Weight gain and ileostomies

My surgeon told me that it would be harder to gain weight after the surgery. He said that getting back to my previous weight would be very difficult and that I should be happy with gaining even 10 or 15lbs. It has to do with your body not being able to absorb nutrients as easily now that your large intestine is gone. Food passes through you faster and simply does not leave your body as much time to extract those nutrients.

I know some people do have a hard time gaining weight, but I do NOT    I still have to make sure I make healthy choices and exercise regularly...if I don't, I'll gain weight!!!  The only time I wasn't able to gain weight was when I was in a MAJOR flare...but then again, I wasn't eating anyway.  Your body will let you know when to watch your calorie intake (just like it will when you start to dehydrate)so listen to it

wow i sure wish i had problems gaining weight! thats all i have done!
the best way to put on weight is a milkshake everyday! oh and lots of soda, it's worked for me!

I am another one that just gains weight.  It was the one thing I liked about UC......loosing weight.  I now find that I really have to watch what I eat.

I've gained weight, too, but at least it means I'm healthy now.

Over the course of 2 yrs I gained 70 lbs with an ostomy (130 lbs to 200 lbs).  That's about 25 lbs more than I weighed before colitis.  I work out a lot - that increases my appetite and obviously puts on muscle mass.  I wouldn't let a doctor's generalization get you down - obviously some people have trouble gaining weight, but others do not.  If you just had surgery it'll take a while for your body to get back into the swing of things.  Take care.

      I've gained weight with my ileo too!!!    I weighed 120 going into surgery...113 post surgery...that was June 28, 2010...I now weigh 135!!!  What a fatty McButterpants !  I am only 5 ft 2 in and shrinking...am 67 yrs old.  I would like to get back down to 125...but, with the holidays coming up...I doubt that's gonna happen .

When I got my temporary ileostomy, I was probably 40 pounds underweight. I was supposed to get it reversed in 4 to 6 weeks from the time I got it. (My issue was a volvulous, so there was no chronic condition that requires me to have a permanent ileo). My surgeon told me I needed to get my weight back up to normal and also get my iron levels back up as I was also severely anemic. She warned me that it would be hard to gain weight with the bag. Wrong thing to say to me. I took it as a challenge, and also since I didn't want to keep the bag any longer than I had to. I was able to gain about 40 pounds in the space of 6 or 7 weeks, and that was with pretty prolific output during that time. I felt like that guy at the hot dog eating contest at times. But it worked. My surgeon was amazed and I got reconnected just a little past where she had said I would. Once I was able, I got back into the gym and also got my eating habits back to where they were, so my weight stabilized at a really comfortable level for me.