Sasha had been showing steady weight loss since the beginning of September. On December 27, he weighed 70.1 kg and today (almost two weeks later), he went up by 1.5 kg! From outward appearances, he has continued with his lower, moderate appetite. This sudden weight gain requires that I don my detective hat to ask "why?"
There are three possible theories:
1. I cannot rule out "foul play" since there was one very recent discovery yesterday that he had stolen money from his dad's wallet which was locked (securely, we believed) in the cabinet! Although we have kept the fridge unlocked (of late) during the daytime, we continue to keep the snacks locked up in the cabinet. Sasha doesn't appear to be that interested in the fridge food and has done very well to mostly ignore the fridge unless it is snack or meal time.
When I checked the cabinet, I was only able to pull the door open about 5 mm... how did he remove a $20 bill from his dad's wallet from such a narrow opening??? Of course, there was also food in this cabinet so if he was able to take money from the wallet, he might have been able to take food. We caught the missing $20 bill before he could spend it (this time) but who knows how many times it happened before without our knowledge? When I questioned him about it, he maintained a calm stance and said that he was not able to get any food out of the small opening and that he had only gone into the cabinet once when he took the $20. When asked about why he took the money, he said that he just "wants to hold some money" since he is never allowed to have any money in his possession. In addition, his uncle ended up giving him a lot of change (totaling $50) for Christmas and although we got the change counted and turned to an Amazon gift card, he only needed a split second to pilfer some coins into his pocket. The other possible way he has accessed more food is by buying it in the vending machines at school. He has had only 3 days at school since returning from the break with a full time para-ed aide so it's unlikely but who knows? With the exception of the 3 days at school and the 2 hours at his card club on Saturdays, Sasha was never out of our supervision for two continuous weeks over the holiday break (doors are alarmed at night to prevent night time visits to 24 hour stores). We have asked Sasha about whether he engaged in any extra food sneaking and he appeared puzzled by the weight gain and denied having snuck any food over the last few weeks. When confronted by me, did not melt down into a puddle of shame and self loathing which is a good sign because in the past, the stronger the denial and indignation, the more guilty he was in real life. Of course, we really have no real way of knowing the truth but with time and patience, it might come out later.
2. We have relaxed a bit on the lower carb diet of late. I must admit that the recent results of his OGTT and insulin tests which showed that he is no longer hypersecreting insulin has also made me a little lax in sticking as strictly as before to his lower carb diet. Richer holiday foods were eaten in abundance and we went out to restaurants more frequently during the visit with relatives. It is certainly possible that he is not immune to gaining weight during a period of holiday (over)eating. I guess we have to give him the allowance to be a normal person (yes, even on oxytocin and naltrexone) who can gain weight during a period of holiday overindulgence.
3. He started testosterone injections 3 weeks ago and it may be that it has caused more muscle weight gain. I don't know enough about testosterone and its effect on body weight but from the little I know, increased muscle mass is one effect.
Perhaps all three factors play into the recent weight gain. Although I am surprised by the weight gain, I feel no need to panic. We will get back on more moderate eating (after his birthday party tomorrow!) and improve the security of the food cabinets and access to money. We are clearly not "out of the woods" yet with his problems and this weight gain may be serving as a warning to me that vigilance is still a necessary precautionary stance to take in the oxytocin/naltrexone experiment.
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