Losing weight easily

[jlynx]

This doesn't seem to be a common symptom and I'm wondering if there is another cause besides fast metabolism? I am not underweight but I would just like to be less skinny. However, it is so hard for me to gain weight and keep it on. I can gain a couple pounds but usually within a week I lose it.

I started taking Creatine recently to help, as well as Maca which can cause weight gain. I also eat a lot of peanut butter and high calorie meals. For being mostly sedentary, it does not seem like it should be this hard to gain weight. I will start drinking a lot of whole milk as well, but it does seem to make me feel a little sluggish.

I have been doing a little better where I am able to do light exercising to try to build up the muscles in my legs. But it almost seems like I am losing muscle weight because I then feel weaker after a while? And I have muscle twitching after I haven't done anything. I also take B12, Vit. C and D, B-Complex, COQ10, Probiotics, Curcumin, and Iron. I don't have hyperthyroid symptoms.

Does anyone else have this symptom? Or what else could it be?

 

[NelliePledge]

Hi jlynx I'm sorry you're having problems gaining weight. When I saw your post I misread it an was expecting some tips on how to lose as I'm at the other end of the spectrum. I would love to be able to help you out with a donation of some of my lbs. I had a healthy friend who struggled for a few years to keep weight on so it must be really tough with ME. Do you have any problems with nausea I get that in mornings and no appetite but then it switches back around during the day.

Good luck

 

[jlynx]

I have the same problem - born skinny and I've never been able to gain weight. I have fat malabsorption problem based on a stool test, so I wonder if that's one of the factors contributing to it or if it's just in the genes?

Have you been tested for fat malabsorption?

Side note: A lot of people think it's a lucky thing; however, it's really not - I developed gastroparesis and initially lost like 20% of my body weight which brought me down to almost 80 lbs. It took about 10 years to get my weight back up to normal again.

I've never had a stool test,I wonder if it could be that I have malabsorption. My brother is also very skinny, even more than me, so it could be genetic...

I definitely don't think it's a good thing either. It's very frustrating. I can always tell when I've lost weight as I start feeling weaker and I just feel thinner.

 

[jlynx]

Hi jlynx I'm sorry you're having problems gaining weight. When I saw your post I misread it an was expecting some tips on how to lose as I'm at the other end of the spectrum. I would love to be able to help you out with a donation of some of my lbs. I had a healthy friend who struggled for a few years to keep weight on so it must be really tough with ME. Do you have any problems with nausea I get that in mornings and no appetite but then it switches back around during the day.

Good luck

I will gladly take your donation! I would say my appetite is mostly normal and I rarely have nausea or stomach discomfort. I was tested for gluten and that was fine too. It's very puzzling.

I'm starting to think the only solution is literally eating constantly which obviously isn't realistic.

 

[viggster]

I am in a similar situation. I lost 30 pounds in the first 6 months of my illness (185 down to 155 lbs) and I've only been able to put a few back on in the interceding 4 1/2 years. I'm too thin...not a healthy weight. I'm going to try hydrolyzed whey isolate and creatine but it feels like something is really off metabolism-wise.

 

[PatJ]

There seem to be sub-sets of people with CFS/ME who gain weight, while others lose it.

I went from 160 pounds early in this illness to 98 pounds at my lowest, and 115 pounds now. I'm basically emaciated (5' 10" tall and male.) I lose weight very quickly if I don't eat high calorie foods. Currently the only food I've found to gain a little weight, or at least maintain, is to take protein powder. Dates can help as well but I'm wary of the sugar content. Betaine HCL with pepsin help me to digest protein and were the first supplements to help me start feeling noticeably better.

I tried creatine but it didn't do anything for me. I'm usually vegetarian but tried eating meat for a week and actually started losing weight, possibly due to weak digestion.

HMB (Hydroxymethylbutyrate) can help some people maintain and gain weight when cachexia is the reason for weight loss. Cachexia is common with some illnesses in later stages.

 

[Daffodil]

i think it depends on the phase of the illness you are in. earlier on, i lost weight and later on, i gained. i believe it has to do with changes in gut flora and resulting changes in hormone levels or something

 

[Forbin]

Weight change is one of the CCC symptoms.

b. Neuroendocrine Manifestations: loss of thermostatic stability– subnormal body temperature and marked diurnal fluctuation, sweating episodes, recurrent feelings of feverishness and cold extremities; intolerance of extremes of heat and cold; marked weight change–anorexia or abnormal appetite; loss of adaptability and worsening of symptoms with stress.

There is often a marked weight change–a reduction in some patients with loss of appetite or anorexia and a weight gain in others and an appetite that is inappropriate to their activity level.

I lost about 1/6 of my pre-illness weight in the first six months of the disease. In my early 20's, my weight probably hadn't been that low since I was 15. My arms looked thin and my parents were concerned.

I think it was an understandable loss of appetite. I felt worse within minutes after eating, with my heart pounding and pulse rising significantly. I was also "dizzy" all the time, which I'm sure didn't help. My low level of activity following onset probably also reduced my appetite, but things were clearly out of balance and there was a net loss of weight.

My weight stabilized after about 6 months, remained low for 2-3 years and then gradually began to increase.

 

[leela]

I got down to 90lbs earlier this year. One thing that shifted it for me was to change the digestive enzymes I was taking from a "sensitive stomach" one, to one more suited to my diet (Similase BV which is bean and vegetable.) I no longer have undigested food in my poo, and I appear to be absorbing nutrients way better. I'm up to 99, which at this end of the scale is a really big deal.

The other game-changer was I treated rather aggressively for parasites, and eliminated a bunch of flukes and worms. Tests for parasites are rubbish in the US; I could just tell I had them, plus an ultrasound showed dilated bile ducts without obstruction, which is a pretty good sign of flukes as well (that's where they like to hang out.)

 

[PatJ]

What's a CCC symptom?

CCC stands for the Canadian Consensus Criteria.