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Lack of appetite/weight gain

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 1/29/2010 3:43 PM (GMT 0)
I am 31 and just diagnosed with u/c. In hospital for 5 days and on lots of pain killers, intraveinious steroids (now oral, prednisone for 2 months), and mesaline. I had the flair up for a month before been diagnosed and have now lost about 6kg. I normally weigh 65kg. I have had noticable lack of appetite but have been eating twice as much as i have in the past to try to get to a healthy weight again. The problem is that i am not gaining any weight at all. I normally don't eat meat but have started to do so for more protine. Is this a good thing to do as I am worried about the insoluble fibre in legumes. Does anyone have any advice on increcing appetite And/or gaining weight. Does anyone else have pains increse or feel sick after eating. This combined with the lack of appetite certinatly makes things harder. I have been put on a low fibre diet which I am sticking to 100 percent. When not in a flare up do you have to be aware of fibre intake or is it not an issue? Sorry for all the questions. Newly diagnosed and freaking out a little. Thankyou
Posted 1/29/2010 4:05 PM (GMT 0)
There's a product called Benecalorie that can be used for weight gain. It's a tasteless, 1.5oz liquid that is added to meals or beverages. Each 1.5 oz adds 350 calories. Consume 3 of those per day and you can up your calories without negatively impacting your colon. You can purchase this product online.

Sue
Posted 1/29/2010 4:15 PM (GMT 0)
Thankyou for the reply sue. I will check it out. I noticed that you have taken prednisolone in the past. Can I ask how this affected you. The drs mentioned mood swings etc. Also how do you find using accupunture? I will look into that too as i know Other people who have had succes with accupunture with cronic disease.
Posted 1/29/2010 8:48 PM (GMT 0)
Pred is a steroid and therefore a hormone, so it causes bad mood swings in a lot of people. These are sometimes referred to as 'roid rage'. It's similar to the moods swings you'd see with a pregnant woman, or as a side effect of emergency contraception. In my case...if I'm on prednisone, you probably shouldn't say anything that would piss me off. I also gain weight, have more frequent urination especially at night, and have difficulty sleeping while on it.

As for weight gain, try supplement shakes, like Boost. I also really like Naked brand fruit smoothies, and they have a chocolate-banana protein shake that's very high calorie. They got me through my first flare as I really had no appetite.

If you're on a low fiber diet, I really suggest "What to Eat with IBD". It has some nice recipes in there. Let me know if you want ideas or recipes as I follow a diet with very low amounts of insoluble fiber myself.
Posted 1/29/2010 9:13 PM (GMT 0)
In order to give acupuncture a fair shot you have to be willing to go off all meds for UC. I wasn't willing to do that. I have used acupuncture for muscular problems with great success but I was skeptical whether it would help UC. Even my acupuncturist was doubtful. The only side effects I experienced from pred was increased agitation and weight loss.

Sue
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