Crazy weight gain

[taniaaust1]

I know this is a very very strange weight gain as Ive been getting involved with the Atkins site of late and that group of dieters and overweight people thought it so strange that people there couldnt believe it but it is true. So now Im trying to work out why?? I have such a weird abnormality with my body.

I myself wouldnt have believed it unless I actually saw with my very own eyes how fast I can weight gain if I dont watch what Im eatting.

I didnt watch my diet as carefully as I usually do and exceded my carb about 2-3times what I usually eat (I still thou was restricting my carbs.. I even didnt have potatoes with my roast, nor bread and only had a wee amount of gravy) and gained 7kg (15.4lb) in 24hrs.

It isnt broken scales cause I went on and off of them quite a few times checking they kept on getting the same amount.

I then did my normal diet thing for the 24hrs after and lost a normal weight loss for me on my scales down (eg scaled showed a 1.5kg (3.3lb) weight loss which fits my normal kind of losses but down from that 7kg I'd gained.

One can actually see me gain weight due to the weight on my body after only 1-2 days whenever I dont watch my diet strictly (so that further proof it isnt the scales..others actually comment. see me slim one day (but when I could be slim still) but with kgs on me a day or so later).

maybe its cause I have sydrome X (metabolic syndrome)? or due to me highly restricting my calories in the past (becoming anorexic at one point) or maybe its due to the ME/CFS?????? Or a massive altering blood volume shift.. thou it did seem to be due to my diet shift (I actually didnt drink as much as normal in the 24hrs before I weighed myself and had that massive weight gain.. nor did I have much salt).

Anyway I want to know if anyone else finds that they can gain 15.4 lb in a day? and what they think is causing that?

(I are currently actually over weight..which is not in my mind.. my specialists both wanted me to loose weight.. I dont have a healthy BMI right now as Im overweight.. how can I eat healthy when I weight gain with "normal" healthy eatting. I dont eat sweets, I dont eat breads or cereals.. I dont eat so many different things cause of my weight). My worst carb thing on that day my weight exploded was 1 glass of milk! @ 12g carbs

My specialist has voiced concern over how little carbs im eatting.. I tried to tell him I HAVE to restrict my carbs to a crazy low level or my weight explodes. Im going to email him later and tell him I gained 7kg in a day and I didnt even add in all the things he wanted me to add .. he wants me to increase my vegetables but it seems I just cant (I didnt have potatoes, i restricted my pumpkin etc)
...........................

im really being hit with odd stuff right now.. the patch of light brown discolouration above my ankle has suddenly darkened (now dark brown..almost going black) and it looks like I may be developing another patch of it just below my knee cap (an online doctor who I showed picture too..said its probably a type of skin fungus as they commonly can cause discolouration).. a
nd the dermatographism Ive had in the past but havent had in maybe a few years.. was suddenly set off when I was showering today so whenever I touch my skin.. it marks).

 

[Tony Mach]

What is your absolute weight? My absolute weight is arround 80 kg and I had days when I gained or lost 1 kg per day. If you weight more or have a high BMI, you could have higher number per day.

But there are some other things that can influence you measurement. If I measure in the afternoon, I can have 1 to 2 kg more than in the morning - so alway measure in the morning. Did you wear the same cloth? I measure my weight without, so it doesn't change depending on what I wear.

And did you loose more weight the day before (e.g.sweating)? Maybe it is a rebound. Since when do you do Atkins?

So if several things add up, your kg per day could be higher. 7kg per day seems a bit highish, but don't focus too much on weight, there is more to health than just weight. Just keep watching it over the next days (I guess it will go up and down a bit, if you new to Atkins), drink enough water, always measure in the morning and make sure your cloth don't mock up the measurement.

BTW, from my point of view: better than Atkins is a Paleo/Primal diet and don't change your diets too fast. The question is how many carbs to include. Going low short term can be healthy, but I've read that best to include some potatoes long term.

 

[alex3619]

Hi taniaaust1, it is not physiologically possible to gain 7kg of adipose tissue that fast, which means it is fluid buildup. There is a question as to why this is and to whether it stabilizes if continued. Something is going wrong with water retention - this may not actually be a bad thing, but there is the risk that too much fluid buildup will cause other problems. Excessive fluid can induce very bad headaches, an increase over that can cause all sorts of nasty things, and can be fatal - if you gain a lot fast and get very bad headaches, seek medical attention urgently. I would be very careful with excess carbs until you understand this, but I would not be worried about becoming overweight in the classic sense. Bye, Alex

 

[taniaaust1]

thanks

I was steadily loosing before I had that huge weight gain. Here's my weights and carbs I had in the 24hr before the weigh-ins. (I weigh myself naked..so clothes dont change things and weigh myself first thing in morning). Im small in height. (Im varying my carbs per day as Im like trying to find a good starting point for myself and coming off of a diet which was often less then 20g carb per day)

Friday 67kg (148lb)
45g carbs
Saturday 66kg (146lb)
68g carbs
Sunday 65kg (143lb)
77g carbs
Monday 72kg (159lb)
35g carbs (I cut right back again and this mornings weight loss showed it)
Tues (this morning) 70.5kg (156lb)
(tomorrow I think from what I ate today I should be about 69.5 .. i havent added my carbs up yet but i think i kept them ok)

so my scales arent looking like they stuffed up and Im believing my weight did jump that much. I need to work out exactly how many carbs I can have in a day and still weight loss. The amounts im having arent large at all.

One banana if I ate it is over 21g carbs.. i actually put on weight if I eat one banana, I was putting on 1kg (2.2lb) a day when I was eatting a banana every day (I seem to be able thou to get away with eatting half a banana)
I dont have much room to play about with the diet and eat healthy.
.......

better than Atkins is a Paleo/Primal diet

That includes thou grains dont it?? my specialists have said I need to take care with grains (prediabetic with insulin issues).. I was told Im only to have one piece of bread per day (thou I arent having that due to my weight issues) and no cereal as far as the bread and cereal food group goes.

Ive been told not to have potatoes due to they are trying to stop me getting full blown diabetes and potatoes are high in carbs... my insulin spikes with carbs. My body is more sensitive to carbs right now then even a diabetic. (I tried a cup of cooked rice recently and got symptoms from it as it spiked my insulin up too high)

 

[Athene]

Hi Tania,
As Alex said, this cannot be fat gain in that time frame, it has to be fluid retention.
Pay very careful attention to your intake of salt and potassium as they body needs to balance both these minerals to keep the fluid balance right. (When you have low cortisol, you are very prone to fluid retention, though I don't know if that is relevant here.)

I did Atkins very successfully for a year, I improved all symptoms of CFS dramatically as well as losing over 2 stone in very little time.
With CFS, Atkins only works if you stick to phase 1 or add certain items from phase 2. I think this is because we have hormone deficiencies - cortisol and thyroid - which make us "metabolically resistant" as Atkins calls it. There is a chapter about this in his book. I stayed on phase 1 for a whole year because I could not bear to lose that feeling of so much energy and physical power.

The diet makes you lose all surplus retained fluid. As soon as you add carbs and ketosis slows down or stops, the fluid comes back.

I don't know why you got so much fluid in so little time, but I suspect it is connected with sub-clinical thyroid deficiency or cortisol deficiency derived from your CFS.

 

[taniaaust1]

Hi taniaaust1, it is not physiologically possible to gain 7kg of adipose tissue that fast, which means it is fluid buildup. There is a question as to why this is and to whether it stabilizes if continued. Something is going wrong with water retention - this may not actually be a bad thing, but there is the risk that too much fluid buildup will cause other problems. Excessive fluid can induce very bad headaches, an increase over that can cause all sorts of nasty things, and can be fatal - if you gain a lot fast and get very bad headaches, seek medical attention urgently. I would be very careful with excess carbs until you understand this, but I would not be worried about becoming overweight in the classic sense. Bye, Alex

nods.. i think you must be right as I dont think there is any other way a body can do this. Interesting.. gives me something to think about. I wonder if that means my POTS wouldnt have been triggered that day if I'd been up on my feet doing things? more fluid, more blood volume so possibly no POTS?? pity i didnt go shopping.
(umm it would be just my luck if the extra fluid pooled in abdomen and legs, I'll keep an eye on things).

Im going shopping thou today (its 2.30am at the moment) and if things are still up maybe my fluid will be up and I wont get POTS coming in with my very short trip? I do get POTS some times but are okay at other times.. maybe this is why???

Im going to try to research if and how carbs/sugar can raise blood volume or cause body fluid rise. I figure now it must some how be able to do so

I didnt get a headache that day nor was I feeling bad that day (thou i did my normal all day resting to not trigger off things)

 

[taniaaust1]

Hi Tania,
As Alex said, this cannot be fat gain in that time frame, it has to be fluid retention.
Pay very careful attention to your intake of salt and potassium as they body needs to balance both these minerals to keep the fluid balance right. (When you have low cortisol, you are very prone to fluid retention, though I don't know if that is relevant here.)

yes that is revelent I do have low cortisol. Very interesting what you said about Atkins.

my previous diet I was on which Ive just come off of before starting atkins this week, was stricter then phase 1 of Atkins (hence why I jumped straight in and started on phase two with a couple of extras added at times.. as my specialist told me to increase what I was eatting due to me getting deficiencies).

The diet makes you lose all surplus retained fluid. As soon as you add carbs and ketosis slows down or stops, the fluid comes back.

ah that makes sense. I probably did fall out of ketosis due to that larger amount of carbs I ate.

 

[Tulip]

I get the same thing if I touch even 1 potato or red meat, I put on 3 kg overnight in fluid and my whole body blows up like a puffer fish. I think it's tied in with the heart stuff some how..

I also have to keep my calorie intake below 600 cal a day regardless of what I eat or the weight just piles on (not fluid).

 

[Athene]

Hi Tulip,
I have recently become like this too. I eat less then my son who is 5 but I am not losing weight at all. My sister has this problem because of her thyroid deficiency - she takes thyroid but still cannot lose weight. I keep reading about thyroid resistance, where you have enough in your blod but the tissues don't react to it, ad I wonder if that is what we have going on?

I recently found out that several B vitamins are essential for carbohydrate metabolism (ie making energy) and I have quadrupled my dose of all of them with spectacular results. I'll have to copy the details out of my book adn I don't have time now (yes, ai am being dynamic and actually leaving the house!!!! ))
But I'll write down what they are.
Much too early to see if this will have any effect on weight loss though.
And I haven't really tried increasing my carb intake yet because they have been poison to me for so long that I think I have a phobia.
But I'll report on this if something good happens.

 

[justy]

Hi, its actually a huge relief to hear that others can have very healthy diets and low calories and still gain weight. I have been gaining so much weight with no change in my diet at all. I do eat very healthily and not huge amounts but i cannot lose weight. Dr Myhill told me to have smoothies everyday with 2 teaspoons of coconut oil and i gained 8lbs in 4 days -then i went down to 1 teaspoon -still gaining weight then down to half -still gaining weight so i dont have it at all now. I also will gain weight if i eat half a banana a day. its really getting me down as i love food and cooking. I have been prescribed thyroxine by Dr M, she thinks it might help as my thyroid is a bit low but in normal range (T4)
So glad for this conversation as people think im nuts when i say this. am now overweight and not happy.

 

[viota]

hi
Since getting sick i have gained 18lbs i have lost 8lbs but the rest is refusing to come off im eating normally as i can cause im a coeliac.I rarely eat junk food sometimes i might have chips (fries) but thats like 2 times a month.Im too tired to excercise so i dont know what to do.So i can somewhat relate to you taniaaust1

 

[maddietod]

I recently had an emotional trauma that left me with no appetite. I looked down at my middle and thought - well, I can afford to hardly eat for a while. So I'm running with it; eating very healthy food, and very little of it. Yesterday I had a salad with some meat on it, and a hamburger on a gluten-free roll (unusual - I eat almost no grains). Oh, and a few grapes and water. Felt full, woke up this morning not hungry. This is day 5, and I dropped 2 pounds between the first and second days, and nothing since.

I'm not complaining! This is just informational. When I was on armor thyroid, my eating habits and weight didn't change at all (also low-normal).

Madie

 

[justy]

I am convinced there is some type of metabolic problem going on here for thoiseof us with this extreme problem. As we often have miuto dysfunction i wonder if it is linkrd to this. I always have a bit more energy after eating as i think it gives a direst boost of glucose o be converted to ATP. Despite may of us having this weight gain problem from eating very little it doesnt seem to be understood at all.

 

[Tony Mach]

it is not physiologically possible to gain 7kg of adipose tissue that fast, which means it is fluid buildup.

I would agree, if you gained 7kg over night, most would have come from water. But 7kg water are 7 litre water. Even if some came from food (and some was rounding error), this would be what? 5 litre water you have to keep more in your body than you loose in one day? You said you didn't drink that much. If you are now loosing steadly weight, could it be that something is wrong with the scales, like a maladjusted tara, or something like that? Yes, strange.

Paleo/Primal includes thou grains dont it?? my specialists have said I need to take care with grains (prediabetic with insulin issues).. I was told Im only to have one piece of bread per day (thou I arent having that due to my weight issues) and no cereal as far as the bread and cereal food group goes.

No grains with paleo/primal. Where as Atkins (re)allows all carbs, but limits them, paleo is more looking into what is safe (potatoes and rice for most people) and what is not (grains for most people). If you are interested, the website "Marks Daily Apple" is a good starting point.

Ive been told not to have potatoes due to they are trying to stop me getting full blown diabetes and potatoes are high in carbs... my insulin spikes with carbs. My body is more sensitive to carbs right now then even a diabetic. (I tried a cup of cooked rice recently and got symptoms from it as it spiked my insulin up too high)

If you eat little carbs now, than don't increase carbs for now. Once your insulin and blood sugar normalizes and you want to slowly increase the carbs, then potatoes are a far better choice than grains, that's what I wanted to say. Eat low carb for some while, then you can slowly try what you can eat and what doesn't agree with you.

 

[Tony Mach]

I dont have much room to play about with the diet and eat healthy.

That's not true, you can eat healthy without carbs. There are a lot of vegetables. Personally I try to eat half meat/fish, half vegetables (roots, carrots, salat, sauerkraut, broccoli, sprouts, cauliflower and so on, you name it). And I would drop all fruits for now and eat more greens instead. And don't be afraid of meat and fat (as long as it isn't vegetable oil...). That's the thing, you can stuff yourself with protein and fat and still loose excesive weight, but don't aim too low .

And yes, I have to limit my carbs, or I gain weight... And what I don't eat is grains, legume/lentils (peas and beans) and milk.

 

[taniaaust1]

Thanks for the posts.

Friday 67kg (148lb)
45g carbs
Saturday 66kg (146lb)
68g carbs
Sunday 65kg (143lb)
77g carbs
Monday 72kg (159lb)
35g carbs (I cut right back again and this mornings weight loss showed it)
Tues (this morning) 70.5kg (156lb)
(tomorrow I think from what I ate today I should be about 69.5 .. i havent added my carbs up yet but i think i kept them ok)

Well on the day after I posted that, thinking my weight would be coming down more due to being so dietary careful. On weighing myself I found I'd gained even more weight and was up to 74kg (increase of 9.4lb). So due to that I figured that the scales MUST BE going wrong... so I brought some new ones.

I then weighed myself at times over a day using both scales and comparing but they were doing the same thing so now I dont know what to think.

So now Im very concerned what is going on and how on earth Im at times gaining and now gained even more what seems it could only be a heap of fluid. I can have days I dont pee at all while other days where I pee heaps (probably related to how much I drink), so maybe that is affecting fluid level of my body.. it could some days be completely holding fluid?? rather then it going into my bladder??.

I going to give the scales a rest for a few days and will go back to the diet which is normal to myself... cause seeing my body being so strange is giving me extra stress (I hate not knowing what is going on).

I also just found out that the discolouration the doctors have said they dont know what it is, Ive got on my ankle/foot crease I think may be Acanthosis nigricans (unless its a fungal condition.. an online doctor thought it could be fungal), which can be caused by endocrine issues or cancer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acanthosis_nigricans.
Its worrisome as Ive read that when caused by endocrine issues it usually appears slowly (mine just seemed to suddenly happen) while with cancer it appears suddenly.

Im worried.. esp since urine tests not long ago kept on being redone as lab wouldnt believe the lab results they were getting. I personally think whatever abnormal tests they kept on getting were probably right.. i didnt tamper with the test or do anything strange with my urine!! (the lab ended up getting me to do the test FOUR times).

Discolouration I think thou is probably thou being caused by the insulin resistance and the PCOS I have but im still concerned as my doctors arent great when it comes to diagnosing my issues and I have rare problems. Having them just say to ask my other specialists and me never getting answers, is making me feel quite nervous. Everyone in my family dies of cancer.

If the patch is Acanthosis nigrians which has been caused by my insulin issues.. why did it only appeared after ive been on quite a strict low carb diet? Wouldnt it have been more likely to appear when I was eatting lots of carbs and my insulin was very high?

**trying to make sense of things***

seeing the word lymphoma in the following is creeping me out as I know its more common in ME. Acanthosis nigrians can be a paraneopastic syndrome which can precede the cancer. Seeing word breast cancer is scary too.. my nanna had TWO completely different kinds of breast cancer before age of 55, they killed her. Just before she died her specialist told her to get her daughters and granddaughters to have mamograms yearly from the age of 40 due to our higher risk.

"A paraneoplastic syndrome is a disease or symptom that is the consequence of the presence of cancer in the body, but is not due to the local presence of cancer cells. These phenomena are mediated by humoral factors (by hormones or cytokines) excreted by tumor cells or by an immune response against the tumor. Paraneoplastic syndromes are typical among middle aged to older patients, and they most commonly present with cancers of the lung, breast, ovaries or lymphatic system (a lymphoma).[1] Sometimes the symptoms of paraneoplastic syndromes show even before the diagnosis of a malignancy." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraneoplastic_syndrome

crying now.. im convinced I will die before Im 54 (Im 40 now) probably due to doctors incompetence cause they ignore abnormalities I get coming up in tests and also dont give me good tests for things. I feel like Im being written off cause I have ME/CFS.

My boyfriend is currently quite unhappy with me as i want to fly interstate to see a good ME expert... but I arent currently even being treated for simple things eg POTS like I should be (none of my doctors know what it is). I wish he'd be more supportive.. Im stressing heaps wondering how Im going to arrange and get interstate if I can get an appointment and he wont even allow me to talk about it without getting very aggitated about me wanting to go.

I wish instead of yelling, he'd hear out my concerns and just be there to listen to me while I try to sort things out. (he starts yelling as the whole idea of me flying interstate alone really stressing him out as he knows I collapse at times.. so he's very stressed over the idea as neither of us know how I'd go and things may end up a complete disaster). I know its stupid of me to try to fly with how bad the ME is but Im feeling desperate. I want to be able to try something for the POTS and I want some more tests done to follow up on test result abnormalities etc.

 

[Enid]

I'm following too with great interest as for no reason whatsoever I lost a stone in weight during the early days - this was followed by a gradual increase to overweight for no apparent reason (always had a "healthy" diet throughout).

 

[Athene]

I definitely think part of the problem with not losing weight is that we just cannot turn the stored reserves into energy.

Vitamin D is essential for releasing stored glycogen and turning it into glucose to burn up for energy. If you don't have enough Vitamin D it is pysically impossible to burn off fat. Vitamin B1 is also essential for mitochondrial function and energy creation in the cells. I know many other nutrients are also essential for these processes, but these two are also vital for the immune system and deficiencies are common in people with chronic infections.

Now I am wondering what types of foods are important for the thyroid gland? I know kelp is good because it has lots of iodine. But what else?

 

[Tony Mach]

taniaaust1,

first of all, changing the diet is stressful in itself, so you need to give it time for your body to adjust. Then the second thing is that ME/CFS usually progresses very very slowly and every time you change something (diet, medication) you need to see where it goes. Give it a bit time.

Which ME expert do you want to see? As far as I know, no ME expert can cure it, so don't expect any miracles. There are some that go symptom by symptom (Klimas or Bateman), but you can try that as well. For example, with your POTS minimize the time you stand. Or with sleep: improve your sleep with better sleep hygiene. (I found the videos from Nancy Klimas on Vimeo slightly helpful). If one area (e.g sleep) doesn't improve enough, than take it to your doctor (and only one problem at a time). Tell your doctor exactly what your problem is (e.g. trouble falling asleep, or waking up in the night, or unrefreshing sleep etc.) so he/she can go into the right direction.

Don't get freaked out about lymphoma. While it might be more usual if you have ME/CFS (nobody really knows), it still is relative seldom, and can be treated. Rather look what problems you have at the moment and see how you can address them, one by one. (And by reducing carbs for now and dropping grains for good, you have done the best you could do to fight off cancer, in my humble view).

And try to drink enough water and go to the loo if you have to.

(BTW: most vegetables contain contain very little carb and I don't know if potatoes are vegetables, strictly speaking)

 

[taniaaust1]

Which ME expert do you want to see? As far as I know, no ME expert can cure it, so don't expect any miracles. There are some that go symptom by symptom (Klimas or Bateman), but you can try that as well. For example, with your POTS minimize the time you stand. Or with sleep: improve your sleep with better sleep hygiene. (I found the videos from Nancy Klimas on Vimeo slightly helpful). If one area (e.g sleep) doesn't improve enough, than take it to your doctor (and only one problem at a time).

Tell your doctor exactly what your problem is (e.g. trouble falling asleep, or waking up in the night, or unrefreshing sleep etc.) so he/she can go into the right direction.

Im wanting to see Dr Kenny De Meirleir and that is what is currently causing trouble between my boyfriend and I.

I know that no one can cure ME but there are people out there who can certainly help some. My doctor will not do anything or prescribe anything without a specialist telling him to do so.

It bugs me a lot knowing I arent getting the help that most at this site get as far as my doctors go.. I couldnt even get sleeping pills for SEVERE insomina (of the variety I lay in bed till 3.30-6.30am not being able to sleep even when I have to get up early in the morning.. I was so sleep deprived I was getting psychological issues due to sleep deprivation but STILL couldnt get any thing from the doctors for it (recently thank God my specialist has given me melatonin script so now I can get to sleep at 1.30-3.30am). After 5 days straight of only a couple of hrs sleep per night (id had medical appoints so I kept on having to be up early), In emotional state, even rang hospital bawling one night at 5.30am begging for a sleeping pill just so I could sleep (they told me they wouldnt give me a sleeping pill and said to just see my doctor)

It took over 12 years for me to be able to get just a script for melatonin. (in my country you cant get without a perscription). The sleep issues I have isnt what sleep hygience practices can treat, its only a part of the whole treatment. I have severe circadian rhythm issues, delayed sleep phase syndrome and possibly Non 24hr sleep-wake syndrome. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm_sleep_disorder

As far as pain killers or drugs go.. I used to have severe FM for several years (to the point even the sheets on my bed were hurting me) and local doctors wouldnt give me nothing for the pain. I was sucidial due to pain, everything hurt. I live in fear that I will end up with FM and possibly to that degree again and if so.. without a good doctor I'd be in same place i was in before.. (I do have ankle pain for no reason today).

Ive been trying to get a doctor to help me with my severe POTS for past 5? years and they just say they've never heard of it and they dont research it at all.

At times I drink up 28 cups of fluid in a day to try to stop the POTS from hitting me.. at times I need to drink fluid till I vomit it. I go unconscious at times with POTS. A trip to the city can mean a disaster in which I go unconscious and someone rings an ambulance (that has happened in the past year due to the POTS.. a third of the time if I need to go to the city.. I will collapse).
So my lifestyle is actually highly restricted due to the POTS... Im unable to even go out alone due to it. Im not even safe to go shopping alone due to it so this makes me highly relienant on the only person I have in my life helping me. Quite possibly if I was given it, a med for POTS may help and that would enable me to live my life a lot differently.

hence i do seek another doctor. There are things hugely affecting my life which can be helped and should be being helped when needed. ME cant be cured but having good doctors is very important in this illness and will make a difference.

thanks for your post. My frustration at my medical situation is probably showing today