# IBS-D and Weight GAIN?



## Simona (Jun 25, 2009)

Has anyone else experienced weight gain with IBS-D? I know weight loss is common, but I gain weight year over year. And it seems the worse my IBS is, the more I gain.This is what I typically eat in a day...keep in mind my day starts and ends late as I work a night shift.12.00pm Sandwich - Bagel w/ deli meat [chicken/turkey]4pmLunch - Pasta or Rice with Chicken9pmDinner - Meat/Fish and cooked Veg & RiceAll of these are average size portions - I cant/dont eat a lot because I feel full quickly and sick afterwards. I vacate soon after eating...my body moves quick to get rid of the food. I just dont understand why Im obese when I eat so little and digest so quickly - I will say this has been going on for the past 30 years. My eating patters have always been like this as Ive had IBS-D since I was a little girl. There are times when food will pass through me undigested...it looks the same coming out as it did going in! Anyone have any ideas?


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## overitnow (Nov 25, 2001)

If you are actually seeing the same food you just ate coming out shortly thereafter, then this is one of those a-typical IBS-Fast Transit problems and I have no opinion. For those of us with more standard IBS-D, you eat, something in the specific food you eat or the process of eating or something else stimulates the colon and you evacuate whatever is in there from yesterday's food. The nutrients from what you eat are extracted in the small intestine and D or C has no bearing on that. Since you are gaining weight and are able to function somewhat normally, it sounds as though you are extracting your nutrients, especially as this has been a pattern for 30 years.I had D for 10 years. For about 8 of those years I walked a dog on a daily basis and my weight held around 180. (I was often working in food service for those years and so had a poor but plentiful diet, generally high fat.) Our dog died and we did not replace him for those last two years of the D. I gained about 10 pounds a year from eliminating that exercise. Even though we then replaced the dog (and my D was at least coming under control) I only held my weight with the resumption of the exercise. It took active dieting and dramatically increased exercise to take that weight off.Mark


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## Borrellifan (May 5, 2009)

overitnow said:


> For those of us with more standard IBS-D, you eat, something in the specific food you eat or the process of eating or something else stimulates the colon and you evacuate whatever is in there from yesterday's food. The nutrients from what you eat are extracted in the small intestine and D or C has no bearing on that. Since you are gaining weight and are able to function somewhat normally, it sounds as though you are extracting your nutrients, especially as this has been a pattern for 30 years.


That is how mine is Mark except i lose weight and have a very hard time gaining it back. Usually it take about 30 minutes after i eat breakfast and then the whole previous days food goes bye bye in a short amount of time.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Normally with IBS people absorb nutrients normally.The transit through the stomach and small intestine is normal.The food coming out right after a meal is food from the previous meal that you are already done with.The day or so the food normally spends in the colon does not really add calories (there are a few) to what you get out of your food.A person with their colon completely removed still gets more than enough calories out of their food to maintain or even gain weight.Everytime you eat a meal the colon starts moving things along. So usually with IBS-D what you see right after the meal is what you ate the meal before, or two meals before.If you actually poop food out 15 minutes after you eat it you really can't get any nutrients out of it to count, and it is really unusual for the GI tract to have a 15 minute mouth to anus transit. Normal is 16 to 72 hours.It may be worth checking the calories you eat (as what often passes as "normal" size portions these days is 2-3 times the amount of food anyone really should be eating at a meal). Also if you don't move around much because you don't feel good that really reduces the number of calories you need to maintain your weight.


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## crstar (Jun 29, 2009)

yes, i know exactly what is going on..........& the food isn't really going straight thru, altho it feels like it.......what is happening, is u don't have enough hydrochloric acid (HCl) in ur stomach, this causes too much gastrin & maybe histamine being secreted to digest ur food, this causes the food to not b completely broken down..........then because things r not broken down completely, whole pieces of food gets into ur intestines........this causes leaky gut, which is considered by ur body as being attacked & causes auto-immune diseases........this can cause candida over growth........not a good thing at all.......candida will cause infections anywhere.........it attacked my adrenals & thyroid.........when ur body attacks itself, u don't get enough of everything u need to maintain homeostasis........ur body thinks it's in a constant stress situation, is fighting for it's very life & hangs onto everything.......wastes & toxins..........my liver & kidneys got real sluggish, which made things worse.........it will give u brain fog, among others........when ur body tries to hang onto everything, u gain weight, also because u rn't breaking down ur food, mainly protein, ur body uses ur lean muscle to maintain what it can....this also causes weight gain.......the less lean muscle u have, the slower ur metabolism is, the more tired u get.........it's like a vicious circle......u also get malnutrition......this adds to everything........for 7-1/2yrs i gained weight, got stupid, tired, migraines, fat, insomnia, exhaustion, chronic fatigue & my heart got weaker all the time........things that use to b so easy to do, became impossible.........& no matter what i did, things just got worse.........in december, i was at the end of my rope..........truly, i felt like i couldn't go on anymore.......i didn't have it in me to try anymore..........i planned my suicide........sounds like deep depression, don't it.........well all the bad stuff came first........i'd been to 5 other dr's & had been seeing the 6th for about 11mos........he tried many things others didn't even mention.........at least i quit getting so badly sick, but still things were bad..........then i read an article about HCl & all the things it does for the body........it oxygenates the blood & body, increases white blood cell numbers & activity, kills candida & steps up my liver & kidneys..........i started losing weight & my brain felt so much sharper.........my stomach, which had been so awful, started no bothering me.......b 4 it was so nauseous, bloated & i didn't want to eat...it always felt like when i ate as if it took 24-48hrs to get digested.......i was so uncomfortable & many times threw up & had diarrhea constantly...........one thing u can try right now, is betaine hydrochloride...........u can get it at health food stores.........there is a stomach acid test u can do at home with it & then u can start taking it for digestion..........it's suppose to help ur stomach produce more HCl.............my stomach wasn't capable, so it didn't work for me, i tried it for 8mos, it helped a very tiny bit........so i continued to take it, till i found out about the HCl.........if u would like a copy of one of the articles i have on this amazing stuff, let me know........it's a medical article, long & i had to use a dictionary many times, but it was worth it & get this, it was written in the 30's..........the medical community has know about this stuff for over 100yrs, but the pharmaceutical companies don't want people getting well.........it's somewhat like drug pushers........if u don't need the drugs, they don't get rich.........i know, i sound like a conspiracy nut, but think about how much they make, if u r sick.........anyway, hope u feel better.........by the way, i gained weight on one meal aday.........& it was a small meal, sometimes i didn't eat at all, things didn't taste good, i had no appetite for anything & it made me feel so much worse than b 4 i ate.......such a hellish life.........


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## shyanna von banana (Jun 4, 2009)

You said that you eat a bagel with deli meat on it. I could have sworn that deli meat was a trouble for ibs because of the extras they put in the meat plus it has a lot of calories. Have you tried putting lettuce or an organic spread on it? Pasta is generally not suppose to be eaten at lunch it is a heavy food which is best eaten for dinner. Fish(chicken) would be a better option to eat for lunch. When you cook your fish do you cook it in butter? I use organic chicken brooth it has better flavor and easier to stomach.have u tried eating 5 or 6 smaller meals. I have found that after eating just a bagel(plain) im pretty full and if I wait and hour or two im ready to eat again. If i get hungry before then i eat a snack(pretzels). If im still not hungry I go for a walk. What beverage do you consume b\c beverages can add up. A good way to speed up your metabolism is to increase protein intake. A good way to get more protein is to use brown rice protein powder with almond milk. You would be surprised at how much protein speeds up the metabolism. What kind of exercise do you do? Exercising as soon as you get up or after breakfast is more effective.


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## M&M (Jan 20, 2002)

Have you had your thyroid checked lately? Might be worth checking out, just to make sure.


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## TanaG (Jul 11, 2009)

LOL...i haven't lost a gram since this D problem started either... the only reason for which I might do at some point is because of the low fat diets that come with itI agree you should have your thyroid checked though...It seems that a lot of people with IBS have hipo-thyroid as well. Am not sure if there is a connection or not ...


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## Ausie one (Jan 24, 2009)

Hi I too have gained weight and it does not make sense if you have to keep running to the bathroom.What I found is if what you eat goes through you quick don't eat it or cut something out until you work out what you should not be eating.I have been trying Chinese medicine and had a bit of success, she told me not to eat salads and certain vegtables not to eat go more vegetarian.Some things work for some people and not for others so it is trail and aera.I just wish the doctors did more to help us not enough study has been done to see why so many people now have IBS.I just want a normal life back as it has affected me working as the mornings are the worse for me.Good luck.


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## Simona (Jun 25, 2009)

Thank you everyone for the replies. I was overwhelmed by the response. I will the first to admit that I am clueless about how calories and nutrients are absorbed by the body....so thanks for the info on that.That said, I am still at a loss about all of this. This weekend was even more perplexing. We ordered pizza - I normally stay away from this and rarely order in - I generally perfer to cook or make my own food. After eating two 2" squares I was full and spent the rest of the day just drinking because I couldnt manage to eat anything else. I will discuss it with my MD on Friday and I have a number of tests that I want him to run for me...I'll include thyroid on that list, and given this weekend, Celiac will be another test.


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## alabama231 (Feb 2, 2009)

I have had IBS-D for a few years now and I struggle with my weight in the sense that I am quite heavy, not obese by any stretch of the imagination but still a BMI of 28 therefore overweight! But I dont understand how I can have profuse diahorrea but not lose any weight!! It doesnt make much sense at all! I dont eat too badly, sure I still eat cakes and biscuits, but I do eat relatively healthy at same time yet I struggle to shift weight!! I'm almost jealous of people with IBS-D who lose weight!


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

IBS generally doesn't make food move through the stomach and small intestine any faster than usual. Just the colon.The colon really isn't involved in absorbing calories (you get a few from bacterial breakdown of stuff you can't digest but no more than like 1-2% of total calories).People who have the entire colon removed maintain or gain weight just fine. It really doesn't matter if the food stays in the colon for a couple of hours or for a couple of days. Weight loss all out of proportion with calorie intake is a sign something other than IBS is going on. Maintaining your weight easily is typical with IBS.Many people with diarrhea all the time really aren't nearly as active as they used to be and if you burn less calories you need less food.


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## SherryG (Oct 2, 2007)

I would like a copy of the article on hydrochloride acid, please. I had my gall bladder taken out several years ago and I think that I have a lot of bile in my system. I was taking cholestyramine for many years and now I think that I am having side effects from it. Thanks.


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## bride2be (Jul 31, 2009)

I think you should have your thyroid checked, maybe see an endocrinologist if possible so they can be sure to run the proper tests. I have a thyroid disease that went undiagnosed for years because they weren't testing me for the right things. The only reason I found out I had thyroid disease is because I was in a car accident and had a CAT scan which revealed nodules on my thyroid. Even though i had several thyroid hormone (T3 T4 & TSH) blood tests over the years they didn't come back positive for thyroid disease.My thyroid is very slow and is under constant attack by my immune system, so it could cause weight gain -- I believe it would if it wasn't for my really severe IBS-d. So maybe that is worth checking out for you, I hope this helps.


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