Big people with Crohn's

Hello Everyone,

My professional background is in Medical Imaging (CT, Angiography), and I am now a Manager in a large department. During my career, whenever I encountered Crohn's paitients, they were always thin and looked quite ill. I was diagnosed 5 years ago, had a resection and now I'm having one obstruction after another. I, however, am a big boy. Not thin by any stretch of the imagination. I lose weight when I flare, but more often than not, I lose muscle mass, not fat. I'm just wondering if there are other big people Crohn's sufferers out there.

Is this the most complicated messed up disease?

Thanks for sharing.
Paul

i'm 6'2" and about 220 when healthy...not all muscle- a bit of a gut.
i'm down to 183 right now due to flare and look pretty skinny but not emaciated or anything. i'd love to get back to 200.

Pauliwog45,
I always wondered this too! Everyone I knew with Crohns was sooo thin and kinda gaunt looking. I was diagnosed with Crohns in 05' and had a re-re-section. (it came apart). At this point I had lost 40lbs and was afraid I COULDN'T gain.
I'm normally 5-8' and 175ish. I liked to workout and felt strong. Now, I have a totally different body shape. I'm up to 200lbs. It IS a messed up disease! Actually, my family Doc recently asked me what had changed in the past 5 years due to my cholestrol climbing. I said "All I can digest is fat and sugar"! I used to be able to eat salads, veggies, nuts, ice cream and cheese, ....yummmm. Not anymore. After a couple bad days you crave....anything for energy!! So you eat cuz' you think tomorrow I might not be able to. Arthritis makes it difficult to keep moving....that is my MAIN problem.... not moving! Very tired all the time. Kinda foggy.
I think each case is individual. I hope this helps you. Your not alone.

Im 22 years old, 5'4 and currently weight 210 pounds.  My LOWEST weight during a Crohns flare was 165.  I have constant D but still my body just holds onto fat.  I have been overweight my entire life, the only time Ive ever lost weight is when I had a stricture and was not able to eat food at all. 

me too.. but remember after long term prednisone use, fat migrates from the limbs to the trunk of the body giving a rounded look with tooth pick legs and arms.

NE NE you can be over weight AND be malnourished. geez, did the drs do a complete nutritional study on you? i mean all the tests to determine stores of needed vitamins, minerals etc... such as selenium, calcium,copper,magnesium, iron, ionized calcium, all the b vitamins, vit c, and on and on.

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for all your responses. It is really comforting to not be alone with this. This disease leaves me feeling isolated at times, and I wonder if anyone takes me seriously. Including my doc, who in reality is really good, and took the time to investigate and come to a concrete diagnosis. But with all the other ailments that comes along with Crohn's, I find myself a little stunned when a new problem comes along. The people here help to make sense of it all and I really, really appreciate that. Right.....I feel better.

Paul

Pauliwog,
My current GI said that I have the worse case of crohn's he has ever seen. I have never lost weight with this disease. We all know that Randy's is really, really, really bad. I would said make sure you get a pill camera done because of how they can miss stuff going on between the EGD and Colonoscopy. Remember there is about an 18 foot swath of intestine they are missing.
I think my GI's idea makes sense to me about being overweight, but he might just be indulging me. Our bodies started trying to compensated for the missing nutrition by leaving the hunger chemical marker on in our brains. But then again I really am hungry all the time. The worse thing for me is being in too much pain to work out.

I'm overweight even after losing 46 lbs last year prior to being diagnosed. I could easily stand to lose another 46, but I'm more interested in stabilizing my health right now than in losing more weight.

I have never ever lost weight on a flare up or otherwise. I gain weight when on steriods and lose some of it when I come off. I too am classed as obese and could do to lose about 4 stone.  Ive lost 8lbs recently but that was due to exercise.

I have been large since I was 25, Im 40 now. When I was diagnosed I though well at leasy I will lose some weight, I asked my consultant why i have crohns and am fat - she said its sods law. I have also met other largish people with crohns at the hospital, if fact more large people than skinny.

It is so nice to know that I'm not the only one struggling with weight. In 2002, after being heavy all of my life, I finally decided to get serious about dieting. I lost 105 lbs. in 18 months and I felt really good. Lo and behold, 2003 brought my first Crohn's symptom in the form of a bowel obstruction. While this was being investigated, I was started on prednisone and my weight went straight up. I now weigh 225 lbs. and can't seem to lose any of it.

Hi Pauliwog.
The cause of my bowel obstruction seemed to be inflammation of the small intestine. It came right out of the blue, although looking back, I did have two episodes of severe abdominal pain in the months before the obstruction. I didn't need surgery, thank goodness, but was treated with a nasogastric tube and complete bowel rest. All I know is, I had been out for supper two nights in a row, eating red meat each time (rather large amounts of it).
I, too, get a lot of partial obstructions. I try to deal with them on my own, rather than go to Emergency, because I hate having to wait and wait while in pain. I went there last night, actually, after being in pain for 4 days, but gave up and went home after there was no sign of getting in after 2 hours. Came home and continued to drink copious amounts of water and took some Prednisone, which I know I shouldn't fool around with. However, it seemed to work and things are finally moving today. Hope this helps.

I just asked my GI this question the other day!

I'm 5 ft 6 and weigh almost 300lbs...I know it's as a result of the high carb diet I eat (cos I can eat anything that isn't good for me but virtually no veg or fruit) and have the complication of arthritis in my hips and knees and lower back...the final complication is that my chron's was triggered by menses and PTSD for years I no longer have the menses issue - I had surgery (and the only one that I've ever had that was crohn's related) but I still can't loose weight...

I know I'm lucky to have never had surgery for my crohn's and it makes me feel selfish when I see someone my height weighing in at 98lbs cos they've been in flare for years...

but I surely do wish I could loose some weight without having to compromise my crohn's.

it's a vicious cycle ain't it?

the GI says she has as many patients that are obese with crohn's as she does that are the opposite....I guess it's just luck of the draw....

I am so happy to see there are others out there. I just posted something about this a few days ago and someone responded by saying that I must not have a very severe case of Crohn's then and to count my blessings. I was diagnosed in May 08, hospitalized in Aug and missed my daughter's 4th bday and then again in Sept and missed my 10th wedding anniversary with my husband. I had a resection in Nov. It doesn't matter what I do or don't do I can't get anywhere with my weight and it is frustrating to me. I know that to some it is petty and I should be greatful that I am feeling better, but I obsess about it everyday.