Nearing "Underweight", please help meeeee

MamaBirdBoss

Look at calories first. Anything you can stomach that's super dense will be good for that. Once you get close to the calories you need, try to balance out the nutrients left if you can.

arv51862

I'm curious, What is your daily dosage on the Topamax ? What are you taking it for ? And are you taking any other meds daily / regularly ?
I have been taking Topamax for years, in combination with Dilantin, for different types of seizures.
I fully expect to continue taking both for life.
Have you talked with your prescribing Doctor about your weight loss concern ?
Do ANY foods sound good / taste good ??

Maleficent0241

Drink your calories. This is one of those times when it could really be a benefit. When I was on Topamax and losing too quickly, I upped my fats in just about everything and on top would sip on things like apple juice, boost/ensure, etc. or drink smoothies. Basically whatever I could stomach without wanting to puke. Eventually I got switched to Zonegran, which worked much better appetite - wise but I remember those years on Topamax quite well!

AsISmile

I have kind of been there.
Through circumstances I became underweight, and was unable to eat larger portions without feeling sick.

This really helped me:
1) liquid callories. I started drinking milkshakes from Aldi because they were high in protein and pretty okay in everything else.
2) boiled eggs
3) crackers that had a higher protein count

My dietician also suggested adding Chia seeds to yoghurt for breakfast and having quinoa for lunch.
Not sure how much that really helped...

CalvinWard

Okay. The first thing I would ask is to determine what is the reason you are using the medication. Is it epilepsy, to get off of drug use, as an anticonvulsant, or for treatment of migraines or PTSD. The reason I say this is because once you have established the reason for being on the drug, and the reason is necessary, then we have established that you will continue to be on the drug if need be. That being said, we know that weight-loss is a side effect of being on this medication. So if this is the situation and you need to be on the drug then we need to accept the fact that weight-loss is going to be a side effect. Once that is done, then we can move forward for a plan of action to come back the negative side effects of the drug.

CalvinWard

The blessing in all of this is that an adverse effect of taking this drug is also weight gain. So this is not occurring with you as you are experiencing weight loss.

CalvinWard

You will also find that people who take the drug for weight-loss do not like the side affects. Now let's get to some solutions for you that might or may not work. One of the things that you need to know was that everybody's physiology is different so you will have to experiment with different methods of nutrition and exercise combinations to see what works for your physiology.

CalvinWard

One of the first things you should do is using the my fitness pal app, you should be monitoring how many calories you are eating daily in comparison to how many calories you should be eating to gain so many pounds per week. This is the first thing you should be doing. Set yourself a goal of something like a pound or two I week and then intake the calories that are necessary to gain that weight. Once you are tracking how many calories that you aren't eating per day in comparison with how many you need to eat per week to gain weight, you will be able to find out how many calories extra you need to eat per day in conjunction with your work out to gain weight.

demoiselle2014

52cardpickup, I feel for you. I'm almost 5'4", and for years I weighed 98 lbs. That put me below a healthy BMI, mitigated a bit by my tiny frame, but still far too low. I know the pain of not being able to gain weight. I have also been on a medicine that is known to cause loss of appetite for years. In time, it seems that my body has adjusted to that medicine, so perhaps that will happen to you.

I finally managed to get to a normal weight in my late 20s to 30ish. It was a combination of things that helped me. I got into a stable and healthy relationship, which reduced my anxiety and thus made it easier for me to remember to eat on schedule. I married a person whose stress-relieving activity is baking bread and cookies, and who eats on a regular schedule (I used not to notice time passing, and didn't really recognize the difference between "hunger pangs" and "sick to my stomach"). Getting on a more regular schedule of meals, plus having tempting calorie dense food around, plus doing weight machines/protein shakes for about nine months seems to have helped me finally reach a normal weight.

Indeed, I gained a little more than I wanted back then. Now, I am careful about the cookies and make my husband give the bulk of his stress-baking products away.

Try for small, regular meals if you have trouble feeling hungry. I used to skip breakfast because once I had my coffee (appetite suppressing!) I wasn't hungry anymore. Then I'd not get hungry until 3 in the afternoon. I do better now drinking less coffee and making myself have something for breakfast, even if it's just a protein shake smoothy or a banana. If I eat breakfast, I find I eat on a more regular schedule for the rest of the day.

If you have some anxiety issues like I did, taking up meditation or yoga might help. It reduces stress and can increase self-awareness (for me, it was a big help to learn the difference between hunger pangs and feeling sick).

Good luck! You aren't alone!

diannadabrowski

111grace wrote: »

lol you could have all of my overweight fat, I send it to you with pleasure

Send some over here too lol!! 5'9 and weigh 110lbs. Tired of people asking me if I have a eating disorder or if I ever eat.:(

52cardpickup

Springfield1970 wrote: »

I think the snacks at work idea is the best one. You really only need to eat a doughnut or muffin or snickers over your maintenance to gain weight.

Problem is I'm not hitting maintenance most days, but yes, you're right. I do need to keep snacks at my desk at all times.

And you're also right about NDJ, he's awful about pushing that icecream. Obviously a shill for the dairy farms.

52cardpickup

arv51862 wrote: »

I'm curious, What is your daily dosage on the Topamax ? What are you taking it for ? And are you taking any other meds daily / regularly ?
I have been taking Topamax for years, in combination with Dilantin, for different types of seizures.
I fully expect to continue taking both for life.
Have you talked with your prescribing Doctor about your weight loss concern ?
Do ANY foods sound good / taste good ??

100mg 2x a day, taking it for two different types of seizures. I expect to be taking it for life as well. I haven't talked to my doctor yet because I have not had a follow-up appointment (it's in July). I go through phases where I'm hungry/get cravings, and I try to eat as much as I can during those times, but they're few and far between. In the meantime, I know I NEED to eat, so I force myself to anyway. Just trying to find ways to get more calories in. You folks have been very helpful.

MomTo3Lovez

I would definitely try the snacks at your desk approach as well as liquid calories as they don't tend to be too heavy sitting in your stomach. If I could send you some of my fat I would I hope that you can figure it out and definitely bring it up at your next MD apt since it's almost July already they may have some ideas for you as well. Good luck!

jgnatca

I see you brainstorming ideas right here, and the idea of packing a few snacks for work is great.

Might you try different spices, tastes and textures to see if they can work with the metallic taste? Like beef jerky, something ginger spiced, or something pepper spiced?

Mezzie1024

The only thing I can think of is to use a lot of oil/butter/lard/cheese/full-fat dairy in everything you can manage to eat. It's the easiest way to increase calories. When I was underweight, I ate a pint of ice cream several times a week (sometimes daily) and heavily buttered popcorn. I dipped quesadillas in sour cream and avocado. I shudder to think how underweight I would have been without those. I was ecstatic the day I weighed enough to donate blood (then bummed to find my iron count still wasn't high enough. Still, it was a milestone).

That was decades ago. I'm currently losing weight, and that is a million times easier than trying to gain in my experience. It's also more socially acceptable -- I can't even count how many people would say "I wish I had your problem" every time I sat down to a big meal. It was frustrating that people had no empathy or understanding of how difficult it is to not be able to gain weight.

I wish you luck, and I hope the medicine is controlling your seizures well.