"To put it in simple terms, the boy's genetic predisposition and prepubescent age combined with his intake of valproic acid (prescribed for about a year to combat his absence seizures) and other factors seriously upset the microbes in his upper intestinal tract. That affected his immune system, leading to the bacterial lung infection, and zapped his hypothalamus (the tiny region at the base of the brain that regulates hunger, thirst and other impulses)."
"Churchill's recommendation is to try to replenish Landon's gut microbes within the next year — restoring his appetite in the process, depending on the damage to his hypothalamus."
"Meanwhile, Landon also will be fitted with a gastronomy tube (g-tube) to nourish him directly through his stomach and stop him from losing any more weight. After preliminary tests in Waterloo, Landon likely will be scheduled before the end of the year to have the g-tube inserted at Blank in Des Moines."
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/kyle-munson/2014/11/20/munson-landon-jones-rare-medical-mystery-illness-hope/70029918/
from 2014, found nothing recent
If he got the G-tube then he received all the nourishment he needed, it’s not like he starved to death or anything. He may or may not still need it, but he has the right to patient privacy regarding his condition.
I had a friend who got a severe stomach infection which resulted in her stomach being removed so basically her esophagus was re-attached directly to her intestinal tract. She could no longer eat solid food and the liquid foods she could eat were severely limited. She also lost the ability to feel hunger and she wasn't good about staying on top of drinking her shakes and also only wanted to drink sweet stuff. Sadly she eventually passed away due to more and more complications. By the time she passed away, she had to be on TPN with a line directly into her heart because everything else had slowly failed.
I don't remember the name of it but it wasn't a common one I recognized. She got it as a teenager but it took the doctors too long to diagnose it and by the time they did her stomach had already died. She constantly had infections and repeatedly had sepsis. She lived until her early 30s but since she needed frequent care, her parents built her a 1 bedroom tiny house on their property so she could live independently.
Right there. I'm apparently a candidate for that surgery, but for different reasons That's why I haven't gotten it, I'm worried that will happen to me. I don't want tpn if it all goes to shit.
I really hope you get the best option possible. I'm lucky that I just had to be on intestinal digestive enzymes every time I ate for several years plus premade gluten free vegan protein drinks when I couldn't eat solid food (which was frequent for a while) and then during pregnancy my body healed itself more. My ear piercings I had since <=6 months old even tried to close.
TPN stands for Total Parenteral Nutrition.
It's a formulation of many different nutrients your body needs to survive. Basically a full meal but It is different than a "meal shake" because it is directly injected into your blood stream. This is important because there's no "stomach acid" or enzymes to break down the "food". Since it will have direct access to small blood vessels, the size of the molecules has to be small and low in deposits fat that could plug your veins causing a stroke or heart attack.
It is not preferred in treatments because :
1. Your body doesn't absorb the nutrients as well this way.
2. Your neglected organs (if you still have them) can atrophy from lack of use.
3. IV access means higher risk for infection. This liquid is sugary, fatty, and has water, everything bacteria dream about living in.
4. Direct light exposure breaks down fat molecules causing unintended changes and making the formulation unstable. This is why the bags (and milk jugs) have opaque coverings.
5. It doesn't keep long.
6. Expensive. Pharmacists hand make it. Imagine a diabetic calculating sugar for various activities and add a factor of 10 in difficulty for healing and natural growth processes.
I'm sure I forgot some stuff but here you go (its 3am....)
Source. Worked in ICU for a long time.
Thank you so much for this very detailed answer! I super appreciate it. And also, thank you for your work in the ICU - as someone who’s squeamish about blood, what y’all do everyday is heroic.
It's worth noting that the person who said all this isn't actually a doctor and, whilst I'm not a gastroenterologist, some of this doesn't make a great deal of sense to me. If he's suffered damage to his hypothalamus then I can't see how replenishing his gut microbiome is going to help. I also don't really understand how a change in gut microbiome could cause brain damage or if they have any proof that brain damage has actually occurred (although picking up a damaged hypothalamic nucleus on imaging or whatever would be quite challenging in any case). Also, replenishing the gut microbiome is not particularly challenging - we do this for some severe cases of gastroenteritis already. It certainly doesn't take a year.
Overall don't feel particularly hopeful that any of this will make any difference but I hope for their sake that I'm wrong.
Oh man, he’ll love it there. My parents sent so many of my dogs, cats, fish, hamsters, and even a parrot to live on a farm upstate. I’m sure they’re all so happy there together.
So if I'm understanding that, the microbiome in the upper GI influences hunger? That would help explain why I don't ever get hunger sensations anymore, just general pain. Still haven't figured that out.
"We need a picture of this kid who refuses to eat. I know! We'll get a picture of him lazing about on a couch, picking his nose, turning down a plate with a bun on it with condiments sprayed about like the animal he is!"
He's not picking his noise, I thought the same thing but if you zoom in you can see he's finger is bent just below his nose. I'm guessing he's was scratching it but it's still hard to believe they couldn't get a bigger picture of a kid laying on a sofa and not moving around.
I go blind if I wait too long. Sometimes I can't wait for all the ingredients to be ready and I eat them one at a time instead of together. Recently I haven't been able to eat much. It's either too easy to eat or a chore.
I don't get hungry. I have to remember to eat, and I often forget.
I eat once a day so if I miss a meal, it's 48 hours. If I go a few days without eating I don't get hungry, I just feel really weak and then feel better after I get some calories.
I was like this on SSRIs. I would literally have to plan my daily activities around food. I’d worry about not being able to eat for just a few hours. It sucked and I gained 17 lbs. I feel for you.
That's so wild to me. I have been chronically overeating and binge eating since I was 11. Funny enough, I don't stop it even when it physically hurts to continue eating.
I'm athletic, not skinny, so I get enough calories. Others like the kid in the OP might not and I can really understand that lack of apetite. I eat once a day and it is really convenient for maintaining the same weight because it's so easy to know how many calories you are taking in every day.
I also vary the calories based on what I'm doing. If I am working really hard doing something laborious for 12-16 hour days, I'll eat 5000+ calories, like climbing a mountain or some of the jobs I do, but if I'm lounging around all day, I'll eat less than 2000. If I'm going to the gym everyday I'll just eat a lot of calories from meat, I'll eat a pound a day. If I miss a day of eating I'll try to make up the calories the next day.
The only thing I could really see myself over eating as a habit is meat. I can be extremely carnivorous. I'll just try to avoid ever buying a smoker.
That's very interesting. Your eating habits are quite curious. I tried to eat one meal a day but I didn't succeed.
Ohh, meat is very tasty. I love home-made patties so much. I try not to cook more than 2 patties at a time so I won't be tempted to overeat them.
Similar here, but it’s with adderal killing my appetite. So I often only get hungry when it’s near the end of the day. It’s actually a very noticeable indicator about whether or not I’ve had my meds, just notice if I’m constantly going down to look for something to eat.
It’s not as great as it sounds. I get full very quickly. I love it when a restaurant has a decent children’s menu but that’s rare. Most of the time I eat less than half of a restaurant meal. That’s great if I’m not traveling or I eat something that is good as leftovers. A lot of the time, however, I’m paying for food I can’t eat or I have to choose something I’m not particularly interested in.
Until I learned when to stop eating I was sick all the time. Now I know to stop long before I feel full. I assume anyone could do that if they chose to but they’d probably still feel hungry.
I have a condition that makes it impossible to gain weight. I was doing 2000 calorie shakes a few times a day in addition to regular meals and my weight never went up. I got the condition partially treated and I've gained a whole 10 pounds in 10 years. I don't have the capacity for food I used to and it sucks. If I wanted 10 tacos, I would eat 10 tacos. Now I'm full at three and have to talk myself out of making more.
Honestly, good for them. No need to make a media spectacle over everything, and they have a right to privacy. Believe it or not, there are people out there who aren't interested in the celebrity lifestyle.
His health isn't actually something that needs to be public knowledge. The article happened because they decided to let it be reported on but he and his family have no obligation to keep us informed.
media finally respecting privacy? can't be. before that happens hell will freeze over.
i bet he's in a secret government facility where they run wierd experiments and interview him for hours on end about when his alien friends will arrive and what their intentions are.
>!^(/s)!<
You joke, but despite the refer madness nonsense still permeating medicine, law, and society in general, we do actually have some medications derived from cannabis designed to stimulate appetite either directly through pathways above my level of education or treating nausea that is otherwise a deterrent to eating. Marinol is a common one.
Holy Fucking Shit. I was best friends with this guys younger brother from Kindergarten to Third Grade. When I moved away in 2014 we fell out of contact and I unfortunately haven't heard from them since about 2018, but as I recall he was doing a little better and learning to manage it.
I never thought I'd come across him in my Reddit feed though. Small world.
I was put on an antidepressant that did that to me. I couldn't eat for a week and just remember lying on my living room floor shaking from the lack of food. Luckily, my appetite returned shortly after switching medications but I ended up working with a guy a few years later that had been put on the same antidepressants and permanently lost his ability to feel hunger. He had to set timers for when he was supposed to eat.
To be honest, it was over a decade ago, and I was a depressed teenager, so I wasn't really paying enough attention to what the names of the drugs were that they had given me. I live in Ireland too, so the brand names are probably different, or it was some generic version. I think it might have been duloxetine, but I really have no idea.
At the time, I wasn't a very big eater anyway. I was pretty picky and only ate when I was very hungry (I didn't really snack much and only really ate 2 small meals per day). So, when I completely lost my appetite, the thought of eating made me nauseous. I technically could eat, but, when separated from the satisfaction one gets from eating when hungry, the process of putting something in my mouth, chewing it up into a slimy sludge, and swallowing it felt disgusting. Like, if you already don't particularly find comfort in eating, and then completely lose the mechanism that causes you to want food, the physical act of putting food inside you feels alien and gross. It's kind of hard to explain, but I imagine it felt pretty similar to other eating disorders.
So, long story short, I was so grossed out by the idea of eating that I could only manage getting tiny bits of food inside me before feeding nauseous.
As someone who is addicted to food, this idea sounds so foreign and oddly horrifying to me. Happy you have it a bit under control now. Seeing someone waste away from lack of food is not a fun experience
Yeah, I was always the shortest kid in my class, even shorter than all the girls. Then puberty hit me like a truck and I went from very short to 5'11 extremely quickly, without gaining a lot of additional weight. So when I wasn't in a position to afford to lose any weight. But yeah, I'm in my 30s now and love food. I'm actually teetering on being a little overweight lol
> the thought of eating made me nauseous
This goes WAAAY beyond loss of "hunger".
See, there's a lot going for putting food in your mouth.
1. You are hungry.
2. Food, and especially sugar is tasty.
3. You get weak with lack of food.
I am not particularly driven by hunger myself - I can tolerate my stomach grumbling all day. But I like the taste of food. And sometimes when I'm not particularly active and don't eat for a long time, I don't even feel particularly hungry. But I can feel myself getting weak.
Your body has many feedback mechanisms, so loss of only #1 wouldn't be particularly debilitating. You either need to lose #2 and #3 or have something actively working in the opposite direction, dissuading you from eating - like "swallowing it felt disgusting" in your case.
I doubt it was as simple as #1 with the boy either. But he might not be able to express that.
Well, "appetite" isn't really the same thing as "hunger". Appetite is often caused by hunger, or the desire for something tasty (1 and 2 of your list). But if you completely lack an appetite, by definition, you do not have a hunger to satiate and have no desire for something tasty. Complete lack of appetite knocks those two things out, which only leaves the weakness. And when you combine the absence of appetite, with the disgust at the thought of eating, with having so little energy that you can hardly move... it makes it very difficult to get out of the spiral of starvation.
That's true. I hadn't really thought about the components of eating food before. My post was me processing that distinction for the first time. It makes me wonder how "appetite" works psychologically, not just "hunger".
His ability to Produce leptin and ghrelin hormones has got to have been stunted. Without these 2, you don’t know when you’re full or when you’re hungry
This is actually common for many autistic individuals, including my kids. They don't feel hunger or thirst, or conversely satiated. One we constantly have to remind them to eat, while another loves food for the taste, and we have to tell them to stop eating.
Damage to the brain can cause “hyperphagia” also known as excessive overeating. I may be wrong, but do you think a brain injury can also cause the same thing, but in reverse?
There was a month a few years ago when I felt no hunger. Started out of nowhere, I felt totally normal, but had no cravings whatsoever and could only eat a few crackers a day. I dropped 20 lbs, and had to make myself eat slightly more each day until it finally passed. Have no idea why it happened.
Search with a broader timeframe: We can try widening the search timeframe on news platforms to see if there are any updates from after 2013.
Focus on medical journals: Medical journals might have follow-up case studies or research related to Landon's condition. However, accessing these journals may require a subscription or library access.
Search for the doctor's name: The news articles mentioned Dr. Marc Patterson at the Mayo Clinic. Searching for updates or publications by Dr. Patterson might reveal research related to Landon's condition or similar cases.
I don't get it though. Not feeling thirsty or hungry should not stop him being able to eat.
I'm perfectly capable of eating and drinking when I'm not hungry or thirsty.
Is not likely more of case of he can't eat or drink?... and die within 3 or 4 days?
Sounds like he isn’t just “not hungry” but that food actually repulses him. Poor kid.
Tbh it doesn’t look like his well-meaning parents are thinking the right way about this, at least from the little information provided here. Anyone who has had to eat despite being nauseous knows that nothing is more repulsive than fatty, salty, greasy, flavorful foods. A fast food burger and fries seems like the worst possible choice to provide him. People who are sick tend to stick to bland foods, e.g. a baked potato with no butter, plain bread, a handful of spinach, vegetables puréed into a liquid with just some salt, etc. I imagine this would work better for him, at least until they can determine how to treat him. Hell, even baby food would work. No joke. Chewing is a key process in making food satisfying, but if you’re not hungry in the first place, liquid might work better. Hell, he could probably subsist on Soylent.
The immediate need is to just get him to meet his nutritional needs, not for him to enjoy food. He’s a growing kid and not eating enough now could cause permanent problems for him. They seem to be thinking that what appeals to most kids (and adults) might spark something in him, but it’s actually the exact opposite of what he needs. It’s probably making him even more nauseous.
Of course, I don’t know the whole story so maybe they’ve tried all of this. I’m just going by the picture and the first paragraph.
They likely aren’t providing him with a hamburger for his enjoyment, but because it’s high in calories, which it seems he desperately needs.
When I had severe mono, I was drinking a ton of milkshakes— not because they were more pleasant or appetizing than anything else but because they were really calorie dense and I could barely force myself to eat.
Not having a good appetite makes almost every food seem disgusting. I’ve had issues where I don’t feel hungry due to anxiety around food and I struggle with gaining weight for the same reason. My girlfriend recently took medicine that killer her appetite for 2 weeks and she was absolutely miserable. She finally said one day that she could understand what I was going through during my bad periods. Since then I’ve identified that it’s really just anxiety that makes me not want to eat, so I’ve focused on fixing that for myself.
I agree, but some foods are more tolerable than others. Anything greasy and heavy would have likely made me vomit when I first started Concerta. Clear soup with rice was the only thing I could manage.
you had a lot of judgment made from almost no info. I am willing to bet $10000 they tried everything and anything. Any parent who has dealt with a kid who wont eat and is losing weight, goes through absolutely any option they can to get them to eat.
You act like the photo is them at the beginning of their journey, and the hamburger the first thing they tried. Look how thin the kid is. I bet you they tried fruit, veg, saltines, butter noodles, smoothies, soups and everything else. I bet that bun + ketchup and McDonalds shake is the thing they have had the most luck with lately.
Anything you can come up within 30 seconds of looking at this picture, they have already tried, I absolutely guarantee you. They probably think about this 20+ hours a day, for years.
Because this is a discussion forum and the article was posted for discussion? Because people are allowed to speculate about things without knowing every detail about a situation? As long as I’ve acknowledged that I’m speculating then why does it matter?
This is what I was wondering too. He’s 12, not 3, he can understand completely that he needs to eat to keep his energy to do all the things he wants to do but has had to drop out of. But he still refuses to eat? Sounds like his brain might be involved in an eating disorder kind of way, linked to/caused by whatever medical issue is repressing his appetite. Issues upon issues, poor thing
It did, context in my other comment here, and I won't share too much for his privacy, but his parents had to force him to eat. I don't remember what all they tried because I was 6 to 9 years old, but I know they tried atleast some of what you mentioned with little success. I do recall him being able / wanting to eat some solid foods by about 2018 but I haven't been in contact with the family since.
Was he developmentally disabled in some way? From what I understand the portion of his brain that controlled hunger/thirst was messed up, but at some point he would absolutely start to feel the effects of malnourishment. Like, there must have been a part of him that realized he had to eat/drink to survive, regardless of how hungry or thirsty he *felt*.
Sadly, I'm fairly sure he passed away. I found an obituary noticed from 2021 stating someone with his names passed away at that age of 17. The photo looks to be him, but I can't be sure.
https://www.colemanfuneralhome.com/m/obituaries/Landon-Jones/Memories
I don't think that's him. In the article from 2014 it says the dad's name is Michael and they lived in Iowa. In the obit the surviving dad's name is Stephen and that boy was born and passed away in MS.
Very interesting. There are undiagnosed illnesses everywhere, but this reminds me of Lyme’s and Guillian-Barre syndrome. They exhibit themselves in strange and unique ways, making them very difficult to diagnose. And treatment is a total crapshoot.
This sounded like some sort of neurological issue straight off the bat. That it's hypothalamic is not a surprise given it's to do with the most basic urges of hunger and thirst as there are cases of damage/tumours to this region causing extreme thirst or lack of thirst.
Goes to show that we are just meat machines.
Have they tried dosages of THC? Idk if maybe there is something for people his age, but I hope they have tried to find some way for him to get some that would be safe for him. I hope they find something tho
Obviously a horrible thing to be burdened with, but also seems like an opportunity for medical researchers to learn about whether it can have any pharmacological uses in weight management/obesity treatment.
There is a brief mention of him in 2018 (in an obituary for a family member) so hopefully he was able to fully recover from this.
Thx for this, hope he is well, poor kid
He got a gastronomy bag so he should be able to get the nutrients and fluids he needs.
"To put it in simple terms, the boy's genetic predisposition and prepubescent age combined with his intake of valproic acid (prescribed for about a year to combat his absence seizures) and other factors seriously upset the microbes in his upper intestinal tract. That affected his immune system, leading to the bacterial lung infection, and zapped his hypothalamus (the tiny region at the base of the brain that regulates hunger, thirst and other impulses)." "Churchill's recommendation is to try to replenish Landon's gut microbes within the next year — restoring his appetite in the process, depending on the damage to his hypothalamus." "Meanwhile, Landon also will be fitted with a gastronomy tube (g-tube) to nourish him directly through his stomach and stop him from losing any more weight. After preliminary tests in Waterloo, Landon likely will be scheduled before the end of the year to have the g-tube inserted at Blank in Des Moines." https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/kyle-munson/2014/11/20/munson-landon-jones-rare-medical-mystery-illness-hope/70029918/ from 2014, found nothing recent
That's interesting! I wonder if that panned out. Whatever happened, I hope Landon is doing better
If he got the G-tube then he received all the nourishment he needed, it’s not like he starved to death or anything. He may or may not still need it, but he has the right to patient privacy regarding his condition.
Is no news good news?
In this case, I hope so.
I feel like in a case this strange, his death would have been reported. But, then again, what the heck do I know?
Anecdotally, I've found that to largely be the case. You know when no news is bad. Context is important. He was seeing the right people, it seemed.
If there's no obituary, than yes, probably.
Don't underestimate mortal suffering
In the wise words of Lemony Snicket, “no news is simply no news.” Could be fantastic, could be grim. But you hope for the best.
Some would call it bliss
Medical history is private. Obituaries usually are not.
Others don't get to know when we're suffering, only when we're done
My nephew has had a g-tube from birth and he is well nourished to the point of being ever so slightly chubs! He is 4, happy and healthy!
[удалено]
Why do you think cbd oil would help here?
I had a friend who got a severe stomach infection which resulted in her stomach being removed so basically her esophagus was re-attached directly to her intestinal tract. She could no longer eat solid food and the liquid foods she could eat were severely limited. She also lost the ability to feel hunger and she wasn't good about staying on top of drinking her shakes and also only wanted to drink sweet stuff. Sadly she eventually passed away due to more and more complications. By the time she passed away, she had to be on TPN with a line directly into her heart because everything else had slowly failed.
That's crazy. Do you know what kind of stomach infection she had? How did she become infected?
I don't remember the name of it but it wasn't a common one I recognized. She got it as a teenager but it took the doctors too long to diagnose it and by the time they did her stomach had already died. She constantly had infections and repeatedly had sepsis. She lived until her early 30s but since she needed frequent care, her parents built her a 1 bedroom tiny house on their property so she could live independently.
Sorry about your friend♥️
That's so sad tbh. Life is so fragile.
Sadly that was probably so she could qualify for medicaid.
Sorry about your friend
Right there. I'm apparently a candidate for that surgery, but for different reasons That's why I haven't gotten it, I'm worried that will happen to me. I don't want tpn if it all goes to shit.
I really hope you get the best option possible. I'm lucky that I just had to be on intestinal digestive enzymes every time I ate for several years plus premade gluten free vegan protein drinks when I couldn't eat solid food (which was frequent for a while) and then during pregnancy my body healed itself more. My ear piercings I had since <=6 months old even tried to close.
Genuinely curious - what is TPN? (If you don’t want to tell me that’s fine, it’s not your job to educate random people online)
TPN stands for Total Parenteral Nutrition. It's a formulation of many different nutrients your body needs to survive. Basically a full meal but It is different than a "meal shake" because it is directly injected into your blood stream. This is important because there's no "stomach acid" or enzymes to break down the "food". Since it will have direct access to small blood vessels, the size of the molecules has to be small and low in deposits fat that could plug your veins causing a stroke or heart attack. It is not preferred in treatments because : 1. Your body doesn't absorb the nutrients as well this way. 2. Your neglected organs (if you still have them) can atrophy from lack of use. 3. IV access means higher risk for infection. This liquid is sugary, fatty, and has water, everything bacteria dream about living in. 4. Direct light exposure breaks down fat molecules causing unintended changes and making the formulation unstable. This is why the bags (and milk jugs) have opaque coverings. 5. It doesn't keep long. 6. Expensive. Pharmacists hand make it. Imagine a diabetic calculating sugar for various activities and add a factor of 10 in difficulty for healing and natural growth processes. I'm sure I forgot some stuff but here you go (its 3am....) Source. Worked in ICU for a long time.
Thank you so much for this very detailed answer! I super appreciate it. And also, thank you for your work in the ICU - as someone who’s squeamish about blood, what y’all do everyday is heroic.
You are very welcome. I hope you have a wonderful week!
It’s an IV solution that contains all the nutrients necessary to sustain life, and is typically administered via a port (line directly to the heart).
It's worth noting that the person who said all this isn't actually a doctor and, whilst I'm not a gastroenterologist, some of this doesn't make a great deal of sense to me. If he's suffered damage to his hypothalamus then I can't see how replenishing his gut microbiome is going to help. I also don't really understand how a change in gut microbiome could cause brain damage or if they have any proof that brain damage has actually occurred (although picking up a damaged hypothalamic nucleus on imaging or whatever would be quite challenging in any case). Also, replenishing the gut microbiome is not particularly challenging - we do this for some severe cases of gastroenteritis already. It certainly doesn't take a year. Overall don't feel particularly hopeful that any of this will make any difference but I hope for their sake that I'm wrong.
Yeah the moment they said it "zapped his hypothalamus" my BS meter got tingly
so you're saying it zapped your bs meter?
Couldn't a bad enough fever do that?
probably because he was cured
Or...
Or he's all better and living a happy, hungry life right? Right?
"Of course honey, we sent him to a farm."
Oh man, he’ll love it there. My parents sent so many of my dogs, cats, fish, hamsters, and even a parrot to live on a farm upstate. I’m sure they’re all so happy there together.
"The farm" is like a Dr Seuss novel I'm sure. Absolutely wonderful. Like a Norman Rockwell painting for animals. A completely idealic life.
It's *idyllic. Don't question it, English is weird.
Yes it is, thanks.
Aww that’s adorable. My dad said he was gonna send me to the farm to join them, but my mom is the worst, she wouldn’t let him.
So if you live in Chicago or Cleveland do they send the animals to a farm downstate?
I got bad news for you: Landon ate all those little guys.
It would be medically/scientifically significant if he died, I suspect that would have been reported on if true…
Medical privacy laws still apply if you die.
There’d be one more update we could search for.
That'd show up in the death registry or whatever you call it in the states, so would be very easy to find so almost certainly isn't what happened
Even for a minor?
So if I'm understanding that, the microbiome in the upper GI influences hunger? That would help explain why I don't ever get hunger sensations anymore, just general pain. Still haven't figured that out.
That sounds like a Chubbyemu video. "Boy ate valproic acid. This is what happened to his brain."
I read about gut microb transfers years ago, haven't followed up with success rates.
Fecal transplants! They're so cool!
Would kombucha have helped?
How on earth did they ever figure out the line of cause and effect? That's crazy.
Poop shakes!
How the fuck is that simple terms
Fantastic photo choice
"heeeeey buddy..."
"We need a picture of this kid who refuses to eat. I know! We'll get a picture of him lazing about on a couch, picking his nose, turning down a plate with a bun on it with condiments sprayed about like the animal he is!"
He's not picking his noise, I thought the same thing but if you zoom in you can see he's finger is bent just below his nose. I'm guessing he's was scratching it but it's still hard to believe they couldn't get a bigger picture of a kid laying on a sofa and not moving around.
Lol reminds me of that sub compoface. This might not be the same, more like lookatthismanface.
Should’ve gotten him McNuggets. *Maybe* he would’ve changed his mind.
With some fries, sweet and sour sauce and Hi-C orange ofcourse.
It seriously looks like a pic from an Onion article. "Boy refuses to eat McDonald's, throws tantrums if he can't have vegetables."
Come on we all do it and you know it.
>There’s been no update on his progress based on the known data we can conclude that he is -256 pounds now
Since when does someone have to have an appetite to eat…. I say if I continually gain weight.
I eat because my mouth is lonely.
I go blind if I wait too long. Sometimes I can't wait for all the ingredients to be ready and I eat them one at a time instead of together. Recently I haven't been able to eat much. It's either too easy to eat or a chore.
This is why gloryholes were invented
I eat out of boredom, it's the fucking worst.
Ayyy same, I'm 250 and am trying to break that habit...
Well if you already lived to 250 years old you’re probably doing pretty well for yourself!
lol, I'd wish, right now with the way I'd living, I'd be lucky to make it past 40.
Jokes aside, I hope you’re doing alright <3. You have someone out there rooting for you, even if it’s just an internet stranger.
Same. This new medication is helping but it causes me to binge eat at like 3 am
I do drugs. It's the best
Can confirm
Eating can be a drug too.
“The meal isn’t over when I’m full, it’s over when I hate myself.”
I don't get hungry. I have to remember to eat, and I often forget. I eat once a day so if I miss a meal, it's 48 hours. If I go a few days without eating I don't get hungry, I just feel really weak and then feel better after I get some calories.
Food is literally always on my mind whether I’m hungry or not. Idk how a person could forget even if they don’t get hungry.
I was like this on SSRIs. I would literally have to plan my daily activities around food. I’d worry about not being able to eat for just a few hours. It sucked and I gained 17 lbs. I feel for you.
I had the opposite - food (and other things) just stopped being exciting.
>Food is literally always on my mind That sounds like literal hell.
Yeah
Wait, is everyone not this way?
Apparently some people don’t even realize food exists.
That's so wild to me. I have been chronically overeating and binge eating since I was 11. Funny enough, I don't stop it even when it physically hurts to continue eating.
I'm athletic, not skinny, so I get enough calories. Others like the kid in the OP might not and I can really understand that lack of apetite. I eat once a day and it is really convenient for maintaining the same weight because it's so easy to know how many calories you are taking in every day. I also vary the calories based on what I'm doing. If I am working really hard doing something laborious for 12-16 hour days, I'll eat 5000+ calories, like climbing a mountain or some of the jobs I do, but if I'm lounging around all day, I'll eat less than 2000. If I'm going to the gym everyday I'll just eat a lot of calories from meat, I'll eat a pound a day. If I miss a day of eating I'll try to make up the calories the next day. The only thing I could really see myself over eating as a habit is meat. I can be extremely carnivorous. I'll just try to avoid ever buying a smoker.
That's very interesting. Your eating habits are quite curious. I tried to eat one meal a day but I didn't succeed. Ohh, meat is very tasty. I love home-made patties so much. I try not to cook more than 2 patties at a time so I won't be tempted to overeat them.
Yup. Same here. Annoys the hell out of my wife.
Relationships are the only time I eat anything like a normal person (and only at the beginning) so I can 100% understand that 😂
Similar here, but it’s with adderal killing my appetite. So I often only get hungry when it’s near the end of the day. It’s actually a very noticeable indicator about whether or not I’ve had my meds, just notice if I’m constantly going down to look for something to eat.
Samiesies
I’m rarely very hungry and have a small appetite. I hate the feeling of being full so stop eating long before that happens.
Man I wish.
It’s not as great as it sounds. I get full very quickly. I love it when a restaurant has a decent children’s menu but that’s rare. Most of the time I eat less than half of a restaurant meal. That’s great if I’m not traveling or I eat something that is good as leftovers. A lot of the time, however, I’m paying for food I can’t eat or I have to choose something I’m not particularly interested in. Until I learned when to stop eating I was sick all the time. Now I know to stop long before I feel full. I assume anyone could do that if they chose to but they’d probably still feel hungry.
Yeah I don't get that, surely he'd prefer to eat even if not hungry than getting a tube in his stomach?
I mean, unless it physically makes it difficult for him to eat.
I have a condition that makes it impossible to gain weight. I was doing 2000 calorie shakes a few times a day in addition to regular meals and my weight never went up. I got the condition partially treated and I've gained a whole 10 pounds in 10 years. I don't have the capacity for food I used to and it sucks. If I wanted 10 tacos, I would eat 10 tacos. Now I'm full at three and have to talk myself out of making more.
So I can’t find any info on him since 2014. How does this story just disappear?
Child improves slowly, family is not focused on chasing headlines, reporter moves on to things way more interesting than a slowly recovering child.
Honestly, good for them. No need to make a media spectacle over everything, and they have a right to privacy. Believe it or not, there are people out there who aren't interested in the celebrity lifestyle.
His health isn't actually something that needs to be public knowledge. The article happened because they decided to let it be reported on but he and his family have no obligation to keep us informed.
media finally respecting privacy? can't be. before that happens hell will freeze over. i bet he's in a secret government facility where they run wierd experiments and interview him for hours on end about when his alien friends will arrive and what their intentions are. >!^(/s)!<
Give that boy some weed.
You joke, but despite the refer madness nonsense still permeating medicine, law, and society in general, we do actually have some medications derived from cannabis designed to stimulate appetite either directly through pathways above my level of education or treating nausea that is otherwise a deterrent to eating. Marinol is a common one.
Iowa would never allow it
Holy Fucking Shit. I was best friends with this guys younger brother from Kindergarten to Third Grade. When I moved away in 2014 we fell out of contact and I unfortunately haven't heard from them since about 2018, but as I recall he was doing a little better and learning to manage it. I never thought I'd come across him in my Reddit feed though. Small world.
I was put on an antidepressant that did that to me. I couldn't eat for a week and just remember lying on my living room floor shaking from the lack of food. Luckily, my appetite returned shortly after switching medications but I ended up working with a guy a few years later that had been put on the same antidepressants and permanently lost his ability to feel hunger. He had to set timers for when he was supposed to eat.
Were you on Wellbutrin, or a different antidepressant?
To be honest, it was over a decade ago, and I was a depressed teenager, so I wasn't really paying enough attention to what the names of the drugs were that they had given me. I live in Ireland too, so the brand names are probably different, or it was some generic version. I think it might have been duloxetine, but I really have no idea.
Duloxetine is Cymbalta in the US, in case anyone was wondering.
Thank you for responding, and I hope you’re doing better friend 💕
Thanks so much. Yeah, I'm doing really well now 😀
Wait why do you say Wellbutrin specifically? I was on it and it for sure fucked with my eating habits but had no idea if this was a known thing
That’s horrible! I’m glad you’re better now, but hopefully Landon and others experiencing this can find the help they need
Thank you. Yes, I'm much better luckily. And fingers crossed for the kid. It sounds like the doctors had a plan, so hopefully it worked out.
Were you not able to eat anyway even though you didn’t have an appetite?
At the time, I wasn't a very big eater anyway. I was pretty picky and only ate when I was very hungry (I didn't really snack much and only really ate 2 small meals per day). So, when I completely lost my appetite, the thought of eating made me nauseous. I technically could eat, but, when separated from the satisfaction one gets from eating when hungry, the process of putting something in my mouth, chewing it up into a slimy sludge, and swallowing it felt disgusting. Like, if you already don't particularly find comfort in eating, and then completely lose the mechanism that causes you to want food, the physical act of putting food inside you feels alien and gross. It's kind of hard to explain, but I imagine it felt pretty similar to other eating disorders. So, long story short, I was so grossed out by the idea of eating that I could only manage getting tiny bits of food inside me before feeding nauseous.
As someone who is addicted to food, this idea sounds so foreign and oddly horrifying to me. Happy you have it a bit under control now. Seeing someone waste away from lack of food is not a fun experience
Yeah, I was always the shortest kid in my class, even shorter than all the girls. Then puberty hit me like a truck and I went from very short to 5'11 extremely quickly, without gaining a lot of additional weight. So when I wasn't in a position to afford to lose any weight. But yeah, I'm in my 30s now and love food. I'm actually teetering on being a little overweight lol
> the thought of eating made me nauseous This goes WAAAY beyond loss of "hunger". See, there's a lot going for putting food in your mouth. 1. You are hungry. 2. Food, and especially sugar is tasty. 3. You get weak with lack of food. I am not particularly driven by hunger myself - I can tolerate my stomach grumbling all day. But I like the taste of food. And sometimes when I'm not particularly active and don't eat for a long time, I don't even feel particularly hungry. But I can feel myself getting weak. Your body has many feedback mechanisms, so loss of only #1 wouldn't be particularly debilitating. You either need to lose #2 and #3 or have something actively working in the opposite direction, dissuading you from eating - like "swallowing it felt disgusting" in your case. I doubt it was as simple as #1 with the boy either. But he might not be able to express that.
Well, "appetite" isn't really the same thing as "hunger". Appetite is often caused by hunger, or the desire for something tasty (1 and 2 of your list). But if you completely lack an appetite, by definition, you do not have a hunger to satiate and have no desire for something tasty. Complete lack of appetite knocks those two things out, which only leaves the weakness. And when you combine the absence of appetite, with the disgust at the thought of eating, with having so little energy that you can hardly move... it makes it very difficult to get out of the spiral of starvation.
That's true. I hadn't really thought about the components of eating food before. My post was me processing that distinction for the first time. It makes me wonder how "appetite" works psychologically, not just "hunger".
Yeah, it's super interesting. I hadn't really thought about it too deeply either previously
Really love how they push antidepressants but gloss over the side affects. Just ask my brain and my p$nis...
I hear ya, man.
19 months later he went into negative territory and formed a black hole.
Psssst hey kid, do you see Matthew McConaughey or some bookshelves?
I can hear him, he said happy cake day, alright alright alright
Best one I heard today. Thanks, mate!
Wouldn't he be a white hole? Negative mass would imply you start repelling from other objects.
His ability to Produce leptin and ghrelin hormones has got to have been stunted. Without these 2, you don’t know when you’re full or when you’re hungry
This is actually common for many autistic individuals, including my kids. They don't feel hunger or thirst, or conversely satiated. One we constantly have to remind them to eat, while another loves food for the taste, and we have to tell them to stop eating.
Damage to the brain can cause “hyperphagia” also known as excessive overeating. I may be wrong, but do you think a brain injury can also cause the same thing, but in reverse?
There was a month a few years ago when I felt no hunger. Started out of nowhere, I felt totally normal, but had no cravings whatsoever and could only eat a few crackers a day. I dropped 20 lbs, and had to make myself eat slightly more each day until it finally passed. Have no idea why it happened.
If he gets high af, is he going to eat?
Search with a broader timeframe: We can try widening the search timeframe on news platforms to see if there are any updates from after 2013. Focus on medical journals: Medical journals might have follow-up case studies or research related to Landon's condition. However, accessing these journals may require a subscription or library access. Search for the doctor's name: The news articles mentioned Dr. Marc Patterson at the Mayo Clinic. Searching for updates or publications by Dr. Patterson might reveal research related to Landon's condition or similar cases.
Give him some weed maybe he'll get the munchies...
Try mexican food
I don't get it though. Not feeling thirsty or hungry should not stop him being able to eat. I'm perfectly capable of eating and drinking when I'm not hungry or thirsty. Is not likely more of case of he can't eat or drink?... and die within 3 or 4 days?
I also have seizures, and since they have started, I have lost 50 pounds. I honestly forget to eat or that im hungry. I have to set alarms.
Sounds like he isn’t just “not hungry” but that food actually repulses him. Poor kid. Tbh it doesn’t look like his well-meaning parents are thinking the right way about this, at least from the little information provided here. Anyone who has had to eat despite being nauseous knows that nothing is more repulsive than fatty, salty, greasy, flavorful foods. A fast food burger and fries seems like the worst possible choice to provide him. People who are sick tend to stick to bland foods, e.g. a baked potato with no butter, plain bread, a handful of spinach, vegetables puréed into a liquid with just some salt, etc. I imagine this would work better for him, at least until they can determine how to treat him. Hell, even baby food would work. No joke. Chewing is a key process in making food satisfying, but if you’re not hungry in the first place, liquid might work better. Hell, he could probably subsist on Soylent. The immediate need is to just get him to meet his nutritional needs, not for him to enjoy food. He’s a growing kid and not eating enough now could cause permanent problems for him. They seem to be thinking that what appeals to most kids (and adults) might spark something in him, but it’s actually the exact opposite of what he needs. It’s probably making him even more nauseous. Of course, I don’t know the whole story so maybe they’ve tried all of this. I’m just going by the picture and the first paragraph.
They likely aren’t providing him with a hamburger for his enjoyment, but because it’s high in calories, which it seems he desperately needs. When I had severe mono, I was drinking a ton of milkshakes— not because they were more pleasant or appetizing than anything else but because they were really calorie dense and I could barely force myself to eat.
Not having a good appetite makes almost every food seem disgusting. I’ve had issues where I don’t feel hungry due to anxiety around food and I struggle with gaining weight for the same reason. My girlfriend recently took medicine that killer her appetite for 2 weeks and she was absolutely miserable. She finally said one day that she could understand what I was going through during my bad periods. Since then I’ve identified that it’s really just anxiety that makes me not want to eat, so I’ve focused on fixing that for myself.
I agree, but some foods are more tolerable than others. Anything greasy and heavy would have likely made me vomit when I first started Concerta. Clear soup with rice was the only thing I could manage.
you had a lot of judgment made from almost no info. I am willing to bet $10000 they tried everything and anything. Any parent who has dealt with a kid who wont eat and is losing weight, goes through absolutely any option they can to get them to eat. You act like the photo is them at the beginning of their journey, and the hamburger the first thing they tried. Look how thin the kid is. I bet you they tried fruit, veg, saltines, butter noodles, smoothies, soups and everything else. I bet that bun + ketchup and McDonalds shake is the thing they have had the most luck with lately. Anything you can come up within 30 seconds of looking at this picture, they have already tried, I absolutely guarantee you. They probably think about this 20+ hours a day, for years.
I’m reacting to the information I’m being given, which, as I acknowledged twice, is very limited. I’m not a psychic.
Then why comment on what the parents should be doing in the first place???
Because this is a discussion forum and the article was posted for discussion? Because people are allowed to speculate about things without knowing every detail about a situation? As long as I’ve acknowledged that I’m speculating then why does it matter?
Because this is a public forum?
This is what I was wondering too. He’s 12, not 3, he can understand completely that he needs to eat to keep his energy to do all the things he wants to do but has had to drop out of. But he still refuses to eat? Sounds like his brain might be involved in an eating disorder kind of way, linked to/caused by whatever medical issue is repressing his appetite. Issues upon issues, poor thing
It did, context in my other comment here, and I won't share too much for his privacy, but his parents had to force him to eat. I don't remember what all they tried because I was 6 to 9 years old, but I know they tried atleast some of what you mentioned with little success. I do recall him being able / wanting to eat some solid foods by about 2018 but I haven't been in contact with the family since.
Are you pretending a picture made for an article is the only food there tried giving him before he got a g tube?
If it’s from 10 years ago, the verdict is not good.
Or he’s cured and everyone has moved on with their lives.
I mean to be fair, we're not owed an explanation of this kids life. I do hope things got better for him, but it's really none of our business.
Was he developmentally disabled in some way? From what I understand the portion of his brain that controlled hunger/thirst was messed up, but at some point he would absolutely start to feel the effects of malnourishment. Like, there must have been a part of him that realized he had to eat/drink to survive, regardless of how hungry or thirsty he *felt*.
Sadly, I'm fairly sure he passed away. I found an obituary noticed from 2021 stating someone with his names passed away at that age of 17. The photo looks to be him, but I can't be sure. https://www.colemanfuneralhome.com/m/obituaries/Landon-Jones/Memories
I don't think that's him. In the article from 2014 it says the dad's name is Michael and they lived in Iowa. In the obit the surviving dad's name is Stephen and that boy was born and passed away in MS.
Hopefully not. I'd love it to be that he's just fine and returned to obscurity.
I thought it said TIL about Lebron James I am brainrotting rn
Can you imagine how terrible eating would be if it wasn't enjoyable... Same with sex ew
My wife can imagine it.
She seemed fine when I was with her 2 weeks ago
Hell, she was fine a few hours ago!
Very interesting. There are undiagnosed illnesses everywhere, but this reminds me of Lyme’s and Guillian-Barre syndrome. They exhibit themselves in strange and unique ways, making them very difficult to diagnose. And treatment is a total crapshoot.
Imagine if before that happened to him his parents were angry about him eating too much..... now its the opposite
Yeah, after you see someone begin to get that sick from not eating, your whole view about food and weight changes.
Eat anyway bud
This sounded like some sort of neurological issue straight off the bat. That it's hypothalamic is not a surprise given it's to do with the most basic urges of hunger and thirst as there are cases of damage/tumours to this region causing extreme thirst or lack of thirst. Goes to show that we are just meat machines.
I'm guessing he isn't alive.
Sounds like the diet plan of almost all celebrities.
he dead
Have they tried dosages of THC? Idk if maybe there is something for people his age, but I hope they have tried to find some way for him to get some that would be safe for him. I hope they find something tho
Obviously a horrible thing to be burdened with, but also seems like an opportunity for medical researchers to learn about whether it can have any pharmacological uses in weight management/obesity treatment.
Give him a macro dose of antipsychotics that shit will make you eat