Please Help!

My VL is UD and my CD4's are around 500. I am a recently diagnosed diabetic and my sugar is being well controlled with Avandamet. I also have had a heart attack and triple-bypass heart surgery within the last 18 months. The surgery was a success. My problem is maintaining my weight. I am male, 5' 5'' and weigh 115. My body weight before becoming ill was between 130-135. I have been on oxandrin for about 2 years, which has helped a little, but still hasn't solved my weight problem. A recent testosterone test came back at 31 and the doctor plans to put me on test. next week. My question is this: How can I eat enough calories to gain and/or maintain my weight if my diabetes control limits my carbs, etc? It is a no win situation. I was eating incredible amounts of food before being diagnosed diabetic, and my weight problem wasn't much better. How can a diabetic, with a history of heart problems, with low testosterone levels gain weight. Is it safe to take oxandrin and testosterone together as is my doctors plan? Sorry for so many questions, but UD and good CD4's are meaningless if my body is wasting away. Thanks for your time.

At 5'5" your normal weight was probably a good one and should be set as your goal. It is sometimes difficult to gain weight once it is lost, but let's start by redefining your diet.

A diabetic diet is not necessarily restrictive in calories and may not be completely restrictive in carbs. The idea behind this diet (which would probably be the ideal diet for many of us) is to distibute food and especially carbs more evenly throughout the day. Revisit this notion with your dietitian to make sure that the calories are there in your meal plans, especially until you gain the weight back to a good level.

Oxandrolone has been known to improve appetite and body weight, but it doesn't work as well if the calories aren't coming in. So, if you aren't getting the calories you are really limiting the potential effect that oxandrolone can have. Also, it works even that much better if you are engaging in exercise on a routine basis.

Oxandrolone is not a testosterone replacement therapy and you should have your testosterone levels checked routinely while on it. In many cases, testosterone replacement therapy may have to accompany the use of oxandrolone as an anabolic medication.

In your case there is an added risk of cardiovascular effects. If your cholesterol (especially LDL) is high, testosterone and its derivatives have the potential to make that worse and routine monitoring of cardiovascular indicators is warranted. Overall, it sounds like testosterone replacement is probably warranted, but you will need to get the calories in to make it work well. Head back to the dietitian to get the weight, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease issues all worked in to your goal.

Best wishes!