Please Help!

[Rjones]

Along with Celiac my wife has some serious heart issues and now not even 30 years old has a pace maker. She was 147lbs when we met and has been as high as 165lbs after the birth of our first but since she was diagnosed with Celiac Disease a few years ago she has been loosing weight. She stepped on the scales and read a wopping 103lbs this morning. Her perfect weight is 125-127lbs. She is a beautiful women who I even after 12 years and 2 children and all the health issues i am more in love with every second of every day!! She is becomming depressed even though she still has curves and looks amazing to me she increasingly gets comments as to how thin she is and it seems the more she looses the more issues she has with her heart. I am a very strong person, very good in times of crisis but even I am starting to become frightened. If anyone knows a way she could put weight on I would love to hear it. I was hoping someone new of a wheat free gluton free shake that might help her put on a few pounds.....please help!!

A frantic husband,

Rob

[ShayFL]

Rob....welcome to the board. So touching to read of your love for your wife.

Are you guys working with health professionals? Both medical and therapeutic can be of great benefit.

What does she eat on a typical day? Does she have a strong appetite? Does she eat a lot but still losing weight? Does she "avoid" food due to fear? Is she still eating dairy? Could she possibly be bulimic? I was and no one in the whole world knew but me until I finally got help for it.

Please tell us more about her so we can help. And please do get help from professionals. They can be life savers.

[Rjones]

Rob....welcome to the board. So touching to read of your love for your wife.

Are you guys working with health professionals? Both medical and therapeutic can be of great benefit.

What does she eat on a typical day? Does she have a strong appetite? Does she eat a lot but still losing weight? Does she "avoid" food due to fear? Is she still eating dairy? Could she possibly be bulimic? I was and no one in the whole world knew but me until I finally got help for it.

Please tell us more about her so we can help. And please do get help from professionals. They can be life savers.

We are working with professionals.

In a typical day she eats small meals and has little appetite. As I have a son who is also Celiac and I am a bit of a gym rat, health nut myself we all eat high protiens lots of fruits and veggies etc. Mostly pork chicken and fish, though my children and I are carnivorous and enjoy steaks and burgers my wife gave up red meat after my sons birth a decade ago so for the rest of us those are rare treats. In the evenings while snuggling on the sofa my wife enjoys what junk food she is allowed to have including peanutbutter cups and ice cream. She LOVES this nightly since she was always a little on the heavy side and wouldn't eat that stuff before. She has never been a milk drinker but does eat yogerts and cheeses and she is definetly not bulimic.....(I can be obnoxiously clingy and it is rare I am not hovering) We have been so consummed with the heart issues that it's been tough to get into the nutrisionest but we felt we had a good handle on it. She had leveled off at 111lbs for a few months (little thin for my taste but still smoking hot) but then over night dropped to 107lbs and leveled there for a few months then again over night and now this morning she is 103LBS. All the stuff I use to bulk up is wheat based I was hoping someone knew of a Ensure type shake I could get her to drink a few times a day between meals. She is my world, my best friend, my love and I need her around. I dont care if it is 160lbs or 110lbs but she is too tiny and it is effecting her energy and her heart and I who never worries am very worried.

I am glad you enjoy my crazy love with my wife it is nice to hear, especially since they all said we were too young and would never make it.....we were young and almost didn't make it but my hope is we have a long time left together to remind our families how wrong they were. My wife is soley responsible for the man and father I have become (i was a mess when she met me) and with out her I would be a shell of the person I am.

[Mtndog]

Oh Rob- it's so nice to hear how much you care for your wife. Welcome to the board.

How long has she known she has celiac? If she's only been gluten free for a short period of time, she may still not be absorbing nutrition yet. When I was diagnosed I was down to 110 pds from from 170. It was actually quite scary.

If she has been gluten-free for a long time, it could be malabsorption from another cause or some other issue. Regardless, she should see her doctor asap and let them know that she continues to lose weight.

I know there are products like Ensure. Here's a link to some of them: Open Original Shared Link

I think my mom drank Boost when she had cancer.

Even if you can get these, she should still be checked out.

Let us know- it's hard to see your beautiful best friend waste away.

[Rjones]

Oh Rob- it's so nice to hear how much you care for your wife. Welcome to the board.

How long has she known she has celiac? If she's only been gluten free for a short period of time, she may still not be absorbing nutrition yet. When I was diagnosed I was down to 110 pds from from 170. It was actually quite scary.

If she has been gluten-free for a long time, it could be malabsorption from another cause or some other issue. Regardless, she should see her doctor asap and let them know that she continues to lose weight.

I know there are products like Ensure. Here's a link to some of them: Open Original Shared Link

I think my mom drank Boost when she had cancer.

Even if you can get these, she should still be checked out.

Let us know- it's hard to see your beautiful best friend waste away.

It has been about 3 year....it was misdiagnosed as IBS prior to that. She has an apt. next week (she made today) with our normal Dr. but it was Ensure and Boost things of tose type I was thinking to start but not sure if they are wheat and gluten free....

[plantime]

Rob, If your wife can have dairy, try getting some whey protein to put in yogurt for her. I use it with milk, yogurt, and frozen fruit to make shakes. Ice cream can be used in place of yogurt.

I wish you both the best!

[ShayFL]

I wonder if she has enough stomach acid to digest those proteins.......A good digestive enzyme plus a small amount of HCL could help her digest her food better. Please research this to see what you think.

Also...peanuts...a lot of us have problems with peanuts. Just a thought.

Has she been retested recently to see if she still has antibodies to gluten? Because if she does, then she may not be 100% gluten-free.

Some of us are extremely sensitive to even Vitamin E made from wheat in our lip gloss. All toiletries should be checked especially anything that can make it into the mouth. Do you brush your teeth after eating gluten to make sure she doesnt get some when you kiss her. Dont laugh. It happens. CC is sneaky and can show up in all sorts of places. Is your kitchen gluten-free? If not, were changes made to protect her. Her own new pots and pans (not old scratched ones), her own cutting boards (not old scratched ones), her own condiments (so no one double dips into them and gets crumbs in them). No flour in the kitchen ever? That stuff gets everywhere and contaminates everything. Does she use any arts and crafts mediums (many have wheat/gluten bi-products)?

When she goes to the Dr. get him to retest her antibodies to see if she still has them.

[home-based-mom]

There is a high calorie nutrient dense gluten free supplement called Benecalorie that may work for her. If you can't find it locally, look online. It is quite reasonably priced.

[mftnchn]

All good advice. Rob would your wife reconsider eating meat? Perhaps she will need to if things don't stabilize.

Increasing fats can help. There are some good ideas on the board here using coconut oil for goodies.

Testing of fecal residues to see if she is passing undigested fats, proteins and sugars might help. As long as she has been gluten-free this should have normalized, but it sounds as if she could still be maldigesting, although she also sounds like she isn't eating much. A problem digesting carbohydrates can be a factor because destruction of the villi where the digestive enzymes are made means we can't digest complex carbs. Carbs not digested get into the lower intestine and feed bacteria and parasites and also destroy the membranes so all of this inhibits healing. A number of us have done well on the specific carbohydrate diet because of this.

Perhaps a diet record for awhile so you actually know her caloric intake could be helpful. I wonder if there is fatigue related to her heart issues and maybe some malaise or whatever--that contributes to her not eating enough.

I think along with the whey protein, adding some oils could help. Maybe baking with almond flour--almond flour muffins are very easy--would add both protein and good fat.

[skinnyminny]

Try adding nuts and peanut butter to things to increase calories more in one setting, she she possible try something like a slice of gluten free bread, peanut butter, banana, and a glass of milk before bed I know increasing the calories can be hard if she has a small appetite, but she needs to try to eat until she is really full

Also Boost are gluten free except the malt flavored ones i know the chocolate ones are gluten free

[Ms. Skinny Chic]

Try adding nuts and peanut butter to things to increase calories more in one setting, she she possible try something like a slice of gluten free bread, peanut butter, banana, and a glass of milk before bed I know increasing the calories can be hard if she has a small appetite, but she needs to try to eat until she is really full

Also Boost are gluten free except the malt flavored ones i know the chocolate ones are gluten free

They have a high protein boost now too. I drink one every night @ bedtime too. They cost $13.00(big pack) @ walmart

I eat Hershey bars too.. yummy calories.

[19scarlett]

I