Desperately need to put weight on - please help.

[WillowJ]

hi JC87 and all. I just found a great resource (for US patients). I contacted a dietician I found through the Acedemy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly American Dietetic Association). One can search for a nearby dietician here:
http://www.eatright.org/programs/rdfinder/

and filter by such things as: they know about food intolerances

awesome.

I contacted someone near me and she answered and was very helpful. Gave me specific instructions about how to get help from a dietician and best work to get it covered by my health insurance, complete with phone numbers.

If you want to go it alone, there is a calorie calculator which includes a weight gain option with generic advice about fat/carbs/protein ratio (but you can tweak the ratio if you have an idea what you want it to be) here:
http://www.dietitian.com/calcbody.php#.UaKQLspXquk
http://www.dietitian.com/calchelp.php

And another one (more complicated) here:
http://www.acaloriecounter.com/diet/

and some advice about gaining weight here (I don't usually like to link to Mayo [because they are (bio)psychosocial school, generally speaking] but this is a good article and includes some advice that I have been given and some that I have seen elsewhere)
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/underweight/AN00597

 

[IreneF]

There is something called an elemental diet. Everything is predigeted so your gut doesn't have to do any work. I think it is for people who have serious gut issues. Might be worth checking out.

 

[tatt]

weight loss is common in coeliacs and can be misdiagnosed as ME/CFS therefore if you haven't yet had the blood test you should do so. Then go gluten free anyway - you can get gluten free pasta and eat potatoes to keep your carbs up. Eat bananas, good for causing constipation. Take a creatine supplement to help build muscle.

 

[snowathlete]

Make it your doctors problem to find out the cause. Have you been tested for inflammatory bowel diseases? You do t always get blood being passed so worth checking! Thyroid? Addison's disease, cancers - probably none of these but they all cause weight loss so need to be looked for. Don't let your doctor explain it away based on you having ME/CFS.

In terms of diet, you have to find what works best for you - there are lots of good suggestions posted already whi h may or may jot help. Trial and error.

I have colitis and lost lots of weight. It's scary. In the end I found certain things made it worse and settled on my current diet of oats for breakfast; potatoes, cheese, meat or fish for lunch; basic roast dinners, or rice stir fry with lots of safe vegetables and some beef, or brown rice pasta, pesto, cheese, and fish for dinner.

I snack on crisps (potato chips to you lot in the US), nuts (these don't upset me but don't get broken down great so I chew thoroughly, fruits like avocado, banana, melon, etc.

But one wrong step and I go from one or two bowel movements to seven very quickly for two or three days. A bell pepper, a slice of bread, or an addative will be enough to totally screw me up for days. So I'd say limit your diet to what you think is safe then one by one introduce things to see if you can tolerate or not.

I can't handle tea or coffee, so it's just water for me.

As much as possible go for frequent small meals. Overfill your stomach and there is a reflex which will likely cause a bowel movement.

I am just introducing kefir now as I am trying to fix my gut dysbiosis but it can have a laxative effect so be aware of that. Might be worth trying a week without.

Hope this is of some help and we all hope to hear of some improvement. If not though, then come back and tell us too. Feel free to vent your frustration.

Best
Joel

 

[A.B.]

I'm a male with low BMI who gained weight with low dose hydrocortisone.