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post surgery and weight loss

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 3/29/2011 5:25 PM (GMT 0)
Hey all -

Some questions came to mind as I'm on the mends being post op a week and 5 days. Over the last month I was admitted twice both times with a stay of at least 5 days. IV fed a majority of the time with low residue diet in between. Now that I'm post surgery I'm strictly low residue and the main thing I'm focused on is regaining this lost weight and nutrition. I've been trying to eat as much as possible but seem to stay skin and bones.

I've eaten plenty of plain chicken and mashed potatoes and other things that seem to have some substance to them.

The results...diarreah always. Pure liquid (tmi?) Anyway it's makes me nervous since it's not like i'm drinking my meals and the results do not seem to reflect an ounce of weight gain. I know that low res diet is not suffiicient to add, maintain weight but i know there are some (Nanners) that utilize it on a regular basis.

Right now they have me on alot of antibiotics because of the surgery and i hope at some point that my gut heals enough tht I can introduce a little more fiber to grab on to and add weight.

Should I be concerned that I'm emaciated? I was skinny before any of this happened anyway.

Am I destined to be a stick figure until I am able to increase the range of diet? How long does this generally take? Doctors said I'd be on the low res diet for at least 6 weeks. Ugh.

Any words of optimism are welcome or insight that what I'm experiencing is completely normal and I'm just blowing it out of proportion.

Thanks for any help. Dunny, Zanne, Nanners and anyone else that is going thru, has gone thru surgery and had similar outcomes, response is appreciate.

John

Posted 3/29/2011 6:26 PM (GMT 0)
John, I wish I had a magical formula but alas I don't. I'm like Nanners and follow a modified low residue
diet, but having said that I'm still 'going' 8/10 times a day, so go figure... My weight has kinda bottomed
out now, I neither seem to lose much now, but neither do I gain. I think the worse thing about being tiny,
is looking ill, and having people tell me I need to put some meat on my bones, if only it were that simple.

My hope for you is, now you've had your surgery, once you get over this hurdle just maybe you'll get to
a place where what you eat starts to show in body mass. Please remember you have only just had surgery.
It's early days. Hang in there!!
Posted 3/29/2011 6:47 PM (GMT 0)
Antibiotics alone will cause diarrhea and then diarrhea can cause weight loss. Are you taking anything for the diarrhea like imodium? Also, I'd try probiotics even though you are on antibiotics. Just take them half way between your doses of antibiotics. Have you talked to your doctor about the continuing diarrhea? You might need a stool culture as well to rule out any pathogens. Good luck and I hope you gain your strength and some weight back soon. 
Posted 3/29/2011 7:50 PM (GMT 0)
You just had surgery and the explosive diarrhea is very common right after surgery. It usually quiets down in a few weeks once your body adjusts to the changes.

Also as jeanneac said the antibiotics can cause the diarrhea too, so it looks like you have a double whammy right now. Just make sure you take probiotics at least 2 hours after your last antibiotic for the day.

It was a while before I started putting weight back on. It will come back, but you need to get thru the recovery process first. I didn't start gaining weight for about a month or two. My body just had to heal from the trauma first I think. Patience my friend!

Hugs!
Posted 3/29/2011 8:14 PM (GMT 0)
I'm 6 weeks post op. My GI put me on cholestyramine to slow down the d. It definitely helps.
Diarrhea can lasts a long time after surgery, especially if your ileocecal valve was removed. You bowels have to relearn.

I'm still having diarrhea and bowel spasms, but it would be worse without the cholestyramine.
I'm *just* starting to gain a little weight now too.

It takes a while.
Good luck!
Posted 3/29/2011 8:38 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with all of the above. I am just over 3 weeks and I am still losing not gaining, but I am still not really eating that much so I don't expect to be gaining yet.

We have had a lot of posts with ideas on how to gain weight, you could do a search for some of those. There have been a lot of good ideas thrown around. I think we all have our little tricks for adding a few extra calories here and there when we really need them. For me its lots of butter and full fat cream in my mashed potatoes, a little smear of butter on every cracker, and having a small snack every few hours just to sneak in a few extra calories every day.
Posted 3/30/2011 9:05 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the great replies. I guess I just have to ride it out and be patient. My problems seem similar to those that have had surgery as well so that is comforting....

I'm actually having some bloodwork done tomorrow to see if I'm good to go for a maintenance drug. The doctor didn't include any other tests done which I think was lame. I asked if I could add Iron, B12, D3 and liver enzymes checked. Hey if ya want something done sometimes ya gotta pipe up, right?


Best wishes to all and the hope that I'm back on track and stuffing my face in no time. : )
Posted 3/30/2011 10:56 PM (GMT 0)
I too had a hard time gaining weight after surgery and in this moment, having food poisoning and a bad reaction to a kidney med, just lost 10 lbs again. The book Cooking Well for the Unwell by Eileen Behan was an amazing reference for me. My mom and I made a number of dishes from that book as it has some very good specific on how to add calories and certain vitamins or proteins.

Also, How to Cook for Crohn's and Colitis: More Than 200 Healthy, Delicious Recipes the Whole Family Will Love by Brenda Roscher

Little things for me: enjoying the bread basket, buttering my rolls/toast, half and half in my coffee, breakfast meat. I also make pudding with the lactose free half n half and milk. Cabot cheeses don't have lactose and I indulge in those as well. Finally, the smell of fresh bread and cake is wonderful for me. My mom would come over just to put a bread dough in the oven or I would set the machine overnight. The cake is also a good opportunity for canned fruit and cool whip or frosting.

I even ate country-fried steak!
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