Medical Conditions Which Affect Weight: Separating Fact From Fiction
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In the UK it is very difficult to seek out good doctors my gp manages my hypothyroidism (which is standard practice here and she is very good) and a referral to an endocrinologist is limited to the local hospitals which in my area means just the patronising arrogant tw"t i have had dealings with, that calls himself an endo. Short of being able to pay for one privately thats where most people would be stuck with the nhs docs (most of which are very good btw just a bad experience with an endo for me).
We have the Right To Choose now, so you don't have to put up with local services if you don't want to. I changed some of my doctors from my local hospital to the main hospital (where my neurologist is) in order to have more joined-up care. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/299609/2014-15_Choice_Framework.pdf0 -
In my early 20s I started to have back problems. It was diagnosed as bulging disks that were pressing on my nerves and causing sciatica and other pain. They bothered me off and on throughout my 20s, where sometimes I was able to exercise and other times I would have to take time off - I referred to it as 'my back went out'.
Then when I was 29, I bent over at the waist one day to feed the cats, and experienced some of the most horrible pain I had felt up to that point. After some imaging, it was discovered that I had torn both of the lower disks in my back . I had to have a 2-level diskectomy and fusion.
It takes a year to recover from that surgery; there's walking on a treadmill involved, but it's a slow pace and certainly no cardio level activity. My life was quite different after the surgery. I found myself the heaviest I'd ever been in my life, other than when I was pregnant. I wasn't obese, but for me, it was a challenge I hadn't had to face before.
I didn't know how to lose the weight the right way. I tried lot of things. I went low carb. I cut out all sugar. I tried eating six small meals per day. Nothing worked. I literally spent years unhappy at that weight. I was suffering through rehab with my back and also dealing with this new weight challenge, and it was a real struggle.
Finally, I found MFP. I started posting in the forums, and I posted my 'woo'. All the things I thought I knew. Which, looking back, was rather foolish, considering that I'd already tried all of them and failed.
I found myself soundly corrected. I argued at first, but then I started to listen. I realized that what I was being told made a lot of sense. Once I listened, I learned, and I started applying what I was learning. I followed the ideas of CICO and moderation. By now i was able to exercise again. I started losing weight. It was a pretty wonderful feeling.
Then I had another setback. The disk above the fusion was bulging out so far it was pushing on another nerve and sending pain throughout my back and left leg. I had to have surgery again.
This time, I used all that I had learned on MFP and kept the weight off. I made it through rehab and when I was able to exercise again, I started another deficit to try to reach another goal weight.
I succeeded! What a great feeling .
Then another setback came along. I was diagnosed with brain cancer. Another surgery, more rehab. and another stretch of dropping my calorie goal to maintain my weight. Still succeeding!
A year after rehab, I was diagnosed with Celiac disease. This made a huge difference in my eating pattern because I had to completely change my diet. However, it was a great change because it sure made a difference in how great I felt, since I had been experiencing so much discomfort most of the time and not knowing why.
Now my back is deteriorating yet again, and I find myself sedentary and unable to move much. Time to adjust the calorie goal. I am confident that I will maintain my weight because I understand CICO, and will be forever grateful to those who taught me when I first showed up here on MFP.
The point I'm trying to make here is that we all experience challenges in life. It's probably actually not typical that a person is perfectly healthy with no challenges to face. CICO works. Calorie deficit works. Even if we have challenges, we can be successful. As long as we make adjustments to the calorie goal dependent on our activity level, we can do it!
I have always admired you and your posts. Hearing your story confirms that. Keep fighting. Best of luck (I'd say "break a leg", but considering what you've gone through already--better not).0 -
I haven't read all the comments on this thread, so maybe I am repeating, but my husband works on genetic links to PCOS in one of the leading labs in Europe and I suffer from it as well so I have a fairly good understanding from a scientific approach and having been there... It seems that someone with PCOS, however much they eat, due to the way their hormones affect their metabolism, will have an additional KitKat in their daily diet, without having consumed it. IE, their body thinks they have eaten approx 200 calories more then they actually have, and although 200 isn't that much, across the weeks, months and years it adds up. Therefore, a PCOS sufferer will have to restrict their diet more than a regular person.... So yes, whilst it is still CICO, in their case it isn't quite as simplistic... And to make matters worse, the more overweight the woman is, the "more calories are added to their diet"
Does this make any sense??
(PS, i'm totally "doomed" because Im on steroids as well, so my battle is so much harder.......)
Yes, but you can also explain it as a metabolic down-regulation of about 200 cals in the presence of carbs. But you are on the right track - watch your macros more closely (and lower carb'ish will help with satiety), consistency in exercise to create a little more metabolic 'room' for that 'kit-kat' and just keep at it. It's harder, but not impossible.
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CurlyCockney wrote: »In the UK it is very difficult to seek out good doctors my gp manages my hypothyroidism (which is standard practice here and she is very good) and a referral to an endocrinologist is limited to the local hospitals which in my area means just the patronising arrogant tw"t i have had dealings with, that calls himself an endo. Short of being able to pay for one privately thats where most people would be stuck with the nhs docs (most of which are very good btw just a bad experience with an endo for me).
We have the Right To Choose now, so you don't have to put up with local services if you don't want to. I changed some of my doctors from my local hospital to the main hospital (where my neurologist is) in order to have more joined-up care. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/299609/2014-15_Choice_Framework.pdf
Thank you, yes I'm aware of that my experience with that endo was from before the right to choose thing came through (5.5years ago now). Fortunately the gynaecologist and haemotologist I've been under since have been excellent doctors, I do think they still try and direct you to your local hospital though once referred, the last time i got referred to gynae I asked specifically for the doctor who had been seeing me previous, you have no idea what a palava it was to see him again(I managed though about 2appointment letters and 5 phone calls later).0 -
PeachyCarol wrote: »I have a few chronic illnesses and the one that has affected my weight is hypothyroidism. Certainly CICO applies whether normal or suffering form medical conditions. It is fact though that it would be virtually impossible to work out the calories out before diagnosis and I'm of the opinion that my thyroid has been struggling since i was a child. Do i blame my hypothyroidism for my weight gain?absolutely,I don't think i could have lowered my calories enough to stop gaining weight, as in i would have had reduce my calorific intake so much i would have risked not eating the quantities of nutrients my body needed which would have been dangerous (i.e. well below 1200kcal). Do I blame it now for not losing very fast? No, that is because i can be pretty lax some days/weeks I'm in no rush.
I did read some comments that i found pretty harsh in the sense that you must have over eaten to gain so much before diagnoses. I should point out that some thyroid patients are diagnosed early on with a just out of range TSH and T4 and others can have extremely high TSH (I know of hypo patients with a TSH over 200 at diagnoses) now this obviously has an impact on metabolism and how much reduced the CO portion of the equation is and therefore how much weight is gained, the ability to lose weight at the time, etc. So what is the experience for one thyroid patient is not the same for another and we should not judge.
Once well controlled which can also be a battle in itself as doctors automatically assume once in the normal range all is well and may not be for the individual, being hypo shouldn't and in my case doesn't affect weightloss. I am lucky though, i have a very supportive doctor who doesn't panic when my tsh is on the low side (which is where i feel best).
I have never known anyone with a higher TSH than my sister. Hers was over 800 and they marveled that she was not dead. In fact, they tested her three times because they were sure it had to be an error.
It wasn't.
She was only 20 pounds overweight at diagnosis.
I am sorry, it is EXACTLY how much food you eat that determines the extent to which you gain weigh beyond which your metabolism slows down from the disease.
As for doctors? It depends on the doctors. Good endocrinologists treat symptoms, not numbers. It's on us as patients to advocate for ourselves and seek them out.
I have a history of missed diagnoses and being mistreated by the medical system. I had enough of playing victim and whining about it. Things got drastically better for me when I became a proactive advocate in my own health care.
Oh I'm not disputing that it is the amount of food I have put in my mouth that has determined how much overweight I become my argument is that to determine CO is difficult when not diagnosed and had i reduced my calories accordingly i would have been on a dangerously low amount of calories at that time. Also i wasn't all that overweight at diagnosis it was the year it took them to get my all medication right where it piled on, I was really quite ill. If i hadn't had hypothyroidism and i remained eating the same i wouldn't have gained sooo much weight.
In the UK it is very difficult to seek out good doctors my gp manages my hypothyroidism (which is standard practice here and she is very good) and a referral to an endocrinologist is limited to the local hospitals which in my area means just the patronising arrogant tw"t i have had dealings with, that calls himself an endo. Short of being able to pay for one privately thats where most people would be stuck with the nhs docs (most of which are very good btw just a bad experience with an endo for me).
I wonder about the calories out. Can a medical condition and/or medications slow down your body so much that the calories in must be extremely low (under 1000k) in order to maintain or lose weight?
Someone mentioned steroids above. I have never felt the extreme hunger I felt while on steroids. It was truly frightening. I try to remember that hunger feeling now to try and figure out if I am really hungry or just want want want to eat.
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susan100df wrote: »PeachyCarol wrote: »I have a few chronic illnesses and the one that has affected my weight is hypothyroidism. Certainly CICO applies whether normal or suffering form medical conditions. It is fact though that it would be virtually impossible to work out the calories out before diagnosis and I'm of the opinion that my thyroid has been struggling since i was a child. Do i blame my hypothyroidism for my weight gain?absolutely,I don't think i could have lowered my calories enough to stop gaining weight, as in i would have had reduce my calorific intake so much i would have risked not eating the quantities of nutrients my body needed which would have been dangerous (i.e. well below 1200kcal). Do I blame it now for not losing very fast? No, that is because i can be pretty lax some days/weeks I'm in no rush.
I did read some comments that i found pretty harsh in the sense that you must have over eaten to gain so much before diagnoses. I should point out that some thyroid patients are diagnosed early on with a just out of range TSH and T4 and others can have extremely high TSH (I know of hypo patients with a TSH over 200 at diagnoses) now this obviously has an impact on metabolism and how much reduced the CO portion of the equation is and therefore how much weight is gained, the ability to lose weight at the time, etc. So what is the experience for one thyroid patient is not the same for another and we should not judge.
Once well controlled which can also be a battle in itself as doctors automatically assume once in the normal range all is well and may not be for the individual, being hypo shouldn't and in my case doesn't affect weightloss. I am lucky though, i have a very supportive doctor who doesn't panic when my tsh is on the low side (which is where i feel best).
I have never known anyone with a higher TSH than my sister. Hers was over 800 and they marveled that she was not dead. In fact, they tested her three times because they were sure it had to be an error.
It wasn't.
She was only 20 pounds overweight at diagnosis.
I am sorry, it is EXACTLY how much food you eat that determines the extent to which you gain weigh beyond which your metabolism slows down from the disease.
As for doctors? It depends on the doctors. Good endocrinologists treat symptoms, not numbers. It's on us as patients to advocate for ourselves and seek them out.
I have a history of missed diagnoses and being mistreated by the medical system. I had enough of playing victim and whining about it. Things got drastically better for me when I became a proactive advocate in my own health care.
Oh I'm not disputing that it is the amount of food I have put in my mouth that has determined how much overweight I become my argument is that to determine CO is difficult when not diagnosed and had i reduced my calories accordingly i would have been on a dangerously low amount of calories at that time. Also i wasn't all that overweight at diagnosis it was the year it took them to get my all medication right where it piled on, I was really quite ill. If i hadn't had hypothyroidism and i remained eating the same i wouldn't have gained sooo much weight.
In the UK it is very difficult to seek out good doctors my gp manages my hypothyroidism (which is standard practice here and she is very good) and a referral to an endocrinologist is limited to the local hospitals which in my area means just the patronising arrogant tw"t i have had dealings with, that calls himself an endo. Short of being able to pay for one privately thats where most people would be stuck with the nhs docs (most of which are very good btw just a bad experience with an endo for me).
I wonder about the calories out. Can a medical condition and/or medications slow down your body so much that the calories in must be extremely low (under 1000k) in order to maintain or lose weight?
Someone mentioned steroids above. I have never felt the extreme hunger I felt while on steroids. It was truly frightening. I try to remember that hunger feeling now to try and figure out if I am really hungry or just want want want to eat.
As very short people that are at the low end of the healthy bmi can only need 1200kcal a day to maintain weight (as sendentary) I personally believe a medical condition can slow down ones metabolism to levels below 1000kcal. I never tested the theory at the time as I didn't feel it would be safe to go below 1200kcal without medical supervision and wasnt a priority according to my gp at the time so I didn't pursue it until I felt 'normal'. Funnily enough my weight never gets mentioned by the gp anymore since I got diagnosed with hypothyroidism and even doctors seem to think weightloss is impossible for a hypothyroid patient(no wonder it gets used as an excuse for being fat).
I'm not sure whether there are medications that are capable of lowering metabolism so I wouldnt like to say. But they are certainly capable of causing increased appetite or hunger. As far as I'm concerned steroids are pure evil, I feel rotten on them and they cause massive water retention for me I avoid them like the plague if I can.0 -
Ariel_themeanwoman wrote: »Im not trolling,Im just saying dont be lazy and work hard if you want to achieve something.
Blaming medical condition is just another excuse for beigm damn LAZY!
LAZY doesn't enter into it. People with certain medical conditions have to figure them out to lose successfully. Once they do that, things tend to fall into place--a little better. This thread is to educate those who don't have those conditions (like me) so we can understand others, and to help lurkers to get the help they need. Just because you don't understand this frustration, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Be a good MFPler, sit back, watch, and learn something.0 -
Ariel_themeanwoman wrote: »Im not trolling,Im just saying dont be lazy and work hard if you want to achieve something.
Blaming medical condition is just another excuse for beigm damn LAZY!
Have you had a medical condition that has caused you difficulty in finding the best way to keep your weight stable? If so please share it with us so that we can understand your view point better.0 -
Ariel_themeanwoman wrote: »Im not trolling,Im just saying dont be lazy and work hard if you want to achieve something.
Blaming medical condition is just another excuse for beigm damn LAZY!
Have you had a medical condition that has caused you difficulty in finding the best way to keep your weight stable? If so please share it with us so that we can understand your view point better.
Affluenza perhaps?0 -
Ariel_themeanwoman wrote: »Im not trolling,Im just saying dont be lazy and work hard if you want to achieve something.
Blaming medical condition is just another excuse for beigm damn LAZY!
If you had actually bothered to read the thread instead of throwing your preconceived ideas and judgements in our faces you would have realised this thread is actually about dispelling the myths surrounding medical problems and weightloss, no one here actually is saying they can't lose weight, they (including me) are saying they can despite one or several medical conditions and quite succesfully too.
So do me a favour and come back when you've read it properly.0 -
susan100df wrote: »PeachyCarol wrote: »I have a few chronic illnesses and the one that has affected my weight is hypothyroidism. Certainly CICO applies whether normal or suffering form medical conditions. It is fact though that it would be virtually impossible to work out the calories out before diagnosis and I'm of the opinion that my thyroid has been struggling since i was a child. Do i blame my hypothyroidism for my weight gain?absolutely,I don't think i could have lowered my calories enough to stop gaining weight, as in i would have had reduce my calorific intake so much i would have risked not eating the quantities of nutrients my body needed which would have been dangerous (i.e. well below 1200kcal). Do I blame it now for not losing very fast? No, that is because i can be pretty lax some days/weeks I'm in no rush.
I did read some comments that i found pretty harsh in the sense that you must have over eaten to gain so much before diagnoses. I should point out that some thyroid patients are diagnosed early on with a just out of range TSH and T4 and others can have extremely high TSH (I know of hypo patients with a TSH over 200 at diagnoses) now this obviously has an impact on metabolism and how much reduced the CO portion of the equation is and therefore how much weight is gained, the ability to lose weight at the time, etc. So what is the experience for one thyroid patient is not the same for another and we should not judge.
Once well controlled which can also be a battle in itself as doctors automatically assume once in the normal range all is well and may not be for the individual, being hypo shouldn't and in my case doesn't affect weightloss. I am lucky though, i have a very supportive doctor who doesn't panic when my tsh is on the low side (which is where i feel best).
I have never known anyone with a higher TSH than my sister. Hers was over 800 and they marveled that she was not dead. In fact, they tested her three times because they were sure it had to be an error.
It wasn't.
She was only 20 pounds overweight at diagnosis.
I am sorry, it is EXACTLY how much food you eat that determines the extent to which you gain weigh beyond which your metabolism slows down from the disease.
As for doctors? It depends on the doctors. Good endocrinologists treat symptoms, not numbers. It's on us as patients to advocate for ourselves and seek them out.
I have a history of missed diagnoses and being mistreated by the medical system. I had enough of playing victim and whining about it. Things got drastically better for me when I became a proactive advocate in my own health care.
Oh I'm not disputing that it is the amount of food I have put in my mouth that has determined how much overweight I become my argument is that to determine CO is difficult when not diagnosed and had i reduced my calories accordingly i would have been on a dangerously low amount of calories at that time. Also i wasn't all that overweight at diagnosis it was the year it took them to get my all medication right where it piled on, I was really quite ill. If i hadn't had hypothyroidism and i remained eating the same i wouldn't have gained sooo much weight.
In the UK it is very difficult to seek out good doctors my gp manages my hypothyroidism (which is standard practice here and she is very good) and a referral to an endocrinologist is limited to the local hospitals which in my area means just the patronising arrogant tw"t i have had dealings with, that calls himself an endo. Short of being able to pay for one privately thats where most people would be stuck with the nhs docs (most of which are very good btw just a bad experience with an endo for me).
I wonder about the calories out. Can a medical condition and/or medications slow down your body so much that the calories in must be extremely low (under 1000k) in order to maintain or lose weight?
Someone mentioned steroids above. I have never felt the extreme hunger I felt while on steroids. It was truly frightening. I try to remember that hunger feeling now to try and figure out if I am really hungry or just want want want to eat.
There's conditions that can lower your NEAT or RMR quite a bit but less than 1000 for mainenance I doubt it.0 -
Ariel_themeanwoman wrote: »Im not trolling,Im just saying dont be lazy and work hard if you want to achieve something.
Blaming medical condition is just another excuse for beigm damn LAZY!
I have a friend who has Chronic Lyme Disease. She is bed ridden and in pain all the time. She can barely lift her arms to grab something her body is so weak, let alone get out of bed to exercise. She is on a fairly low calorie diet, but since she is bed ridden she has gained about 30 lbs (over 3 years). So according to you, she should not use her medical condition as an excuse and she is lazy?!?!0 -
snowflake954 wrote: »In my early 20s I started to have back problems. It was diagnosed as bulging disks that were pressing on my nerves and causing sciatica and other pain. They bothered me off and on throughout my 20s, where sometimes I was able to exercise and other times I would have to take time off - I referred to it as 'my back went out'.
Then when I was 29, I bent over at the waist one day to feed the cats, and experienced some of the most horrible pain I had felt up to that point. After some imaging, it was discovered that I had torn both of the lower disks in my back . I had to have a 2-level diskectomy and fusion.
It takes a year to recover from that surgery; there's walking on a treadmill involved, but it's a slow pace and certainly no cardio level activity. My life was quite different after the surgery. I found myself the heaviest I'd ever been in my life, other than when I was pregnant. I wasn't obese, but for me, it was a challenge I hadn't had to face before.
I didn't know how to lose the weight the right way. I tried lot of things. I went low carb. I cut out all sugar. I tried eating six small meals per day. Nothing worked. I literally spent years unhappy at that weight. I was suffering through rehab with my back and also dealing with this new weight challenge, and it was a real struggle.
Finally, I found MFP. I started posting in the forums, and I posted my 'woo'. All the things I thought I knew. Which, looking back, was rather foolish, considering that I'd already tried all of them and failed.
I found myself soundly corrected. I argued at first, but then I started to listen. I realized that what I was being told made a lot of sense. Once I listened, I learned, and I started applying what I was learning. I followed the ideas of CICO and moderation. By now i was able to exercise again. I started losing weight. It was a pretty wonderful feeling.
Then I had another setback. The disk above the fusion was bulging out so far it was pushing on another nerve and sending pain throughout my back and left leg. I had to have surgery again.
This time, I used all that I had learned on MFP and kept the weight off. I made it through rehab and when I was able to exercise again, I started another deficit to try to reach another goal weight.
I succeeded! What a great feeling .
Then another setback came along. I was diagnosed with brain cancer. Another surgery, more rehab. and another stretch of dropping my calorie goal to maintain my weight. Still succeeding!
A year after rehab, I was diagnosed with Celiac disease. This made a huge difference in my eating pattern because I had to completely change my diet. However, it was a great change because it sure made a difference in how great I felt, since I had been experiencing so much discomfort most of the time and not knowing why.
Now my back is deteriorating yet again, and I find myself sedentary and unable to move much. Time to adjust the calorie goal. I am confident that I will maintain my weight because I understand CICO, and will be forever grateful to those who taught me when I first showed up here on MFP.
The point I'm trying to make here is that we all experience challenges in life. It's probably actually not typical that a person is perfectly healthy with no challenges to face. CICO works. Calorie deficit works. Even if we have challenges, we can be successful. As long as we make adjustments to the calorie goal dependent on our activity level, we can do it!
I have always admired you and your posts. Hearing your story confirms that. Keep fighting. Best of luck (I'd say "break a leg", but considering what you've gone through already--better not).
Thank you very much! And yes, I'd agree with you on not breaking a leg! Please nope.0 -
I have chrons disease.. but a very non traditional version of it being that i basically never have a bm.. once a week if im lucky. yes i up my fiber and all that but i have to be careful due to the inflamation. anyway im used to it now.. my question though.. is for the past id say 8 years i am always pretty severly deficient in vit d and pretty much all the b's. I have taken high doses many times but they always go back down.. when i am super deficient i notice i eat way more... my dr says my body signals hunger to try and eat to replenish the vitamins. I wonder how true that statement is. If true its almost imposible to control the hunger unless my deficiencies are in check which always go down due to my inflamation and my body having a hard time absorbing basically any nutrients.0
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I have chrons disease.. but a very non traditional version of it being that i basically never have a bm.. once a week if im lucky. yes i up my fiber and all that but i have to be careful due to the inflamation. anyway im used to it now.. my question though.. is for the past id say 8 years i am always pretty severly deficient in vit d and pretty much all the b's. I have taken high doses many times but they always go back down.. when i am super deficient i notice i eat way more... my dr says my body signals hunger to try and eat to replenish the vitamins. I wonder how true that statement is. If true its almost imposible to control the hunger unless my deficiencies are in check which always go down due to my inflamation and my body having a hard time absorbing basically any nutrients.
What medications are you taking for your Crohn's disease? The key to maintaining your nutrient levels is getting your disease under control. When you are flaring it's quite difficult for you to take in nutrients, so it's very important for you to know what foods are safe for you to eat and for you to be on the correct medications.0 -
I have chrons disease.. but a very non traditional version of it being that i basically never have a bm.. once a week if im lucky. yes i up my fiber and all that but i have to be careful due to the inflamation. anyway im used to it now.. my question though.. is for the past id say 8 years i am always pretty severly deficient in vit d and pretty much all the b's. I have taken high doses many times but they always go back down.. when i am super deficient i notice i eat way more... my dr says my body signals hunger to try and eat to replenish the vitamins. I wonder how true that statement is. If true its almost imposible to control the hunger unless my deficiencies are in check which always go down due to my inflamation and my body having a hard time absorbing basically any nutrients.
Have you had bowel surgery? I think I remember reading that even if Crohn's is controlled, if certain parts of the bowel are missing, deficiencies can be ongoing.
What does your gastro say? Has he recommended injectible and/or liquid forms of any of the vitamins since they'll absorb more readily?0 -
I have chrons disease.. but a very non traditional version of it being that i basically never have a bm.. once a week if im lucky. yes i up my fiber and all that but i have to be careful due to the inflamation. anyway im used to it now.. my question though.. is for the past id say 8 years i am always pretty severly deficient in vit d and pretty much all the b's. I have taken high doses many times but they always go back down.. when i am super deficient i notice i eat way more... my dr says my body signals hunger to try and eat to replenish the vitamins. I wonder how true that statement is. If true its almost imposible to control the hunger unless my deficiencies are in check which always go down due to my inflamation and my body having a hard time absorbing basically any nutrients.
Sorry about your condition. I dont have any cause to it but my vitamin d is always low as well. Ive also noticed an increased appetite when my level is very low. My dr has recommended to take a low dose of vitamin d daily indefinitely. I also know few people with b12 issues who have to indefinitely either get the shots or take the pills. For b12 some drs also write the prescription to allow you to do the shots yourself (i would never be able to do this though). Maybe you should ask your dr if you should start taking low doses daily without stopping in order to maintain the levels.0 -
I have chrons disease.. but a very non traditional version of it being that i basically never have a bm.. once a week if im lucky. yes i up my fiber and all that but i have to be careful due to the inflamation. anyway im used to it now.. my question though.. is for the past id say 8 years i am always pretty severly deficient in vit d and pretty much all the b's. I have taken high doses many times but they always go back down.. when i am super deficient i notice i eat way more... my dr says my body signals hunger to try and eat to replenish the vitamins. I wonder how true that statement is. If true its almost imposible to control the hunger unless my deficiencies are in check which always go down due to my inflamation and my body having a hard time absorbing basically any nutrients.
I have to have B12 injections once a month. Be super careful about those levels (and folate, which I have to take mega doses of). That's what caused my horrible time that wasn't diagnosed quickly enough. Nerve damage, hair falling out, muscle wasting, etc, were all evident before I got treatment, and some of the nerve damage is permanent
I stopped being able to digest it was the problem. I got down to 86 lbs and had no strength!
Yeah, I'm sure other vitamins are similar, so make sure your doctor is checking all of that, definitely. Sublingual forms of some things work for some people, so that might be an option, too.0 -
PeachyCarol wrote: »I have chrons disease.. but a very non traditional version of it being that i basically never have a bm.. once a week if im lucky. yes i up my fiber and all that but i have to be careful due to the inflamation. anyway im used to it now.. my question though.. is for the past id say 8 years i am always pretty severly deficient in vit d and pretty much all the b's. I have taken high doses many times but they always go back down.. when i am super deficient i notice i eat way more... my dr says my body signals hunger to try and eat to replenish the vitamins. I wonder how true that statement is. If true its almost imposible to control the hunger unless my deficiencies are in check which always go down due to my inflamation and my body having a hard time absorbing basically any nutrients.
Have you had bowel surgery? I think I remember reading that even if Crohn's is controlled, if certain parts of the bowel are missing, deficiencies can be ongoing.
What does your gastro say? Has he recommended injectible and/or liquid forms of any of the vitamins since they'll absorb more readily?
i have all my bowels thankfully... but there was a time it was highly discussed to remove a part.. after some meds things calmed down enough to not have to. I try my best to manage it with food which usually helps. Yes I do get injectables of B12 and the high dose of D is liquid but he doesnt like to keep me on the D at high levels so its kind of a jump between high and low to try and keep them regulated.0 -
cafeaulait7 wrote: »I have chrons disease.. but a very non traditional version of it being that i basically never have a bm.. once a week if im lucky. yes i up my fiber and all that but i have to be careful due to the inflamation. anyway im used to it now.. my question though.. is for the past id say 8 years i am always pretty severly deficient in vit d and pretty much all the b's. I have taken high doses many times but they always go back down.. when i am super deficient i notice i eat way more... my dr says my body signals hunger to try and eat to replenish the vitamins. I wonder how true that statement is. If true its almost imposible to control the hunger unless my deficiencies are in check which always go down due to my inflamation and my body having a hard time absorbing basically any nutrients.
I have to have B12 injections once a month. Be super careful about those levels (and folate, which I have to take mega doses of). That's what caused my horrible time that wasn't diagnosed quickly enough. Nerve damage, hair falling out, muscle wasting, etc, were all evident before I got treatment, and some of the nerve damage is permanent I stopped being able to digest it was the problem. I got down to 86 lbs and had no strength!
Yeah, I'm sure other vitamins are similar, so make sure your doctor is checking all of that, definitely. Sublingual forms of some things work for some people, so that might be an option, too.
my gastro tries REALLY hard to heal my issued with food... My immune system is so shot im even off my crohns meds and luckily its been pretty good. With diseases like this its relapses and remission. Ive been in crohns remission for a while (well had a relapse a few weeks ago) so the only thing i really battle are the deficiencies, fatigue, muscle ache, and clearly the weeks between bm lol0 -
I have chrons disease.. but a very non traditional version of it being that i basically never have a bm.. once a week if im lucky. yes i up my fiber and all that but i have to be careful due to the inflamation. anyway im used to it now.. my question though.. is for the past id say 8 years i am always pretty severly deficient in vit d and pretty much all the b's. I have taken high doses many times but they always go back down.. when i am super deficient i notice i eat way more... my dr says my body signals hunger to try and eat to replenish the vitamins. I wonder how true that statement is. If true its almost imposible to control the hunger unless my deficiencies are in check which always go down due to my inflamation and my body having a hard time absorbing basically any nutrients.
What medications are you taking for your Crohn's disease? The key to maintaining your nutrient levels is getting your disease under control. When you are flaring it's quite difficult for you to take in nutrients, so it's very important for you to know what foods are safe for you to eat and for you to be on the correct medications.
i had a flare a month ago randomly but before that its actually been years besides the occasional muscle aches and fatigue.. i still cant quite put my finger on my trigger foods. Ive had the igg/ige tests (which i dont know how accurate they are) and i had a list of 36 foods.. the most my dr has ever seen. Its just because my crohns is so backwards i dont have the typical if i eat a trigger food i have to run to the bathroom i have extreme constipation instead of the "runs"
aslo i have been off prednisone for about 4 years now it wasnt doing enough to have to take 4 pills every 4 hours. I had a pill cam test done a couple months ago and things seemed "ok" enough to not have to get back on the prednisone0 -
I have chrons disease.. but a very non traditional version of it being that i basically never have a bm.. once a week if im lucky. yes i up my fiber and all that but i have to be careful due to the inflamation. anyway im used to it now.. my question though.. is for the past id say 8 years i am always pretty severly deficient in vit d and pretty much all the b's. I have taken high doses many times but they always go back down.. when i am super deficient i notice i eat way more... my dr says my body signals hunger to try and eat to replenish the vitamins. I wonder how true that statement is. If true its almost imposible to control the hunger unless my deficiencies are in check which always go down due to my inflamation and my body having a hard time absorbing basically any nutrients.
What medications are you taking for your Crohn's disease? The key to maintaining your nutrient levels is getting your disease under control. When you are flaring it's quite difficult for you to take in nutrients, so it's very important for you to know what foods are safe for you to eat and for you to be on the correct medications.
i had a flare a month ago randomly but before that its actually been years besides the occasional muscle aches and fatigue.. i still cant quite put my finger on my trigger foods. Ive had the igg/ige tests (which i dont know how accurate they are) and i had a list of 36 foods.. the most my dr has ever seen. Its just because my crohns is so backwards i dont have the typical if i eat a trigger food i have to run to the bathroom i have extreme constipation instead of the "runs"
aslo i have been off prednisone for about 4 years now it wasnt doing enough to have to take 4 pills every 4 hours. I had a pill cam test done a couple months ago and things seemed "ok" enough to not have to get back on the prednisone
For most Crohn's sufferers, trigger foods don't necessarily mean running for the bathroom for diarrhea. While that does happen, trigger foods cause a flare of inflammation in the intestines. There usually are quite a list of foods that need to be avoided. It's important to stick to that list, and also take your supplements to keep the vitamins that you are deficient in at a sufficient level.0 -
Awesome thread!
I have hypothyriodism (Take Eltroxin) and also anxiety so my cortisol levels are always high event though I take Leximal (an antidepressant to help with the anxiety)
I also find that when I am particularly stressed I gain - but, and I cannot say this enough, as with the thryriod problem it isn't a whole bunch - just one or 2 kilograms. Any other weight gain is down to not exercising or eating absolute crapola.0
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