Weight depleting with crohns

by Noah D.
(St. Louis)

I am having a terrible time trying to gain weight. It seems as if the food that I eat is not being absorbed or maybe its not getting to my muscles properly. I am very active and so uncomfortable being so lite. I am currently not takeing any medication for my crohns. Please give me any suggestion that have worked for you.
- Thin Mint-

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Weight Gain and Crohn's
by: Annette

Hello,
I am sorry to hear that you are struggling to gain weight. You say that you are not taking any medication for your crohn’s condition, why is this? It would be more helpful to understand how the condition affected you, your history, symptoms and medication to be able to understand more.

It is quite likely that your crohn’s is responsible for your not being able to put on weight. If you cannot absorb all the necessary nutrients then this has to be taken seriously. It’s important that you eat foods that are easily absorbed into your system but take care to ensure that the food types are not any that can actually aggravate the situation. Try to eat little and often to allow digestion to take place without pressure. When the crohn’s is aggressive, any foods might seem to cause a flare-up but it’s important to eat well and to select your food types carefully.

You may find it useful to take extra supplements during this time and this will keep you relatively healthy while any doctors can try to get your crohn’s disease under control. I would strongly suggest seeking additional help in terms of medication, diagnosis and support. From the sounds of your message, you are not taking anything to help the situation and in which case, the problem is not going to go away. There may be underlying problems which have not yet been diagnosed and you cannot afford to ignore this.

There are a number of reasons why you might not be able to gain weight but until you reach out for some medical help it is difficult to say what. Certainly many crohn’s sufferers do find that weight-loss is likely. Some people with crohn’s take protein shakes but do be careful as others find that they actually irritate. I can completely sympathise with how you are feeling and there is a fine balance as regards eating well and eating where it can aggravate the condition.

I would feel much happier if you could get some extra checks on what is happening in your digestive tract as there may be something that can be done.
Do let us know how you get on.
ex trucker
by: mark

prednisone 60 mg.if you have crohns will add wait, but dont do witout a dr. approval. it has serious side affects
weight control
by: Anonymous

i had a ileostomy temporary and as a result found my weight plummeted the doctors gave me fortisip which is a milkshake based high calorie drink, or their is fortijuice which is a juice form of the drink. these on their own if you can drink enough can keep your body on an even keel. some of them are horrible but you could find a couple that you like and stick to them, that is what i did and my weight was regulated, you also have to eat regular meals as well, little and often. not a cure but i hope this helps, good luck
Weight depleting with crohns
by: Anonymous

I agree that you are most likely not absorbing the nutrients from your diet. This may be Crohn's anorexia - an involuntary anorexia due to active Crohn's disease.

I also refer you to the following - medicines can deplete the body of vital nutrients:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1395028/How-medicine-draining-vital-nutrients-body.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1197979/Heartburn-pills-wrecked-life-How-antacids-effects.html

It is important to understand that different areas of the intestine are responsible for the absorption of different nutrients. For example, vitamin B12 and most of the fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed in the terminal ileum:
http://www.cmaj.ca/content/166/10/1297.full

So, no matter how much you eat, because of the disease you may not put on weight, that is unless you address the missing micronutrients, which you may not be able to orally substitute depending on the location of your Crohn's and any surgery you may have had.

The following are a few of my suggestions for you to discuss with your doctor:

Eat 6 smaller nutritionally balanced meals a day, instead of 2-3 larger meals a day.

Always eat an adequate breakfast.

One can homogenise one's food to aid breakdown and absorption, but it is my experience that one very quickly tires of a sloppy brown-green diet. Try this tasty banana smoothie with a large banana, half a lemon (or vitamin C if no lemons available), water and yoghurt each morning with breakfast or as a snack.

It might help if you take Creon - pancreatic enzymes. http://www.drugs.com/creon.html These help break down your food. Your intestinal transit time might be too short to allow adequate breakdown of food by your own pancreatic enzymes resulting in exocrine pancreas insufficiency.

Due to removal of my terminal ileum, I have to have monthly vitamin A, D, E and K (fat-soluble vitamin) injections and receive quarterly vitamin B12 infusions. I must also supplement each day with vitamin B complex (400% RDA) and zinc 20 mg (recommended by the WHO for chronic diarrhoea), vitamin C, calcium and vitamin D, magnesium, iron and vitamin C, selenium, etc. I stagger the vitamins and minerals throughout the day and I don't as a rule eat any fast foods or foods with artificial additives, flavourings, etc. I don't smoke or drink alcohol and avoid crisp snacks, etc.

My diet is relatively high in protein and includes fish, chicken, eggs, low lactose cheese, low-fat, lactose-free milk, etc. I try to eat finely-ground whole wheat products rather than refined flour products.

I also drink 1-2 Fresubin (an astronaut drink like Ensure) each day and with the various supplements manage just about to keep my weight up to my Crohn's'd norm of 54-55 kg (female).

I suggest that you read up about essential micronutrients and work out what you are missing with respect to the location and severity of your disease and discuss a nutritionist:
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/list-VitaminsMinerals/

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