Weight Gain In Four Weeks

[Lisa]

Is this unusual for a weight gain of 10 lbs in 4 weeks? I have tried to be gluten free as best as I am able at this time. Sure doing my best.

I don't feel that is have a casin intollerance, but I drank a McD's vanilla shake at work and it left me in about a half hour. Other dairy products to do not affect me as I have noticed.

I would like to add that I have started with Lexipro about four weeks ago.

Question is: Could absorbing issues contribute to the weight gain, or could the lexipro add to this individually or in conjunction?

I would use some weight as I am 5'8" and have VERY thin limbs, but all the weight always goes to the torso. Sort of like a watermellon on toothpicks. Very attractive and hard as **** to buy fitting clothes.

Can I find a witness?, or comments.

[jerseyangel]

I gained 10 lbs. in the first 2 months gluten free. After gaining about 2 more, I've leveled off and its been 6 months now. How long have you been gluten-free? I don't know about the medicine you are taking, could be a factor. It could be that you're absorbing more of what you're eating and thats the reason for the gain. I feel that thats what happened in my case.

[Lisa]

Gluten free as best as able for about four months. Lexipro is an antidepresent, which may slow the metab.

[kevsmom]

My Gastroenterologist was thrilled that I gained back some of the weight that I had lost prior to being diagnosed. He said that it meant that my body was now retaining the nutrients that it was not prior to going gluten-free. Now after being gluten-free for 6 months, I have gained back the 30 pounds that I had lost - plus 10.

I also am on Lexipro, but in my case, I don't think that the medicine itself has anything to do with it. I'm sure that it's the depression. I take to finding comfort in food - even if it is gluten-free food.

[Lisa]

Idealy, I would like to stay at the weight that I am now and just build up muscles. I guess more fruit and less carbs would help. I have never been in the 120's since I was in my late teens.

I have head from people that I know, they they all thought that I was anorexic and now the word is getting out that I had a diatary problem, they all seem to want to comment safely now. I had one friend comment how good that I looked now. (I wonder what they thought when I was sick...whew!) AND NO ONE TOLD ME.......go figure.

Thanks for your input.

Lisa B.

[par18]

Idealy, I would like to stay at the weight that I am now and just build up muscles. I guess more fruit and less carbs would help. I have never been in the 120's since I was in my late teens.

I have head from people that I know, they they all thought that I was anorexic and now the word is getting out that I had a diatary problem, they all seem to want to comment safely now. I had one friend comment how good that I looked now. (I wonder what they thought when I was sick...whew!) AND NO ONE TOLD ME.......go figure.

Thanks for your input.

Lisa B.

Hi Lisa

I'm up the road in VA. 7 months ago when I started gluten-free diet I was thin and weak. Had lost 20 lbs and was 6'1" and weighed 146. Appointment with RD 3 days after Dx. We put me on gain diet which consisted of eating real gluten-free food. 3 meals and 2 snacks each day (approx 3000 cals) . Eggs ,bacon,grits, gluten-free toast , juice for breakfast. Snack was yogurt and 1 oz almonds. (nuts are great source of cals and protein and fiber.) Lunch was sand on gluten-free bread (ham, turkey ,cheddar) chips, raw veggies, and maybe apple sauce, and beverage. Afternoon snack was Ensure or peanut butter toast. Dinner was meat, potato, veggies and beverage. Vitamin supplements also. Took 2 1/2 months to gain 10 pounds. Today I weigh 180 and feel stronger than ever. I'm 55 years old and very active. The key for me was eating meals and snacks at regular intervals. Hope this helps.

[key]

I don't know as far as weight gain goes on the gluten-free diet. I am not underweight exactly, but my mom thinks I look very thin for me and some other people do to. I don't try to diet, but eating a vegetarian diet that is gluten free would be almost impossible to gain weight. I eat whatever I want and don't gain weight. I have been gluten free for about 8 months now.

As far as the Lexapro goes, I was reading the other day that it can cause weight gain. Not on their website, but another one. It said you could gain 10lbs the first month on it and it was more due to decreasing your metabolism and not due to making you more hungry and therefore you would be eating more. I don't know about this for sure, but you could read about it on the net. It is hard to say.

Good luck,

Monica

[jenvan]

Unless you are new to the gluten-free diet, which usually leads to weight gain (due to mal-absorption), I would suspect the lexapro. Those types of drugs, and specifically lexapro frequently cause weight gain. I have a friend who experienced that while on lexapro. Are you noticing yourself eating more or 'feeling' hungry more often? Or only the weight gain?

[floridanative]

Thanks to those of you who mentioned Lexapro as a possible weight gain culprit. My sister has been on that for several months now and she has gained weight, is working out all the time to lose it, but we never connected the dots that the two things could be related. Now at least she can try and figure out if the drug is the problem.

[tiffjake]

Is this unusual for a weight gain of 10 lbs in 4 weeks? I have tried to be gluten free as best as I am able at this time. Sure doing my best.

I would like to add that I have started with Lexipro about four weeks ago.

Question is: Could absorbing issues contribute to the weight gain, or could the lexipro add to this individually or in conjunction?

I am ond of the odd ones that gained weight due to my absorbtion problems (when my body did absorb something, it stored it, thinking that it was starving...) so on the gluten free diet I have lost 10 pounds in the last month. But I have noticed that when I do get gluten in there somewhere, I gain 3-4 pounds in water weight, that comes off almost over night. I wouldn't look for what is "normal" but for what is working for your body....and talking that through with you doctor of course! I gained weight when I was on Lexapro, but now that I am not on any meds (yeah! MAJOR changes since going gluten free) I don't know if the weight gain is do to the med or the gluten side effects that my body has. As a Pharmacy Tech (I just got my diploma, yeah!!!), I will say that A LOT of depression meds have weight gain as a possible side effect. And that changing your bodies absorbtion of food also changes its absorbtion of meds, so you might be getting more Lexapro in your system than you were before, BUT I AM NOT A DOCTOR, SO DISCUSS THAT WITH YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE YOU CHANGE YOUR DEPRESSION MEDS. MAKE SURE THE DR THAT GAVE YOU THE LEXAPRO KNOWS ABOUT THE CHANGE IN YOUR DIET!!!!!!!! Hope that is some helpful information! God Bless!!!!! And Merry Christmas

[Guest BERNESES]

Lisa- Actually, the same thing (sort of) is happening to me and I can't quite figure it out. When I went gluten free back in February, I weighed 119 pounds. I gained back the weight very slowly- was back to about my normal weight- 140. I got on the scale today and I'm up to 150- YIKES! I don't know where it came from- I know I got glutened over the weekend but I thought it was all "out" so to speak.

Lexapro could definitely be the culprit. It is supposed to be a weight neutral SSRI but everything affects everyone differently. I've been taking Celexa for years which is supposed to pack on 20 pounds and I never gained any weight from it. Go figure!

[pinkpei77]

hi guys!

i too have gained alot of weight .

i was so sick summer of '04 and lost 25 lbs cuz i couldnt eat anything.

then they finally found out i had gallbladder diease

and i had my gallbladder out in august of 04 and felt a bit better.

but then it got worse again and in january of 05(this year)

i found out i had celiac.

the first month i lost like 10 pounds becuase i couldnt find anything to eat (i am vegetarian too)

then i found tinkyada!! yummy!

and i ate that quite a bit.

and within 6 or 7 months i had gained about 35 pounds.

i really cant understand it.

i know my diet has lots of carbs, but sheesh , i dont feel like i really eat any more than i used to portion wise.

and i feel like every few weeks i cant fit into something i fit into 3 or 4 weeks ago,

its pretty upsetting.

i am not on any medications at all.

i dont take any kind of medicines, not even for headaches.

so im clueless and hoping that this doesnt continue.

if anyone has any words of wisdom that would be great!

next week will be one year of gluten-free

and i just hope the weight gain doesnt continue!

i will have to say though, that i feel GREAT physically. my tummy has never felt better!

now i just wish i could fit it into my jeans~! hahaha!!

[Guest BERNESES]

I know- it strikes me as so ironic that we cut out pasta, bread, etc and gain weight. Not to get off topic, but with your gall bladder, did you have symptoms?

I'm wondering because during all my testing, I found out I have gall stones. You can email me at babrennanov@gmail.com so we don't go off-topic in the thread.

How are you doing Lisa? B

[MegGFBoston]

I gained 10 lbs. in the first 2 months gluten free. After gaining about 2 more, I've leveled off and its been 6 months now. How long have you been gluten-free? I don't know about the medicine you are taking, could be a factor. It could be that you're absorbing more of what you're eating and thats the reason for the gain. I feel that thats what happened in my case.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one!!! I wish that the nutrionist had told me about this - but I just don't think the nutrionist knew that much about celiac disease - she was helpful of sorts but not really.

I'm going to try to lose the 12lbs I've gained in two months since I went gluten-free with a celiac diagnosis. I am hoping my body can get back to normal and figure out what it is supposed to absorb etc - and I need to up the exercise now that I am feeling more energetic - I was so fatigued when I got diagnosed that I couldn't do anything - nearly fell asleep at work! Happy New Year

Maggie

[jerseyangel]

Hi Maggie, As a kind of update, I am 7 months gluten-free now and having gotten relief from many of my severe symptoms, find that I do better when I cut way down on the gluten-free breads and other baked goods. There are 2 reasons I say this: my skin is much improved. I have eczema, that has not gotten much better just being gluten-free. It is all but gone now--and that is something I've delt with for about 10 years at least. The other thing is that, while my primary focus was just to heal and give my system what I felt it needed to do that (adequate nutrition, vitamins, rest), I now want to lose the weight that I put on while eating anything I wanted at any time! I've been eating primarily fruit, veggies, nuts, olive oil, meats and lots of water. Maybe twice a week I may have a couple Enjoy Life Cookies--although not every day. I'll also do potato chips as a treat. I feel I over did it initally with the rice flour and other rice products. (Probably trying to make up for what I thought I was missing on the gluten-free diet). I've also started Pilates again. Hope some of this relates to where you are now. We have to be patient with ourselves, but we'll get there

[Guest stef 4 dogs]

hi guys!

i too have gained alot of weight .

i was so sick summer of '04 and lost 25 lbs cuz i couldnt eat anything.

then they finally found out i had gallbladder diease

and i had my gallbladder out in august of 04 and felt a bit better.

but then it got worse again and in january of 05(this year)

i found out i had celiac.

the first month i lost like 10 pounds becuase i couldnt find anything to eat (i am vegetarian too)

then i found tinkyada!! yummy!

and i ate that quite a bit.

and within 6 or 7 months i had gained about 35 pounds.

i really cant understand it.

i know my diet has lots of carbs, but sheesh , i dont feel like i really eat any more than i used to portion wise.

and i feel like every few weeks i cant fit into something i fit into 3 or 4 weeks ago,

its pretty upsetting.

i am not on any medications at all.

i dont take any kind of medicines, not even for headaches.

so im clueless and hoping that this doesnt continue.

if anyone has any words of wisdom that would be great!

next week will be one year of gluten-free

and i just hope the weight gain doesnt continue!

i will have to say though, that i feel GREAT physically. my tummy has never felt better!

now i just wish i could fit it into my jeans~! hahaha!!

Hey there! For some disease that should make you loose weight, I gained 30 lbs! I have only been able to shed 10 so far and I feel like I take two steps forward and one step back! I am really eating right and the weight gain is incredible! I was depressed and the doctor put me on Lexapro. How the **&&&* can you gain weight eating less? I am so frustrated and I don't know what to do. I feel like skiping gluten free and eating normal, at least I lost weight. I don't even care that it was malnutrition at this point! So totally frustrated.!!

Stef

[IronedOut]

Hey there! For some disease that should make you loose weight, I gained 30 lbs! I have only been able to shed 10 so far and I feel like I take two steps forward and one step back! I am really eating right and the weight gain is incredible! I was depressed and the doctor put me on Lexapro. How the **&&&* can you gain weight eating less? I am so frustrated and I don't know what to do. I feel like skiping gluten free and eating normal, at least I lost weight. I don't even care that it was malnutrition at this point! So totally frustrated.!!

Stef

I'm one of those Celiacs that did all the gaining and none of the losing as well. I am not, and haven't been for some time, skinny. My diagnosis came after 30 lbs lost in 6 months, all from malabsorption. I would like to lose more but have found that I was more than replacing calories with the gluten goodies I've found. I am starting to cut back on the 'replacement' breads and pastas and the super sugar fruits. Hopefully that will help. I am also starting an exercise calss, which I haven't had the energy to do in a long time.

Have you seen a dietician? If you can find one that truly knows Celiac, maybe you can create a food plan that works both for the Celiac and the weight management. There is a recent thread on here that mentions a specific group that knows Celiacs. Not sure how to link the thread in sorry.

Wish I had more to offer. Don't go back to gluten, though. Dying or dead from the longterm auto-immune response is not worth any weight I might lose. IMO

[PreOptMegs]

It really is so easy to gain weight. Even if you eat just 200 extra calories per day, weight gain is inevitable. Especially when someone is eating all of the gluten-free options out there these days. It is still thought of that celiacs NEED to gain weight so it hasn't been looked at as an issue, but I know there are many "gainers" out there..