Weight GAIN with crohn's?

Thank you, Jan. I took one articke to my GI but his on is more in-depth. Thanks!

Hi!  I'm also an overweight crohnie.  Have been most of my life.  Yes, family history, bad food choices all contribute but I have lost weight and gained it.  I lost weight while in the hospital with a bad flare for 8 days.  Ate minimal food for weeks and lost 20 lbs..I looked great!

Had surgery last year and dropped 15 lbs but gained it back when I realized I could eat again without repurcussions.  I've never been on Cade or anything stronger than Entocort so I can't really blame the usuall suspects.  I do think, however, that my body does hold onto fat and water because of the D.  It has to.  There are days that I go so much and I lose nothing.  I'm sure some of you have the same issue.

I am not in remission now and had a flare last week that was short.  In my case, I think my metabolism is changing since I hit 40 and even though my bloods show no thyroid issue I may go to an Endo to get further studies done.  I think this disease has certainly screwed up my metabolism.

Right now I'm about 30 lbs heavier than I want to be and then I would still be at the top of my weight range.  Wish I could eat salad everyday.

Hi all - been a while since I last posted. have been concedering having a LapBand done but am thinking now it will be to no avail - since I too am in this catagory of weight and unable to loose or keep it off if lost any - seems to come back with a few extra lb buddies!!!! a lapband may very well be just more problems with out any gains or in this case losses...
whats the thoughts out there?????

i gained weight on remicade..about 20 pounds...im off it now hope i lose it

I am also an obese Crohnie, I always thought it was because I was so hungry because my gut wasn't making proper use of the food I was eating. I am about 35-60 pounds overweight after my last bowel resection, which was in February. I did loose some weight from the surgery, but not enough!

It is the tendency of people to gain weight as they get older. I seriously doubt that having Crohn's causes one to gain weight, unless of course you're taking steroids. Otherwise, the weight gain is probably what you would have experienced anyway even if you're Crohn's was suddenly cured.

As for me, I'm normal weight, about the same now (at age 57) as I was in high school. I have noticed that I lose weight when I'm flaring badly, and gain in back when in remission. At the moment, I'm in a long remission, which I attribute to the fact that I'm taking lingzhi (I've posted about that before). My weight went up slightly since my remission began, but not much. The fact that I've had 3 bowel resections may be responsible for the fact that I don't gain weight easily (less intestine means less absorption).

For those who are suffering from being overweight, I highly recommend the Zone Diet. In fact, it's a good diet for Crohnies anyway. I have been on and off this diet myself, and think I will go back on again. The purpose can be to lose weight, but it's also claimed to be anti-inflammatory - a good thing if you're a Crohnie. Other posters here have gotten relief from the SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet) - I haven't tried that one personally, but I don't doubt that it could be very useful, and I suspect it's similar to the Zone Diet in many ways. What I can tell you for sure is that I've seen friends go on the Zone Diet and lose lots of weight, and in one case I know someone who cured his diabetes this way (and thus avoided having his feet amputated). For more info on the ZD: http://drsears.com/

If anyone has any questions about the ZD, please feel free to ask.

best wishes for good health,
Robert

Thank God ! Finally a post about weight gain instead of people that can't seem to keep weight on. I thought I must be the only person with Crohn's in the world that wasn't skinny!!!!

My wife and I eat the same food, I'm not a snacker and we both work and though we aren't athletes we both try to keep busy- but since my first year of prednisone- I put on 100lbs... I got up to 300. Got down to 260 (seemed like waiting was more effective than dieting or working out) but then I had another flare and I was put on Entocort and it all came back... I know Entocort is not suppsed to cause weight gain, but I ended up getting it back -everything I had lost over a year came back in 3 months. I know I don't take in enough calories to remain 300 pounds... so it is certainly a metabolic issue

Now I am working out more and trying to get my weight down. It is hard to deal with. Especially with the darn skinny crohnie steriotype.

It is good to know that I am not alone, but it sucks to know that we probably have a physical problem that makes our bodies keep weight on - even in starvation mode or when exercising and trying to lose.

Well I gained a lot on my first pred fix and have not been able to take it of but I know exactly why that is.
I eat a lot of candy and I am not as active as I used to be. Simple as that.

Well im feeling depressed.....i use to be under weight and couldn't gain it when my dr told me too no matter how much i ate then i got really ill (where i would go 20+ times a day and nothing stayed in) and i put on 40 lbs so fast it was like i woke up and nothing fit. I was always confused as to how i could be so sick and gain nothing. i was told i had IBS then Colitis for years. my weight slowly increased and then i lost 73 lbs. and then gained half back. I was diag with possible crohn's back in 2005 and started on meds and they made me feel worse. i made the biggest mistake ever and stopped them (and going to the GI) who was upset with me and told me he would see me back when it was time to remove my colon. 2 yrs ago i got really ill and had ulcers and inflammation in my mouth and throat so bad i couldn't hardly breath. i didn't eat a thing for 2 weeks. I was put on 100 mg pred and that began my 70 lb weight gain. they have argued back and forth that it was crohn's no its lupus. 3 weeks ago i was confirmed that i do definately have crohn's. Ulcers in my mouth, throat, stomache and small int. im back on pred and currently up to 252lbs. (my lowest was 86 and im 5'11") i have clothes in all sizes. im so frustrated and depressed i hate being fat but nothing works to lose it. the dietician gives me in trouble cause i don't eat enough. I just answer " do i look like im starving".

My dr also told me that ur body thinks its starving and that it will turn everything into fat to "store" it for the next starvation. So i guess im good for a bad flare got lots stored in the hump lol

question though. i was always one of those women that put in on in the hips. i didn't have much of a stomache at all (little tummy from 3 kids) now i look pregnant. like my family members have even asked if im pregnant. all my weight keep going to my stomache and face. Is this from the prednisone or is it inflamation in my stomache??????????? anyone know??????????

Terry I get the preggo tummy too, but it's mainly when I'm flaring. It's like all the food and gas are backed up behind the inflamed intestines. But that's just how I go from okay to looking five/six months pregnant all at once. I hope you get it figured out soon.

I have low thyroid, have never been on steroids, and am pretty overweight. Even when at my sickest when I couldn't eat, I only lost about 3 pounds over 10 weeks! I was maybe taking in about 500 calories. I don't know what it is. I was thin before I had stomach trouble! I hope I never need the stronger drugs or steroids, I'll be huge.

Chubby Crohnie too. Doctors were hesitant to test or diagnose for Crohn's despite ulcers at the bottom of my stomach, stricturing and ulcers in my small intestine, and even more ulcers in the colon. "You've gained weight, you can't possibly have Crohn's." Uh. Right. I've noticed that when it's not active and I'm able to eat regularly, my weight drops dramatically. From going on azathioprine last October, I lost 28 pounds in a matter of a few months. Now that I'm too nauseous to eat, the weight's coming back on. Really strange.