How fast do you lose weight during a bad flare?

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RZman

RZman

Joined
Mar 28, 2013
Messages
82
I've been flaring for 3 weeks and I've lost 20 lbs. I've lost 7 of the 20 lbs over the past 9 days. I had a major flare 8 years ago where I lost 60 lbs. My clothes don't fit any more and I'm beginning to feel frail. Is this normal?
 
Weight loss can go incredibly fast, I was 80 lbs at one point.

Why are you losing weight, stopped eating or eating less?
 
Mine can come off pretty fast in a flare. I was down almost 20 in 3-4 weeks a year and a half ago when I flared.
 
kiny said:
Weight loss can go incredibly fast, I was 80 lbs at one point.

Why are you losing weight, stopped eating or eating less?
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Everything I eat goes right through me. I'm in the bathroom 30-40 times a day. At the moment I can only eat scrambled eggs and rice. I don't eat much and I'm eating a lot less when I choose to eat. I've been supplementing my meals with Ensure Plus (350 Calories each).
 
I lost 30lbs in 2 days before. Scary -_- when I was in college, I was 155lbs 5'10inches, but after a flare I dropped to 115lbs.... Yea.... Hang in there.
 
57lbs in 8 weeks and almost a year later and still haven't recovered lost weight. As soon as my GI realized I was losing so much weight he immediately hospitalized me and told me to never let that happen again. I am not a 100% sure everything they gave me in the hospital, but flare ended within 3 days or so and was eating right within a week.
 
I lost alot fast also. I would be all over my GI if I were you to help you out. Try to do as much eating as you can stand. Also drinks like Ensure and Boost helps you to keep the lbs on.
 
77 lbs in under 8 weeks... but that was 8 weeks where my only intake was a glass of water 3 times a day to take pain meds.. and even the glass of water felt like it was a glass of glass... felt like I was trying to pass broken glass thru me. A very bad time.
 
Sorry I going to answer this in stones, my last flare up I went from 12 stone down to 8.5 in a few weeks. Felt really ill and ended up in hospital for nearly a month! I went yellow and had to have an abscess drained that had formed between my spine and stomach. Not pleasant. Oh and just to make it more difficult my wife had a prem baby. Worry times. Lol
 
My son was losing about half a pound a day, just before he went into the hospital, but as he only weighed 93 pounds to begin with, it was a high percentage of his body weight. He went from 93lbs to 79lbs in a couple of months.

He put all of it +7lbs back on in about 3 weeks. :)
 
I'm not losing anymore but I can't regain the weight I've lost. My Body Mass Index is only 13.
 
Kev said:
77 lbs in under 8 weeks... but that was 8 weeks where my only intake was a glass of water 3 times a day to take pain meds.. and even the glass of water felt like it was a glass of glass... felt like I was trying to pass broken glass thru me. A very bad time.
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I wouldn't think it's possible to survive on water for eight weeks. You must have had something more?
 
I too have had a really hard time gaining the weight back. I went from 125 pounds to 106 pounds in the span of 6 months... But i must have lost a good 10 of those pounds in the span of a week at one point. Doesn't seem like much, but when you're already tiny, it really shows.... i too feel so frail. I've been eating a lot more and holding my food a lot more too, but can't seem to put on any weight either. I've been stuck at 106 for 3 months. :S
 
I lost 70lb over maybe about a year or so? I'm not sure of exact time frames but I was losing at 7lb per week in hospital. My weight loss was the reason I was admitted as it was causing organ damage apparently. Managed to regain 14lb when I came off hydroxychloroquine which wasn't helping my tummy, and have put on a further 30lb since pred!! Not happy about the pred weight though!!
 
I was 72-74kg before I got diagnosed in 1999 when I was 18. That got down to 60kg due to flare ups and a stricture that was surgically removed in 2003. Went down to a meager 54kg after surgery which was really bad. Then slowly up back to 70 due to sport, aza and remission. Then between 2007 and 2010 it was between 61 and 63kg which I started to regard as normal. For the last 14-15 months I changed to more regular exercice, Vitamin therapy, aza, a good diet and now have 75-77kg on a constant basis and no flare up.

I never really lost weight fast, rather slowly over months and years.
 
Lost 40 lbs in about a week or more, in hospital. Gave me an ileostomy and couldn't gain it back until recently and very slowly.
 
My hubby has had mild Crohns for 15 years. Just had his first major flare in Feburary of this year. Lost 2lbs/day for weeks. Went from 247 lbs. to 190 lbs. Still flaring currently, however, has been maintaining since leaving the hospital.
Unfortunately, all of his muscle tone has been diminsihed and he feels like a limp noodle!
Good luck and hope you level out soon!!
 
Does anyone know how it's possible that we lose weight so fast? Is it fat? Water Weight? Are our cells releasing fat due to lack of nourishment? I lost 6 lbs since yesterday and I don't know how I lost it so fast.
 
Very good question RZman. Part water loss and food passing so fast without absorbing much of anything??
I have had weight fall off in a matter of days too. My body shape can change very quickly.
 
RZman said:
Does anyone know how it's possible that we lose weight so fast? Is it fat? Water Weight? Are our cells releasing fat due to lack of nourishment? I lost 6 lbs since yesterday and I don't know how I lost it so fast.
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If you have acute diarrhea the food which would otherwise be digested left your body quickly. It weighs a few pounds. Plus water loss. You definitely didn't burn up fat that fast.
 
No science to back this up but I would suggest that we do burn fat and muscle fast to lose this much weight in such short a time. My explanation is based on my body temperature being so high, and being awake. When I'm flaring, and sometimes even when I'm not, my body temperature is toasty, and I'll be sweating for no good reason - I believe this is the inflammation, or my body working hard to fight it. Since I usually can't sleep, even if I'm in bed I am tossing and turning. Sometimes my sheets will be soaked. And whatever fat I had before the flare quickly becomes noticeably absent, bones protruding and sunken cheeks etc, muscles depleted. It's the only explanation for losing so much weight so quickly, based on my observations. Which also makes it difficult to gain it back again! Just my 2 cents...
 
I lost 25 lbs in a couple of weeks. I wasn't able to eat much for a few weeks....That was six months ago and I have gained backed 3 or 4 lbs, but I am at a good weight now so I really hope I don't go back to the weight I was haha

It helps that I have dropped beer and breads out of my diet, now if I could dump the chips and chocolate I'd be all set ;)
 
During one of my early flares, I lost thirty four pounds in three months. I had bleeding and some insomnia. I think in my case, it might be the loss of blood that contributed to the weight loss.
 
I'm a large person.

My first huge flare that ended up with micro perforations i lost over 50 pounds in 2 weeks.

Now when i have a flare i drop 10 to 20 pounds in 2 or 3 days, but i think it's mostly BM. The down side for me is that i find eating helps with the cramps. I slowly gain part of it back as i feel better.
 
I also have hypothyroidism which makes it hard for me to loose and maintain an ideal weight so this last 2 months while I have been having a flare I have been only eating 6 different food items and not much at all of those, have only lost 8 pounds. uggh
 
I lost about 15 lbs per month when I was really ill. Went from 200 to 140 and I was not overweight to begin with.

Lost some hair from malnutrition.

Once I got things under control, weight came back and so did the hair.

Dan
 
I lost 17 lbs in 35 days in this current flare, and I also have lost some hair. It was falling out quite a lot during the worst of it. I've turned things around thanks to prednisone and EEN and I've now gained back 4 lbs and my hair isn't falling out nearly as much anymore.
 
I use metric system.
I'm undiagnosed.
My flares are quite short (2-10 days) and often triggered by foods (maybe I only have severe food intolerances) or medications.
I've lost up to 6kg in a month ! A bad flare of 3 days will make me lose 2kg.
 
I once lost 28lb in 2mths & bearing in mind I only weighed 140lb before I was very very thin with my ribs showing & it became painful to sit for any length of time because the bones in my butt were protruding.
Its weird because when it gets like that you can actually feel the weight dropping off, your waistband suddenly becomes very loose etc. I weigh about 161lb these days but when flaring it can drop off very quickly.
I now own 2 sizes of jeans. 32 waist & 34 waist.
Rgds
Grant
 

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