What's happening to me?

I have been very sick all week with bronchitis so I have been at home laying around and not doing much.  I have easily met or exceeded my 1500 calories every day.  After losing 3 pounds in three days I even upped my calories to 1800 and even had a few splurges, I figured "Hey, I am sick, I need more calories to be well and I won't worry about losing right now while I can't work out." Well I lost another pound and a half! (see my profile) So I have lost almost 6 pounds in 5 days!  What's going on??

Try not to weigh yourself everyday.  And also stay within your calorie limits, or it could catch up to you later.  Weight can fluctuate a bit, especially when you're sick.  Are you drinking a lot of fluids??  Some of this weight could be water weight.  Just a thought.

I drink tons of water, as usual.  I am also on steroids for my chest, I was actually worried that they would make me balloon up, but maybe it's the opposite? I am coughing all day, full body racking coughing constantly.  Maybe that burns more calories than I would think?

Don't count on weight loss while you're sick to hang around once you get better- when you're sick, your immune system kicks in hard core, so it flushes your body- you lose a lot of liquids in the process, and your body burns extra calories because it is working hard to make you better, which is why you should always get more liquids when you're sick.  And coughing will burn some calories too :-)  But, once you get better and your immune system isn't flushing your body your weight levels will readjust- don't be surprised if you gain a couple of pounds once you get better.  Not everyone does, especially since you are trying to lose weight, but be prepared that it could happen.

When your immune system is down,  it has a hard time controlling weight loss.  Do not weigh yourself every day, as water levels flucuate from day to day.  If you ever get sick, I would eat lots of liquid-condensed foods like soup, etc...  Drink lots of water.  Since you are currently on a diet,  I would eat a little bit more normal amount of calories when you are sick and slowly transition back to the diet when you feel better. 

Get better soon!

even more strangely, I've lost 5 pounds in the last week, and I HAVEN'T been sick. I haven't even been working out. I wonder what is up with that...

In general if you workout you are gaining muscle everytime which weighs more then fat.  When you stop working out you start losing muscle everyday.

I am not sure if it is true but I always heard the rule of thumb is for every week of exercise you take off it puts you back two weeks in terms of fitness level.

I am not a Doctor, but I do have medical training. If I had to guess, I would say you are dehydrated. You need to drink lots of water, and juices. This is not uncommon when we are sick. I hope you get to feeling better.