How To Stop Losing Weight

[Yoekie]

I have been -seriously- underweight for 9 years, am diagnosed with egg/gluten/lactose intolerance just a month ago. On this board I read many people gain weight after going glutenfree, which makes me feel hopeful. But I also read that many loose more weight initially. So am I right now. I've been having D for a good 3 weeks now plus there's a lot of abdominal discomfort which makes it hard to eat plus I'm not allowed to eat most high-calorie foods. And I'm still cutting down on foods everyday as I'm reading labels. As a result bones are sticking out everywhere. I am becoming really WORRIED over my weight and so are my surrondings. This needs to stop because I'm really on the edge here (gone down to 88 lbs). Does anyone know how to stop losing weight? My boyfriend says -eat more- but that just doesn't work for me! I feel eating more is having even more abdominal discomfort.

It doesn't feel 'right', you know? When I had the bloodwork results I actually thought I would -finally- become healthy now, but I'm obviously not (yet) and that's scary. I feel like I've been thrown in the deep end and it will only get harder to get out.

I hope things will turn around pretty soon...

[AliB]

I know I have already said this on the other thread, but will repeat it anyway!

I don't have the weight loss problem that you do - quite the opposite, but I did have the gluten/lactose/egg intolerance and typical 'Celiac' stools which is what triggered me into going gluten-free and dairy-free.

Whilst it settled some issues - namely the awful stomach pain and raging D, I still could not cope with most foods, particularly carbs so I went low-carb (long-chain carbs not all carbs) too.

A few weeks later I picked up the link about the Specific Carb Diet (SCD) and haven't looked back. I am now, after 9 months, no longer egg or gluten intolerant and can have an occasional bit of dairy without any obvious reaction. The egg intolerance went after just a few weeks.

I am not yet fully healed but am a lot better than I was a year ago. Most people find on the SCD that they will eventually, when the body is starting to work properly, gain or lose weight as the body needs.

I see similar posts all the time - although people have gone gluten-free they are still experiencing problems and it does not solve all their issues. Unfortunately for many of us it takes more than just gluten-free. You have to remove all processed food, sugar, starches, grains and most dairy. Although it seems as though there is not much to eat, it is surprising what you can have and what is more, the foods you are then having are healing foods, full of nutrition and as the body starts to heal it will then start to absorb more.

The important thing for you is to stop the D. Food is obviously going straight through you and not stopping to give you much in the way of nutrition on the way. Something or things in your diet are still triggering the D. come and have a chat with us on the SCD thread in the 'Other Food Intolerances' section as some who are following it have also had weight loss issues.

Yoekie, what did you mean when you said that you can't have high-calorie foods?

[Mother of Jibril]

There are lots of nutritious, non-dairy foods that have plenty of calories... nuts, nut butters, seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, etc...), avocado, coconut, olives... One ounce of almonds has more than 500 calories. Forget about the "low fat" hype. Healthy fats will actually raise your good cholesterol. Unhealthy fats (animal-based saturated fat, soybean oil, corn oil, and most of all the hydrogenated oils) are the ones that cause damage.

I used to eat a LOT of dairy products... I grew up in Wisconsin... but if you can get used to eating these other high-calorie foods, I think you'll find them pretty satisfying.

[kbtoyssni]

I started drinking a lot of Gatorade because it didn't bother my stomach and had some calories. That's probably in direct conflict with the SCD, though!

[AliB]

Just because the Gatorade is ok in your stomach doesn't mean it's ok for your body!!!

Freshly squeezed fruit juices and water should be good for your stomach AND your body - world of difference.

[Yoekie]

Hi,

what is weird to me is that the D only started after going glutenfree. I have more bloating than I used to too. It feels as if the 'intolerance'-symptoms only started when I actually stopped eating those things?

The doctor limited more things than gluten, diary and egg because of omega 3-6-imbalance (and as a result constant inflammation) thus I can not eat almonds, corn, cornmeal, sunflower seeds, sunflower oil, peanuts, peanut oil, peanutbutter, olives, olive oil, margarine, any meat except for chicken,... I tried eating a coconutbar yesterday but had cramps till the evening, obviously my bowls can not cope with that type of fiber. I do eat avocado, oily fish and black chocolate but that's pretty much it, what concerns high-calorie foods.

Thanks Ali for reminding me of the SCD, but I'm really weary, as cutting back on more foods, doesn't seem the right thing to do when I'm already losing weight. Somehow I first want to make sure my body has gotten used to the big change it's going through already. But I will have a look on the thread to see what you still can eat when you're on it.

thank you all,

Yoekie

[rumbles]

Yoekie,

What were your symptoms when you ate gluten? What were your symptoms

when you ate eggs? What were your symptoms when you consumed dairy

products? (Please answer these three questions separately.) How did your

doctor determine that you were egg/gluten/lactose intolerant? (Elimination

diet? Allergy testing? Blood work? Biopsy? etc.)

You mention an omega 3 / omega 6 imbalance and inflammation, . . . are we

talking a high CRP (C-Reative Protein), high triglycerides or just an overall

cellular inflammation?

When you did eat peanut butter in the past, did it settle easily, or did it

leave you with a rock in your stomach? Same question with bananas - do

they digest easily, or do they leave you with a rock feeling?

Are you anemic? Do you bruise easily? Do you have acid reflux? Does your

heart race sometimes late at night (usually when you're lying down, but

can happen at other times). Do you tire easily?

Sorry for all of the personal questions. Send me a private message if you

don't want to answer in the public forum.

rumbles.

[Yoekie]

Hi rumbles,

I have never noticed any specific symptoms after eating something. I always felt as if 'I could not digest food well'. Anything. My general symptoms were mainly obstipation, bloating, not feeling hungry, being underweight. Very vague. I never thought it was because of a specific kind of food. The intolerances unexpectedly showed up in a blood analyses. Acutally I had the bloodwork done because my therapist had noticed my ongoing and extreme fatigue. So long I had put my bowl problems down to IBS.

The doctor said I had inflammation in my brain (causing depression), my joints and my bowl. But I don't know how he could 'see' this all in my bloodwork. So I guess it's an overall cellular inflammation, no?

Bananas do digest well, but peanut butter always left me with the 'rock in my stomach feeling' yes.

I have ALL of this: "Are you anemic? Do you bruise easily? Do you have acid reflux? Does your

heart race sometimes late at night (usually when you're lying down, but

can happen at other times). Do you tire easily?" How do you know??

[rinne]

Vitamin B deficiencies could account for some of your symptoms.

What kind of doctor did you see?

[rumbles]

Thanks Yoekie,

The doctor is probably looking at something called CRP (C-Reative Protein),

and some other markers in the bloodwork that indicate inflammation, and in

some markers, the type of tissue (brain, blood, joint) involved.

Your answers were what I was suspecting. They suggest that your body

isn't digesting protein (peanut butter rock), fat (peanut butter rock) and

carbs (bloating, fatigue). The rapid heartbeat at night (expecially when

laying down) along with acid reflux can happen when the stomach lacks

certain digestive enzymes; the other things happen a little further down

the digestive tract. This isn't to say that you do or do not have celiac

disease, - this is suggesting that you may have additional absorption issues

in the stomach and upper intestinal tract caused by other factors. (I am

trying to choose my words carefully, as I am not a doctor, but believe

that my research and personal experience could be of help to you. I am

going to take this one step at a time, and will explain more as we get

further down this path.)

The first thing that I would suggest, if you are not doing this already, is

to start taking a gluten free sublingual B-12 vitamin (a pill that is dissolved

under the tongue) a couple times a day. There's a very good chance that

your body is not currently able to absorb the B-12 in the digestive tract;

taking it sublingually or by injection bypasses the digestive tract and allows

it to be absorbed directly into the bloodstream.

Providing you are not allergic to baking soda, tonight, purchase some baking

soda if you don't have any on hand that is fresh. Tomorrow morning, before

you eat or drink anything, mix a quarter teaspoon of baking soda in eight

ounces of water, and drink it. (It doesn't taste as bad as it sounds.) For

the first five minutes (only) after drinking it, see if you let off a healthy

burp or not (not the little kind that noone else would know about). Stop

timing after five minutes - anything after that doesn't count. Let us know

the results.

rumbles.

[ang1e0251]

I'm sorry you are still feeling so bad. Can you eat potatos and rice? Two basic foods that can be the basis for any meal and you can add some healthy oil to it to make it higher calorie for you. The avocados are an excellant choice. I don't know about some of the fruits. I had a really hard time digesting those for awhile. The B-12 is excellant. I feel much better when I take it. Can you eat corn? Corn tortillas are a staple for me.

[Yoekie]

Rubles,

If I can not digest fat, prote

[rumbles]

If your body isn't digesting protein, fat or carbs, you will need to

take the right enzyme supplements to break them down when

you eat those items.

We're starting with the stomach (the second digestive phase in

the body, - the mouth is first,), as if there is a problem there,

you can't really correct issues at the next phases, so the baking

soda has to come first, when you're ready.

[Yoekie]

Hi Rumbles!

I tried the soda-trick but I had to stop halfway because I felt like I was going to puke wonder what that says about my stomach... I washed it down with a glass of water, then I let out a burp after 10 minutes.

What's next?

Joekie

[rumbles]

Whoops - sorry, I'm having software issues. Please see the post on the

next page.

[rumbles]

Deleted - the software burped on me in the middle of writing this! (I

guess it doesn't have stomach problems!)

[rumbles]

Sorry that you got nauseated. Half still would have produced some

results, and from what you said, it did. If you drank half of it and didn't

burp for ten minutes, it suggests that your digestive problems are starting

in your stomach. When you drink the baking soda and water mixture, it

will react with the hydrochloric acid in your stomach and produce burps

like the experiment that use to be done in school where vinegar was

added to baking soda, causing it to bubble up and fizz). If you don't

burp within the first five minutes, it indicates that you do not have

enough hydrochloric acid in your stomach. This would explain part of

the problem digesting protein, as the first phase of breaking down

protein with HCL and pepsin (pepsin is normally released with HCL)

in the stomach, - the HCL begins the breakdown process, then pepsin

steps in to break the protein down a little further, before sending it

off to the duodenum.

The HCL issue needs to be corrected before you address any further

digestion process issues, as the first stage of digestion has to work

properly before the other stages can be effective.

The following link describes the baking soda test that you just took.

Low stomach acid is known as hypochlorhydria. According to the

info in this link, and on many other web sites regarding hypochlorhydria

(and from my own personal experience), low stomach acid is controlled

by taking a Betaine HCL plus pepsin supplement when you eat protein.

Since you were only able to drink part of the baking soda mixture,

and we don't know how sensitive your system is, I would suggest

that you take a smaller amount than is recommended, - most articles

recommend taking 10 grains/648 mg of betaine HCL supplement, - start

smaller, - Solaray makes a gluten free version with 250 mg. of betaine

HCL plus 100 mg. of glutamic acid HCL and 150 mg. of pepsin (on Solaray's

web site, they call this HCL with Pepsin 350 mg., but their new bottle label

calls it 250 mg.). I made the mistake of starting with the 648 mg. version,

within a few days, it caused a squishy, slightly oily bathroom issue; I backed

down to 250 mg. every time I ate protein, until my body got use to it, and

now it depends on how much protein I eat as to which strength I take.

Open Original Shared Link

If you are taking over-the-counter pills for acid indigestion, you might want

to switch to Gaviscon (it creates a foam barrier between the acid in the

stomach and the esophagus, - the other brands work by reducing stomach

acid, which will make a low stomach acid problem worse, usually creating an

acid reflux problem towards the end of the day). If you're taking a prescription

antacid, take a copy of the article in the attached link with you the next time

you go to see your doctor, and talk to them about possibly stopping the antacid

pills.

If you wind up taking too much Betaine HCL with Pepsin, and get too much

acid in your stomach, take a few Gaviscon.

From what you've said, it sounds like you may also have an issue with

pancreatic enzymes, - but that's for a later discussion; you need to get the

stomach acid issue under control before you'll know if there are really other

issues or not, and you need to give your body time to adjust.

Keep me posted as to how you're doing. We'll talk more about other enzymes

in the digestive tract after you get the stomach issue under control.

[Janessa]

Have you tried soaked and sprouted grains and beans? Much easier for you to digest

good place to start

Open Original Shared Link

[Yoekie]

I don't know if I can go through with that because I'm weary of taking supplements without a doctor's advice... but thanks for all the information anyway.

[Jamie]

Have you tried protein shakes (I'm new to celiac disease so I don't know if you can get them gluten free.. I'm sure you can though)... try some protein shakes with a strength training routine. Strength training can help promote healthy bones and it fights against osteoporosis. Hopefully it will put some weight on you as well.

[moonlight]

I have been -seriously- underweight for 9 years, am diagnosed with egg/gluten/lactose intolerance just a month ago. On this board I read many people gain weight after going glutenfree, which makes me feel hopeful. But I also read that many loose more weight initially. So am I right now. I've been having D for a good 3 weeks now plus there's a lot of abdominal discomfort which makes it hard to eat plus I'm not allowed to eat most high-calorie foods. And I'm still cutting down on foods everyday as I'm reading labels. As a result bones are sticking out everywhere. I am becoming really WORRIED over my weight and so are my surrondings. This needs to stop because I'm really on the edge here (gone down to 88 lbs). Does anyone know how to stop losing weight? My boyfriend says -eat more- but that just doesn't work for me! I feel eating more is having even more abdominal discomfort.

It doesn't feel 'right', you know? When I had the bloodwork results I actually thought I would -finally- become healthy now, but I'm obviously not (yet) and that's scary. I feel like I've been thrown in the deep end and it will only get harder to get out.

I hope things will turn around pretty soon...

Hi, my husband lost a lot of weight as well. but gradually he put some back. As his digestion system got better, he started to include nuts and legumes in his diet. He eats nuts (walnut, pistachio, almond, sunflower seeds, sussame seeds) every day as a snack, and he also eats little bit amount of legume (chick peas and lentils) every night, has begun exercising every Saturday. This combination helps him gain weight. Also, the rest of his diet has been very stable for more than a year, and he makes sure that he gets 8 hours of sleep everyday. (now his height is 180cm, weight 66kg)

[mastiffmommy]

I have been -seriously- underweight for 9 years, am diagnosed with egg/gluten/lactose intolerance just a month ago. On this board I read many people gain weight after going glutenfree, which makes me feel hopeful. But I also read that many loose more weight initially. So am I right now. I've been having D for a good 3 weeks now plus there's a lot of abdominal discomfort which makes it hard to eat plus I'm not allowed to eat most high-calorie foods. And I'm still cutting down on foods everyday as I'm reading labels. As a result bones are sticking out everywhere. I am becoming really WORRIED over my weight and so are my surrondings. This needs to stop because I'm really on the edge here (gone down to 88 lbs). Does anyone know how to stop losing weight? My boyfriend says -eat more- but that just doesn't work for me! I feel eating more is having even more abdominal discomfort.

It doesn't feel 'right', you know? When I had the bloodwork results I actually thought I would -finally- become healthy now, but I'm obviously not (yet) and that's scary. I feel like I've been thrown in the deep end and it will only get harder to get out.

I hope things will turn around pretty soon...

Hi, Just writing in to commiserate. When I delivered my son on I weighed 205. and in a year I am not down to 108 and I keep going down. (pregnancy kicked the then unknown celiac into high gear) It is scary. I just have to stay away from Gluten and the brown rice pastas etc. are helping me but it is still scary to see that needle dropping on the scale. - and then of course people around you I find are either worried for you or they scold you because you are "skinny enough" etc. as if you are trying to lose weight. Good luck to you. I hope you can find some foods that don't make you sick soon It took me a few months to really start getting stronger after eliminated the Gluten. Good luck to you.