Achalasia and muscle

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GPHero20
GPHero20 Posts: 2 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Hi,

I have achalasia disease and I am trying to gain weight and build muscle. Any suggestions?

Replies

  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
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    GPHero20 wrote: »
    Hi,

    I have achalasia disease and I am trying to gain weight and build muscle. Any suggestions?

    Just a brief look at this disease, it sounds like medication and surgery are used to treat it. I'm not aware of anything that I could tell you on a weight loss forum that would help you.

    Are you under the care of a medical provider for this condition?
  • fantomette
    fantomette Posts: 148 Member
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    Hello! Your post is almost one year old but achalasia being such a rare disease it's not surprising that's not many people answered. But here I am! I also have achalasia, had the HM but I'm unfortunately what they call "end stage" meaning I'm mostly on a puree diet, except for a few solid foods.
    I don't know what you can eat or not or what surgery did you have but I worked for a long time with a nutritionist and that's why I am still in very good health even if my diet is limited.
    Building muscles is definitely a problem with this disease as, as you probably noticed, out metabolism doesn't seem to be like other people. We sometimes eat and only get the benefits of eating hours later (or...can I say days if some food is still stuck in our esophagus days later? 😂 ) It's quite problematic.
    Also, drinking and eating too close to exercises for us often mean pain and regurgitating so it's complicated! I personally don't had to build muscles post surgery but not to be "fit" but just because I had lost absolutely everything in the years before surgery. I tried to focus on Vanilla yogurts that are high in fat as they tend to go down more easily and provide me energy. I also bought powder shakes I think the brand was BioSteel. They tasted really good and I think they really helped me (I was so tired of Ensure don't get me started on these! 😂). If you can tolerate smoothies they are definitely a good options but unfortunately I can't have smoothie and exercise, they don't go down fast enough for me.
    Building muscles is still a constant struggle for me, when you lost absolutely everything because you almost died it's hard to gain back everything, energy is limited too... But weight gain is not an issue for me. Counting my calories on MyFitnessPal helped tremendously. Also because I'm endstage my specialist told me to add butter and olive oil as much as I can as it helps foods go down. Like, a very easy snack for me is ricotta cheese with EVOO and balsamic.
    Idk if you are on the big achalasia page on Facebook but people there have good tips to share always. Stay strong!
  • Savina63
    Savina63 Posts: 1 Member
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    To my fellow Achalasia Warriors,
    I hope you all are well. When I had my Heller/Dor procedure I found an unflavored protein powder made by Unjury. You can find it on line. I put it broth and jello to help keep my weight up. Premier Protein is good too. It’s challenging keeping muscle with Achalasia. After all, food is not our friend. My fitness pal is an awesome tool.


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