Weight Loss Problem

[sensmaniac]

Hi everyone. I have not been diagnosed as celiac disease, but with gluten sensitivity. I've suffered for years with stomach problems, bathroom problems, migraines etc. Now that I'm eating gluten free, I have lost about 13 lbs and for me that is really bad. I've been trying to find information on the web about how to gain weight while eating gluten free, but everything is about how to lose it.

Is there anyone out there with similar problems. Are there any websites that can help me?

Any help is appreciated.

Mary

[missy'smom]

I so understand. I have been the odd man out, or so I felt. Healthy high calorie fats can be a help to those of us who need to gain/work at maintaining our weights and are just fine as part of a balanced diet. Avacados, nuts, nut butters are things that I eat quite often-daily in fact. Macadamia nuts are a little expensive but give great bang for the buck in the calorie department! Full fat yogurt is another good one. You may want to try tracking your calories to see where and if you are coming up short. At one point I did and realized that my breakfast was too low-rice chex and deli ham don't give much in calories! So I added in a a few other things to bring it up. Here is just one of the free online trackers. Open Original Shared Link and here you can look up calories in foods Open Original Shared Link. Make sure you are getting a good serving of protein at each meal, that can help also. You may also want to try having a scheduled afternoon snack that resembles a balanced mini meal. Depending on how long you've been gluten-free, your body may still have some healing to do and you may gain again when it does. Make sure you are taking a good multivitamin as our damaged GI tracts are not able to absorb nutrients as well until we have healed more. You may want to consider a liquid or powdered for that is more easily digested.

[Leiana]

I so understand. I have been the odd man out, or so I felt. Healthy high calorie fats can be a help to those of us who need to gain/work at maintaining our weights and are just fine as part of a balanced diet. Avacados, nuts, nut butters are things that I eat quite often-daily in fact. Macadamia nuts are a little expensive but give great bang for the buck in the calorie department! Full fat yogurt is another good one. You may want to try tracking your calories to see where and if you are coming up short. At one point I did and realized that my breakfast was too low-rice chex and deli ham don't give much in calories! So I added in a a few other things to bring it up. Here is just one of the free online trackers. Open Original Shared Link and here you can look up calories in foods Open Original Shared Link. Make sure you are getting a good serving of protein at each meal, that can help also. You may also want to try having a scheduled afternoon snack that resembles a balanced mini meal. Depending on how long you've been gluten-free, your body may still have some healing to do and you may gain again when it does. Make sure you are taking a good multivitamin as our damaged GI tracts are not able to absorb nutrients as well until we have healed more. You may want to consider a liquid or powdered for that is more easily digested.

hmmmmm same problem and now it is to a point i dont think i am going to make it. drs. cannot find out what is wrong. i am shrinking. mass muscle loss. went from size 12 misses size to little girls clothes which some are too big. sooooo i am giving up. stuffing my face does not work, digestive emzymes dont work. there is nothing left to try. only thing i found out is that the gastro said i have a slow and dilated esophagus and slow stomach and food i just laying in the stomach and not digesting. i cant lose any more weight, time is up. there is NOTHING left of me. no answers. last thing i only know of is feeding tubes. is there a dr. on this board? someone help

[missy'smom]

Have you been tested for diabetes? Thoroughly tested for it? You should ask about an A1c, and Gtt with insulin measured at the same time, and serum C peptide. Not everyone has all those done at the time of diagnosis but from what you describe, it seems that that would be best for you. What you describe sounds like what can happen when a person becomes type 1. The slow digestion-gastroparesis ?, which can be a complication of diabetes. I don't say this publicly very often but I am shopping in the girl's section. I am very petite to begin with but according to testing my pancreas seems to be making very little insulin and I have tried everything to get my weight up to where it used to be but without sufficient insulin it is seems that it impossible to gain weight. The best I can do is maintain. I've read up on it and found that it is a necessary element in weight gain. It seems for me that injected insulin is the only way to get my weight up further now even though I consume plenty of calories, and can manage my BG well without it. From what I understand, my body just burns it all off and is unable to store it. Without injected insulin, if I didn't consume enough calories and protein, my body would start using my own flesh as energy-fat and then move on to muscle. Without any of my own insulin production, and without injected insulin(ie: if I was undiagnosed)-that process would be more dramatic, thus sudden or severe weight loss being a hallmark of the onset of T1.

I understand, 13lbs. would be alot for me too and I have lost that plus some.

[missy'smom]

Part of what I wanted to get across with the previous post was that there are some complications of high blood sugars that involve the GI/digestive tract. Here is just one link showing the autoimmune connection between celiac disease and T1.

Open Original Shared Link

[Leiana]

Have you been tested for diabetes? Thoroughly tested for it? You should ask about an A1c, and Gtt with insulin measured at the same time, and serum C peptide. Not everyone has all those done at the time of diagnosis but from what you describe, it seems that that would be best for you. What you describe sounds like what can happen when a person becomes type 1. The slow digestion-gastroparesis ?, which can be a complication of diabetes. I don't say this publicly very often but I am shopping in the girl's section. I am very petite to begin with but according to testing my pancreas seems to be making very little insulin and I have tried everything to get my weight up to where it used to be but without sufficient insulin it is seems that it impossible to gain weight. The best I can do is maintain. I've read up on it and found that it is a necessary element in weight gain. It seems for me that injected insulin is the only way to get my weight up further now even though I consume plenty of calories, and can manage my BG well without it. From what I understand, my body just burns it all off and is unable to store it. Without injected insulin, if I didn't consume enough calories and protein, my body would start using my own flesh as energy-fat and then move on to muscle. Without any of my own insulin production, and without injected insulin(ie: if I was undiagnosed)-that process would be more dramatic, thus sudden or severe weight loss being a hallmark of the onset of T1.

I understand, 13lbs. would be alot for me too and I have lost that plus some

hi Missys Mom

thanks for taking the time to reply. it really means ALOT. did not think anyone would respond. having extreme panic attacks over this. no one knows the answer.

yes i had been checked for diabetes last year. i am hypoclydemic (sp). low blood sugar. and yes i know the my body is eating itself. i learned this thru that new Jillian Michaels book "Master your Metabolism. i am positive about this. trying to research everything i can about anything.

been going to gastro dr and he says i have that dilated esophagus and slow stomach.....i think it is the same that you mentioned but he did not call it that. gastroparesis where the food just sits in the stomach and not getting any absorbtion. so this friday i get the dreaded endoscope and he will check that and for celiac...which we lose weight with that too.

well if this diabetes and insulin thing is right ,i dont have any insulin at all cause my muscles are just gone and NO FAT AT ALL. just a skelaton. i have gone down from size 12 a year ago to little girls so i have been trying to get help since last summer. 30 LBS. going mad!!! my m.d. dr. said today he thinks i am not consuming enough calories. well gee how can i eat when i still have last nights dinner fermenting in my stomach. grrrr ya know

is it just a regular standard blood test for diabetes? with the serum levels. with a1c and gtt and do i have to ask for it????? yes, i also read insulin has something to do with the female hormones, fat and metatablism. will have to find that chapter and read it again.

had adrenal mri last week with contrast dye cause of adenomas(benign tumors) on then so dr. is wondering about my cortisol levels so here goes another blood test. and cortisol is related to hormones and insulin.

i know this is long and i am actually venting about the drs. for the last couple months i felt my blood sugar levels have gone wacky. everyone says be patient and they will find out. well there is no time left and i dont want to go on feeding tubes. just cannot get it right in my head what is wrong or it is multiple things. :( :angry:

:( :( :( sorry for rambling.

thanks so much

[missy'smom]

You shouldn't have to ask for the tests for diabetes but unfortunately we sometimes still do. I am quite sure that several medical professionals knew I was diabetic before my DX but kept their mouths closed-why? maybe because it wasn't their area of expertise so they couldn't say anything? I was hospitalized once and the nurses were talking about it outside my curtain late at night when they thought I was asleep. Not a word was said to me. Unrelated to that incident, I found myself a Dr., demanded testing and then read up after DX and asked for more. It seems that many dr.'s will go by a fasting blood sugar which is a measure of that moment only and somewhat of a reflection of the previous day. My father was diagnosed this way, and his was probably high, knowing him. Mine was 89 on the day of testing which is close to normal BUT the glucose tolerance test showed a very different picture. For that you drink a glucose syrup and they draw blood several times over the next 2-5 hrs. depending on how long the dr. chooses to carry out the test. It is my understanding that they can measure insulin at the same times. That wasn't done with me but I think it is a very good idea so they can get a very accurate picture of what is going on-if there is insulin resistance or if there just isn't enough insulin. I later asked for the C-peptide because I suspected that I wasn't producing much insulin and it is a measure of how much insulin is being put out. Mine was very low-which showed my doctor that his T2 DX and thinking that I was just really insulin resistant, was wrong. The A1c is a measure of average blood sugars over the previous months and is a more accurate picture of what's going on than a fasting blood sugar is. Diabetics can have hypoglycemia as well. You may want to ask for an emergency appointment with an endocrinologist. They take months to get into from what I hear. They may also be more knowledgeable about T1 and can check the other things like adrenals and thyroid. Some specialize in diabetes.

They always want to blame us and the calories first! I've been called anorexic behind my back by medical professionals! I'm not-I have a serious medical condition! My currect Dr. is on my side(even though I seem to need to guide him a little) but I think most people can't understand how my body works-I'm so not average to start with and they see people with diabetes who are overweight and eating cake and everything else so they think it must be me starving myself. Unfortunately medical professionals are not immune to this type of thinking. I tracked my calories with software and printed it out just to prove that I was really consuming enough calories. Lots of fats and protein. I read that one diabetes specialist gave his thin patients up to 900 extra calories a day in the form of olive oil(easy to get down)-in addition to whatever calories they were already consuming and they were unable to gain weight-because of the lack of insulin. More insulin, carbs and calories are unfortunately not quite as easy solution as it would seem either. If testing does reveal diabetes, I highly recommend Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution. The title sounds gimmicky and doesn't do it justice. He has diabetes himself and has been able to reverse many complications, experience healing and live a long, healthy life-that speaks volumes. There is a forum for those who are interested in or folllow his methods so there is support out there too if you should need it.

[missy'smom]

There's one more test that they can run for diabetes too-to check for G.A.D. antibodies. That relates to a slow progressing late onset form of T1 called LADA or T1.5.

[Leiana]

You shouldn't have to ask for the tests for diabetes but unfortunately we sometimes still do. I am quite sure that several medical professionals knew I was diabetic before my DX but kept their mouths closed-why? maybe because it wasn't their area of expertise so they couldn't say anything? I was hospitalized once and the nurses were talking about it outside my curtain late at night when they thought I was asleep. Not a word was said to me. Unrelated to that incident, I found myself a Dr., demanded testing and then read up after DX and asked for more. It seems that many dr.'s will go by a fasting blood sugar which is a measure of that moment only and somewhat of a reflection of the previous day. My father was diagnosed this way, and his was probably high, knowing him. Mine was 89 on the day of testing which is close to normal BUT the glucose tolerance test showed a very different picture. For that you drink a glucose syrup and they draw blood several times over the next 2-5 hrs. depending on how long the dr. chooses to carry out the test. It is my understanding that they can measure insulin at the same times. That wasn't done with me but I think it is a very good idea so they can get a very accurate picture of what is going on-if there is insulin resistance or if there just isn't enough insulin. I later asked for the C-peptide because I suspected that I wasn't producing much insulin and it is a measure of how much insulin is being put out. Mine was very low-which showed my doctor that his T2 DX and thinking that I was just really insulin resistant, was wrong. The A1c is a measure of average blood sugars over the previous months and is a more accurate picture of what's going on than a fasting blood sugar is. Diabetics can have hypoglycemia as well. You may want to ask for an emergency appointment with an endocrinologist. They take months to get into from what I hear. They may also be more knowledgeable about T1 and can check the other things like adrenals and thyroid. Some specialize in diabetes.

They always want to blame us and the calories first! I've been called anorexic behind my back by medical professionals! I'm not-I have a serious medical condition! My currect Dr. is on my side(even though I seem to need to guide him a little) but I think most people can't understand how my body works-I'm so not average to start with and they see people with diabetes who are overweight and eating cake and everything else so they think it must be me starving myself. Unfortunately medical professionals are not immune to this type of thinking. I tracked my calories with software and printed it out just to prove that I was really consuming enough calories. Lots of fats and protein. I read that one diabetes specialist gave his thin patients up to 900 extra calories a day in the form of olive oil(easy to get down)-in addition to whatever calories they were already consuming and they were unable to gain weight-because of the lack of insulin. More insulin, carbs and calories are unfortunately not quite as easy solution as it would seem either. If testing does reveal diabetes, I highly recommend Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution. The title sounds gimmicky and doesn't do it justice. He has diabetes himself and has been able to reverse many complications, experience healing and live a long, healthy life-that speaks volumes. There is a forum for those who are interested in or folllow his methods so there is support out there too if you should need it

hi

wow you really know this stuff. i can tell you have really done some investigating. this is alot to understand. its really maddening when drs seem to not want to help and you feel like you are dying. how dare them!!!!!!!! i had that glucose test years ago and they said i was boderline diabetic. is there such a thing? lol lol i so appreciate your writing back. i will have to reread your post and make sure i understand all this. i have so much info running thru my brain fogged head it will take time to get this. i will write some more later. now i have to run to another drs appt.....foot dr this time for plantar fascitis which i heard can be caused from thyriod, which i thought was the original problem but they say no. lol lol . thanks again talk later

[Leiana]

There's one more test that they can run for diabetes too-to check for G.A.D. antibodies. That relates to a slow progressing late onset form of T1 called LADA or T1.5.

this just in two minutes ago. got a phone call from dr and said it is the adreanal glands have adenomas (tumors) sitting on the kidney which is related to diabetes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. wow. it is al related. i am in shock!!!

[missy'smom]

I've had to educate myself so that I could get the help I needed from the medical community. I had to advocate for myself too. If I had left it to them I would still be undiagnosed or ended up in the ER getting an emergency diagnosis.

It depends on who you ask if there is such a thing as pre-diabetes. Some would say pre-diabetic are actually diabetics. Here are some links for you.

Open Original Shared Link

Here are some links to the Bernstein forum and info.

Open Original Shared Link forum

Open Original Shared Link

I'm sorry that you are having to go through this! It just infuriates me that people have to go undiagnosed or poorly managed so long! Diabetes can be managed well but it is let go too far! But I am glad that you are starting to get some answers. You can pm me or post again if you have any more questions or need some more resources.

[Leiana]

I've had to educate myself so that I could get the help I needed from the medical community. I had to advocate for myself too. If I had left it to them I would still be undiagnosed or ended up in the ER getting an emergency diagnosis.

It depends on who you ask if there is such a thing as pre-diabetes. Some would say pre-diabetic are actually diabetics. Here are some links for you.

Open Original Shared Link

Here are some links to the Bernstein forum and info.

Open Original Shared Link forum

Open Original Shared Link

I'm sorry that you are having to go through this! It just infuriates me that people have to go undiagnosed or poorly managed so long! Diabetes can be managed well but it is let go too far! But I am glad that you are starting to get some answers. You can pm me or post again if you have any more questions or need some more resources.

Hi again

well get this the drs. are finally concerned!!!!!!!!! now want me to have go thru the biopsy of the growths on the adrenal gland. and then have a pet scan checking for cancer. hmmm well i knew about the adenomas on the gland for years and was told it was benign. now it seems it has grown and they want to check it out. the adrernals have to do with insulin and fat. so i was right the body is eating itself up...used up the insulin and going after the muscles and fat. gosh i should have been a dr. and gee the diabetes and the low blood sugar is all involved. i dont know if i should be happy or upset. happy cause FINALLY after a year or more of this i think we have an answer and upset that i may have the big c. cortisol can cause weight loss and so can celiac so now i have a double whammy on me. i think God has something to do with this cause you wrote me about the diabetes and i put that together with the cortisol and insulin and it just makes sense. you may have SAVED MY LIFE along with GOD of course. thank you God and Missy. god bless you.

[missy'smom]

God is the one who led me on the path I'm on today. He brought the right people and info. into my life so that I could discover and successfully manage the problems I have and enjoy much improved quality of life. He and some wonderful folks here and on the Bernstein board are the recipients of my gratitude.

God be with you on your journey. He'll go ahead of you to prepare the way and then walk it with you.