Trying to Gain Weight

[learningforfiance]

Hello,

My name is Denise and I am writing on behalf of my fiance who has Crohns and no large intestine or colon. His last flareup he lost about 10 lbs and weighs 129 at 5'10. We went out and tried those powder weight gain shakes that weight lifters use and unfortunately his body sent it out in diahrea form (which is his normal way of bowel movements) and he was not getting very much of those calories. He works construction and thus uses a LOT of energy and calories and it is hard for him to eat every couple hours.

We are in need of ideas on what he can eat/do for him to gain weight back. I think that hardest part in figuring this out is how to keep stuff in long enough for him to gain the caloric and nutritional parts of food.

Thank you,

Denise

 

[ronroush7]

Has he seen a nutritionist?

2

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Hi learningforfiance, welcome to the forum. The protein weight-gain powder that he tried - was it whey-based? A lot of those powders seem to contain whey as the main ingredient, and whey is really hard for some of us to digest. Myself included, I can't tolerate whey. I instead do a soy-based protein powder - some of us have issues with soy as well, but it doesn't bother me and doesn't cause diarrhea or anything like that. So my advice when it comes to those powders is to look at the ingredients carefully and see if you can find one that isn't likely to cause him problems.

If he's able to, make sure he eats a lot of things like olive oil or coconut oil, avocado, and smooth nut butters. All of those tend to be tummy-friendly (we're all different so that may not be the case for him though, it may take a bit of trial and error), and they're full of "healthy fats" and also high in calories, so that should help him gain some weight in a reasonably healthy way.

Is he on any medications? For me, I was in a similar situation with the weight falling off of me regardless of what or how much I ate. It wasn't until I was put on steroid treatment and got into remission that I was able to gain my weight back. I haven't had any surgeries though and I'm sure that complicates things for him in terms of how many calories & nutrients he's able to absorb. Does he have an ostomy or a j-pouch?

Sorry for such a long response, but I also want to say - it's great that you're so supportive of him. I just wanted to commend you for coming on here and looking for ways to help him - a lot of us don't have supportive families/loved ones, so it's really nice to see a supportive person trying to help their Crohnie loved one.

 

[learningforfiance]

Cat-A-Tonic (love your name)

He has I believe a J-pouch and no medications. I will have to look to see if the protein drink has whey. We have cut it back to a half scoop scoop a couple times a day was just too much. We have done that twice so far and seems to be okay.

As far as coconut oils and such we did that for a while and he said it made him feel weird.

When I show him this thread I am sure he will not like that I am about to ask this but I don't want to have him have a flare like the last one that put him in the hospital (part was due to severe dehydration). What role does alcohol play in all of this? Does hard liquor bother more than beer? Is there a good place to look to read up on this subject?

RonRoush7

I do not believe he has seen one. He is quite stubborn with all of this and trying to get him to do proactive things so he is not frustrated by the disease is not always that easy.

I have no idea what he is going through; I want to understand as best I can to help him. But what do you do when your loved one and the one that means the world to you and you care about so much doesn't care as much when it comes to him and his health? At times he just gives up and says "F this, nothing works"

Thank you!

 

[ronroush7]

Just keep trying your best.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Learningforfiance, alcohol is really hard on a lot of us. We're all different so it's hard to say for sure what he should do, but in general it's usually best to avoid alcohol. For me, I have a small glass of white wine once every few months, that's about my limit! Anything more and I start running into trouble. And if your fiance is already experiencing dehydration, alcohol is just going to make that worse. If he won't stop drinking altogether, cutting way back is what I'd recommend.