What drinks/shakes have you tried for weight gain/maintaining weight?

[trigunkyle]

When I was 15 and seeing my GI for the first time about my Chron's, he said that I should work on increasing and maintaining my current weight, because I'm very small and close to being underweight. He said that adding shakes and protein drinks to my regular diet could help.

So far, the drinks I've tried over the years were these:

Boost: Tried this one first, as my doctor recommended it. Tasted like sludge, snail slime! I didn't like it, but I can't deny it did help me gain weight very quickly. Orgain Shakes: I liked this one more than boost, but it wasn't being sold near us- we live in a very rural area. I don't think it made a dent in my weight, since I can lose it very quickly. Orgain Powder: As I said before, the drink version of these weren't as available as the powder was, so we switched to that for a while. It helped! I liked putting it in shakes with my favorite lactose-free icecreams. Ensure: Currently trying this one, as I have moved as of writing this, and couldn't find any Orgain powder. Tastes way better than all the others I've tried, but they're also REALLY expensive normally- so I've been going to this one thrift store to get them for real cheap.

So, I'm curious. What kinds of drinks have you all tried? I'm also hearing lots about people using powders and incorporating them into recipes for shakes at home; would love to hear any recipes you guys have, too! Maybe I could try them out when money's tight.

 

[mr.smithster]

I have tried them all and can't tolerate any of them. They make me bleed and flare. Also way to much sugar or fake sweeteners. The only drink I could tolerate is Goat Milk Protein. Mt. Capra makes a good one with zero sugars or sweeteners. But I don't gain much weight on it and it isn't cheap.
The only thing that allows me to gain weight is massive calorie intake. Most of us have malabsorption issues so even when we consume, we don't fully digest and fail to absorb the nutrients like normal healthy people do. At my worst, I was at 113lbs (I'm 5ft 8" tall). At my healthiest I weighed 160lbs. After resection surgery I was at 113lbs and looked like a concentration camp survivor. I also have tried damn near every supplement and diet along with failing 2 biologics and methohex-bla-bla (not sure of spelling). Out of total desperation I tried the Carnivore diet because I was so sick eating any foods and it seemed I was back to losing weight (and my mind). I had heard about others with autoimmune diseases having good results on a carnivore diet, but everything from the medical community says eat a balanced diet. Well when you feel like ****, are depressed and losing weight and ready to just give up, desperation sinks in. So I started a carnivore diet, but I transitioned slowly. I had always tolerated steak but It did cause some intestine pain. So I started buying and eating only tender cuts of beef (about 1.5 lbs per day), I eat 3-4 eggs a day, 3/4 pound of chicken, lots of butter, zero veggies except for a small salad of Iceberg Lettuce at dinner (helps me poop), lots of butter, no other dairy and drink water only, occasionally some salmon. Within a few weeks of transitioning to this diet I started feeling better, no more daily bleeding and along with feeling better my mood and outlook improved along with some decent weight gain. I'm now up to 148lbs. When I started the carnivore diet I weighed about 130lbs. I do take a supplement that contains beef organs, take probiotics, boron, take a multi vitamin and also take a double dose of psyllium husks every night after dinner to stay regular. Without the psyllium to stay regular I sometimes get where I alternate between D and C. The psyllium allows me to eliminate in the morning without multiple bathroom visits throughout the day. I also have a fistula so I can't try other biologics until I get fistula surgery, which I don't want if possible. Also Prednisone will make my fistula angry after just one dose so no more pred.
Anyway, just wanted to post that carnivore has helped me amazingly. I haven't had even a mini flare since starting the diet 17 months ago. I know we are all different and react to different treatments and what works for me may not work for you, but so many with autoimmune have had great results that it may be worth looking into if nothing else is working for you. Best wishes and keep up the good fight