat healthily as possible.

I could not eat certain foods without getting sick; salad was horrible and went right through me after first giving me horrible stomach pains and cramps. Cooked and hot foods also were bad tasting so I lived the year on fruits and veggies and shakes. My blender was my best friend.
I had big tubs of whey protein from shakes after the gym, so I started with that and just tossed in good and healthy things into the blender. Lots of fruits and yogurt. Even when I was not hungry, I tried hard to nibble through the day and I succeed too well.
I ended up gaining at least 30lbs on tx.

You want to watch your weight, especially if you are on weight based tx. Your dr may need to adjust it or you may have worse sides. You may want to look at your TSH levels on your test results; tests for thyroid were part of all my monthly tests.