WEIGHT GAIN - I have gained 28lbs over the last 9 months.... ITS A WICKED CYLCE - does the NON WHEAT, DIARY AND GLUTEN diet work?

General
1

Hey.... to anyone thats listening...

My name is Lucy and I am 24 years old. I got diagnosed with Lupus SLE just under 5 years ago and throughout the last 3 years I have also been diagnosed with

- Underactive Thyroid

- Chronic Urticaria – This affects my face ( eyes,nose and lips ) sever swelling sporadically, and I get a burning sensation when change of temperature or bathing

- High Blood Pressure (only recently as ive seen my weight climb over the last 2 years due to prednisolone)

HAVE MAJOR ISSUE WITH MY WEIGHT.... Its like I cant seem to shif the lbs!!!

I have ranged from 40mg to recently 7.5mg of prednisolone daily!!!!

It upsets me because its making my blood pressure rise, I feel more tired so I have no energy to exersize.

Someone advised a NON DIARY, WHEAT and GLUTEN Diet.... Any suggestions woul be GREAT!!!!

I am on the following medicine right now

plaquenil 200 mg 2x a day – Lupus SLE

prednisolone 7.5mg daily – Lupus SLE

thyroxine 150 mg daily - Underactive Thyroid

ramipril 2.5mg daily – High Blood Pressure

citirizine 10 mg 2x a day - Chronic Urticaria

Telfast / fexofenadine 180mg 2x a day - Chronic Urticaria

montelukast 10mg daily - Chronic Urticaria

amitriptyline 10mg daily - Migraine

2

Hi Lucy

I eliminated all processed foods, white flour and white sugar out of my diet. My weight crept creeping up and up especially after my foot surgery. I'm down 12# now, I have been walking on the treadmill at my local YMCA and I'm feeling better. My first goal was to lose 30# by my next rheumie apt in January. I have days that after I'm done walking, I come home and grab a nap. But overall my energy level has improved. Many other members have gone gluten free and swear by it. I don't have a problem with dairy, but I don't over do it. Changing your diet can really help.

3

Thanks Trisha....

My mum is a godsend so she is out shopping for all of these food products now.

I am going to start with making a food diary and keep track of all my symptoms as much as I can.

Hopefully in a couple of weeks I will notice some improvements!

Trisha said:

Hi Lucy

I eliminated all processed foods, white flour and white sugar out of my diet. My weight crept creeping up and up especially after my foot surgery. I'm down 12# now, I have been walking on the treadmill at my local YMCA and I'm feeling better. My first goal was to lose 30# by my next rheumie apt in January. I have days that after I'm done walking, I come home and grab a nap. But overall my energy level has improved. Many other members have gone gluten free and swear by it. I don't have a problem with dairy, but I don't over do it. Changing your diet can really help.

4

Hi Lucy, I also have lupus and hypothyroid. I gain weight easily, I am up about 25 lbs. I do gluten free and very little dairy but I have trouble with sugar. I am so tired that I crave sugar, especially dark chocolate! I try not to buy it but I am bad!!

I know the prednisone makes you gain a lot of weight too. Experiment trying to eliminate the "bad" foods and see if it helps. I hope you are better eliminating sweets than I am!

Good luck and keep us posted if something works for you.

Lucy said:

Thanks Trisha....

My mum is a godsend so she is out shopping for all of these food products now.

I am going to start with making a food diary and keep track of all my symptoms as much as I can.

Hopefully in a couple of weeks I will notice some improvements!

Trisha said:

Hi Lucy

I eliminated all processed foods, white flour and white sugar out of my diet. My weight crept creeping up and up especially after my foot surgery. I'm down 12# now, I have been walking on the treadmill at my local YMCA and I'm feeling better. My first goal was to lose 30# by my next rheumie apt in January. I have days that after I'm done walking, I come home and grab a nap. But overall my energy level has improved. Many other members have gone gluten free and swear by it. I don't have a problem with dairy, but I don't over do it. Changing your diet can really help.

5

Go see your general dr…call your rhumy…eat right…good luck…

6

GF diets will cause people to gain weight. I think though that a lot of us gain weight no matter if it is a so called regular diet or if it is GF, etc. Be glad you weight gain is in the 20's, I was so sick and undiagnosed for over a year several years back that I gained about 120 pounds. I was in a recliner praying I would die soon. I pleaded with my PCP to find out was wrong and he told me it was fibro and I needed to exercise, etc. it was 20 minutes to his office and I could not function once I got home. My family was so used to me figuring out everything and taking care of anything that no one sought help on my behalf which has always been my role. They are great people but not used to helping me as far as fighting for my health for me when I couldn't. I hope now I have impressed upon them that they may have to step up for me in the future again. But anyhow, my metabolism is shot and no matter what I do I am not losing weight. Hopefully after my knee replacement on 9/16 I will be able to do more again. No doctor as yet has been able to tell me how to trigger the metabolism again besides eating 6 times a day and make them small.

7

I can't believe you didn't mention Vitamin D either, Ann. Forgot to tell you that my rheumy asked me a couple of weeks ago why I wasn't taking it. I told her that no one has checked it and she nor any other doctor told me I should. She just said oh. I am perverse in the fact that I can throw things back at her or other doctors when they cop an attitude with me. I am liking her better then I thought I would but when she stops using attitude on me then we will work better. I started taking it on my own because of you, Ann, and I thank you for that. It was on my list to get when the doctor brought it up too. The test is on my order sheet for November. You have so much good info that I love to read your thoughts. Gentle hugs, Rita

8

I’m not much into gluten free, dairy free, etc. I feel it would be too stressful to watch all those details when I’m so fatigued. Make sure you take your vitamins! I have to take vitamin d along with multi vitamin. Keep healthier choices for snacks. I have low fat string cheese, fruit, etc. I have trouble with water weight which I believe is in part due to high blood pressure mess. I’m horrible about drinking water.

9

I have lupus and am hypothyroid. I too am battling the weight game. I have a secondary problem in that I am diabetic and have a complication from the diabetes, gastroparesis. With this problem I must avoid fresh whole foods and only eat what is easily digestible. I miss my fresh fruits and veggies! And it is difficult to balance this diet with a diabetic diet. I am also having a hard time finding a way to exercise. Staying out of the Sun cuts taking walks, as does my exhaustion and fibro. I don't have access to a pool anymore and just don't know what to do. I sympathise with you. If it isn't a medical problem it is a medicine I have to take. I am also just too exhausted to want to do any cooking so that doesn't help either. Hang in there. And bless your mother that she is there to help.

10

Thank you. As always you lift my spirits.

Ann A. said:

Dear tachteach,

I was sitting here with a belly full of fruits and veggies (sauted, steamed, and raw very simply and quickly prepared) feeling sorry for myself because I could not go to the pool today. I use the pool at a physical rehabilitation hospital - the same place where I rehabbed from every surgery over the past 25 years. When I really started taking this seriosly I was definitely insulin resistent and prediabetic. I had been dx with non-alcoholic fatty liver, and I felt really bad, sad, and even mad at the docs who told me to lose weight but could not tell me how to do it through the fatigue of lupus and the pain of arthritic knees and spinal stenosis.

Thank you for reminding me how much is at stake. You really have your hands full. And you have motivated me to get up off the couch and get some movement going. The best thing that I can do right here in the family room is to turn on the Wii fit. The electronic trainer is really going to speak rudely to me. But I am going to get past that and do some movements that will help the food I have eaten move through my digestive system at the appropriate pace. Thank you very much for reminding me how blessed I am and that things could be so much more difficult. I am going to pray for you as the machine puts me through my paces.

May God Bless and Keep You

Ann A.

11

Ann, have you or anyone else here, heard about the Juicing diet which is just fruits and vegetables? I have read a lot of good things about it but it seems like none of this works. I have been on the Visalus diet which I have seen people losing the weight and yet I have not. I am so disgusted.
Ann A. said:

Yah for you Rita and thank you so much for sharing your story.

People who are dealing with diagnoses like Hashimoto's and lupus start out in very different places when it comes to diet. If someone has been eating fast food and prepared food they may need to start by moving to a diet that contains more whole nutrient dense foods.

Margel's Nutrient Dense Eating Plan is a great guide that helps people increase their nutrient density one step at a time moving at their own pace. As a person increases the nutritional density of their diet by increasing their consumption of whole foods they generally find that they have more energy and that they can cope with stress better.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Nutrient-Dense-Eating-Plan/dp/1591200911

The neat things about many whole foods is that there are no labels to read or ingredient lists to stress out over: an apple is an apple, brocolli is brocolli, carrots are carrots.

The rule of thumb offered by Michael Pollan is humorous and simple

If it grew on a plant, eat it. If it was made in a plant do not eat it.

I think the stress comes in when a person who is just starting to pay attention to the fuel that runs their body gets caught up in tryng to find manufactured substitutes and then start to discover that if it was made it in a factory it is unlikely to be healthy just because they left the gluten out.

Simplicity reduces stress.

12

Ann A. I wished I lived close to you the meals you ate today sound delicious. I am going to steal your book you mentioned above and mention it on the fibro site. I got my copy today. Thank you

13

I am no dairy, no gluten, no refined sugar, no red meat, no nightshades, little to no pre-made, processed foods. I can hardly keep weight on despite taking prednisone. The biggest reason I stay on such a strict diet is that eating this way got rid of 90% of my inflammation. Any time I want something off my plan, I remember what it’s like to have hands and feet so swollen that life is miserable. It’s worth every bite!

14

Hi Lucy,

I started eliminating gluten because my doctor suggested that it may be what was causing my stomach distress due to all of the medications I was taking. The weight loss was a by product. I started on 60mg and am now down to 12.5. I have lost 48 lbs, but truly not on purpose.

Like Geneva I have developed a sweet tooth and have found several deserts and recipes that use berries and berry juice as opposed to adding a lot of sugar.

One of my favorites is mixed berries (defrosted), 1 tsp tapioca starch, 1 cup natural rolled oats, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice. Layer the berries, starch, lemon juice. Mix dry ingredients and layer over berries. Top with thin slices of cold real butter. You will be surprised at how good it turns out.

I don't think of it as a diet, I think of it as a life change to feel better. With lupus, anything I can do to make myself feel better is worth a try.

On the gluten-free group page, there are several recipes, but it's a little difficult to navigate. Go to the Add'l pages section and you will find a ton of great recipes.

Good luck...you will do great.