Need to put on weight
Discussion
Hi all. For reasons I won't bore you with I've lost over a stone in 2-3 years without realising. Well, I'd noticed the back of my thighs were thinner and face looking a bit more gaunt but I put it down to age (late 50s). Yesterday I got a horrible shock when I got on the scales and saw 10st 10lbs when it used to be over 12st. My GP says 'eat cream cakes' which doesn't sound like a great way to gain weight in the right manner. Is there a better way please, ie to get mass on in the right places and not just my tummy?
Lots, if not most people lose some weight as they age.
It's estimated 10% to 20% of men over 65 lose 5% or more of their body weight over the rest of their lifetime.
But losing 5% of your weight in one year or 10% over two years warrants a check.
However, what are you eating? Have you changed your diet?
Weight loss can also point to a person's diet not containing the right amount of nutrients.
It's amazing how many change and follow fads or cut essentials out without realising.
It's estimated 10% to 20% of men over 65 lose 5% or more of their body weight over the rest of their lifetime.
But losing 5% of your weight in one year or 10% over two years warrants a check.
However, what are you eating? Have you changed your diet?
Weight loss can also point to a person's diet not containing the right amount of nutrients.
It's amazing how many change and follow fads or cut essentials out without realising.
Thanks all. I've suffered with wind and occasional anxiety for decades and over the last few years my tummy has grown to give a slight pregnant look. GP said 'looks like 'weak abdominal muscles' though I wasn't convinced. I put it down to 'middle age spread'. But for maybe a year I've had to undo my trouser button to sit down comfortably and I don't see fat people having to do that. Wind got worse and this year I started getting a bloated feeling. 'Excess stomach acid' was the telephone diagnosis so I was on lansoprazole for 5-6 weeks. Worked for two days but then no useful effect. Last week I spoke to another GP who examined me and prescribed mebeverine, which has helped the bloating feeling but not the wind. I hadn't realised I'd lost weight until I saw 'anorexic' on the form. WTF? And then yesterday I weighed myself and got scared... I think the weight loss is down to anxiety, which reduces appetite, and also the fact that when you feel bloated you don't want to put food in. Also social isolation at present. I'd also been eating less to try to get the tummy down, avoiding fattier foods and eating more fruit thinking 'That's healthier' when in fact maybe it wasn't.
k it up.
ClaphamGT3 said:
At risk of sounding alarmist, given your age, has your gp screened you for bowel cancer?
Stool sample is off for analysis, blood test on Monday, then endoscopy is the plan at present (all arranged by GP2). I wondered if a scan would show anything but GP1 said it wouldn't without a reference scan. He didn't seem interested in ordering one. I have major reservations over GP1; he may be right but I only have one life and I don't want him to fk it up.I had a pretty similar experience last year - at 56 I went down from 147lbs (and already quite lean) to around 138lbs. Definitely worth checking out the kind of weight loss you have experienced. I was given a full body CT and gastroscopy which, fortunately , ruled out anything obviously ominous. Dr finally left the weight loss as "unexplained".
I had previously tested positive for H-Pylori but had opted not to take the antibiotic / PPI treatment, as the H-Pylori didn't seem to be causing any issues. At the height of the weight loss, I took a non-drug approach to getting rid of it, and weight magically went back up and is now back to normal 147 lbs.
Might be worth getting tested for H-Pylori, although it doesn't sound like your GP is the most pro-active on the diagnostic front. (Sounds like they would be more at home behind a cake-shop counter than a doctor's surgery).
Edited to add - just seen previous comment with reference to stomach issues / bloating - I had this as well (which was really out of character for me) and my guess is that it was the H-Pylori playing up because I was a bit stressed. Fingers crossed that your tests come back negative, if so, it might be worth raising the issue of H-Pylori with GP2.
I had previously tested positive for H-Pylori but had opted not to take the antibiotic / PPI treatment, as the H-Pylori didn't seem to be causing any issues. At the height of the weight loss, I took a non-drug approach to getting rid of it, and weight magically went back up and is now back to normal 147 lbs.
Might be worth getting tested for H-Pylori, although it doesn't sound like your GP is the most pro-active on the diagnostic front. (Sounds like they would be more at home behind a cake-shop counter than a doctor's surgery).
Edited to add - just seen previous comment with reference to stomach issues / bloating - I had this as well (which was really out of character for me) and my guess is that it was the H-Pylori playing up because I was a bit stressed. Fingers crossed that your tests come back negative, if so, it might be worth raising the issue of H-Pylori with GP2.
Edited by ian996 on Saturday 6th March 13:37
ian996 said:
I had a pretty similar experience last year - at 56 I went down from 147lbs (and already quite lean) to around 138lbs. Definitely worth checking out the kind of weight loss you have experienced. I was given a full body CT and gastroscopy which, fortunately , ruled out anything obviously ominous. Dr finally left the weight loss as "unexplained".
I had previously tested positive for H-Pylori but had opted not to take the antibiotic / PPI treatment, as the H-Pylori didn't seem to be causing any issues. At the height of the weight loss, I took a non-drug approach to getting rid of it, and weight magically went back up and is now back to normal 147 lbs.
Might be worth getting tested for H-Pylori, although it doesn't sound like your GP is the most pro-active on the diagnostic front. (Sounds like they would be more at home behind a cake-shop counter than a doctor's surgery).
Edited to add - just seen previous comment with reference to stomach issues / bloating - I had this as well (which was really out of character for me) and my guess is that it was the H-Pylori playing up because I was a bit stressed. Fingers crossed that your tests come back negative, if so, it might be worth raising the issue of H-Pylori with GP2.
That's good to hear, thanks Ian. GP2 did add a H.Pylori test to the sheet. What was your non-drug answer?I had previously tested positive for H-Pylori but had opted not to take the antibiotic / PPI treatment, as the H-Pylori didn't seem to be causing any issues. At the height of the weight loss, I took a non-drug approach to getting rid of it, and weight magically went back up and is now back to normal 147 lbs.
Might be worth getting tested for H-Pylori, although it doesn't sound like your GP is the most pro-active on the diagnostic front. (Sounds like they would be more at home behind a cake-shop counter than a doctor's surgery).
Edited to add - just seen previous comment with reference to stomach issues / bloating - I had this as well (which was really out of character for me) and my guess is that it was the H-Pylori playing up because I was a bit stressed. Fingers crossed that your tests come back negative, if so, it might be worth raising the issue of H-Pylori with GP2.
Amusingly (not really) when I was suffering with some anxiety last year and having palpitations (which stopped as quickly as they had started), GP1's advice was 'Whisky'. Needless to say I ignored that. He dismissed IBS as a reason last year, saying it was just a general term for when people didn't know what the problem was, but now says it's IBS. It's hard for me because you go to a professional for best advice, but then have to think afterwards 'Actually is that b
ks?'I'm 6'0 and generally skinny build - apart from the tummy. I was probably last this weight when I was in my late 20s, it's just distributed a bit differently now! When I was 12st+ it was mostly around the middle.
GP2 says endosccopy is the 'gold standard' for this sort of thing, not ultrasound. I asked about CT but she said that was extreme due to the radiation. Does that fit with anyone else's experiences? I just feel I have to double-check everything...
Edited by spangle82 on Saturday 6th March 16:43
Obviously do get checked for other more serious things, but I’ve found in times of stress (I’ve had anxiety myself a few years ago) you do eat less and not realise.
Basically you have to make yourself eat. I find it helps if food is to hand as making it when you don’t even feel hungry adds to the issue.
Set yourself some meals .
Slow oats are good as your u can preprep for example. Have them at breakfast.
If underweight perhaps something else around 10, sandwich whatever.
Meal around 12
Something at 4
Something later on.
Whilst doing this I’d exercise, can I suggest a bike ride. This may seem odd as exercise can be associated with loosing weight but if eating enougth you won’t just tone up even at 50.
Also the exercise really will start to help with anxiety.
I can’t stress how biking changed my mindset / anxiety. I’m not talking about 50 miles a day just 10 every other day etc changed things.
I’ve also started doing the joe wicks 20 min workout on YouTube, again people laugh but it bloody works.
This did not happen overnight it started with one or two bike rides and is growing into a lifestyle for me.
As stated get the other more serious stuff checked but I promise you eating little and often and exercise will help with anxiety, the nock on affect will be a better appetite. The side affect willl be body starting to look more toned.
Good luck
Basically you have to make yourself eat. I find it helps if food is to hand as making it when you don’t even feel hungry adds to the issue.
Set yourself some meals .
Slow oats are good as your u can preprep for example. Have them at breakfast.
If underweight perhaps something else around 10, sandwich whatever.
Meal around 12
Something at 4
Something later on.
Whilst doing this I’d exercise, can I suggest a bike ride. This may seem odd as exercise can be associated with loosing weight but if eating enougth you won’t just tone up even at 50.
Also the exercise really will start to help with anxiety.
I can’t stress how biking changed my mindset / anxiety. I’m not talking about 50 miles a day just 10 every other day etc changed things.
I’ve also started doing the joe wicks 20 min workout on YouTube, again people laugh but it bloody works.
This did not happen overnight it started with one or two bike rides and is growing into a lifestyle for me.
As stated get the other more serious stuff checked but I promise you eating little and often and exercise will help with anxiety, the nock on affect will be a better appetite. The side affect willl be body starting to look more toned.
Good luck
spangle82 said:
That's good to hear, thanks Ian. GP2 did add a H.Pylori test to the sheet. What was your non-drug answer?
Basically, to cut out everything from diet that H-Pylori thrives on and add as much as I could that attacks it...I'll try and dig out the list I used and post it later. Main supplement was Mastic Gum. I didn't want to take a huge does of antibiotics during the early part of the Covid thing, as they have a habit of screwing with your immune system, so I thought I'd give the "alternative" approach a go. I'm open minded about these things... if they work, they work; if they don't, they don't. This time, there was a pretty direct correlation between my attempt to zap the H-Pylori and my weight and metabolism returning to normal. If it was a placebo effect, I'm happy with that (no known side-effects!)My weight loss was weird. I've always been (hyper) active in terms of exercise and I had always assumed that, at some stage, my metabolism would slow down and I'd start to put on a bit of middle-aged padding. Instead of that, all of a sudden, I literally could not eat enough to maintain my weight - I was cramming down protein bars like they were going out of fashion. It was as if my metabolism was getting super-charged...I had all the thyroid tests, and they were normal, so I guessed it must be some kind of failure to absorb nutrients - that's when I decided to have a go at the H-Pylori. All this happened around the start of the pandemic, so going to the GP was not an option for a while, but the DIY approach seemed to do the trick for me.
Ilovejapcrap said:
good ideas
Thanks very much, it's encouraging. I ate more last night and it went down very well, and I woke at about 5am feeling hungry again!ian996 said:
Basically, to cut out everything from diet that H-Pylori thrives on and add as much as I could that attacks it...I'll try and dig out the list I used and post it later.
That would be good to see 
Whilst cream cakes might be great for fat, I went to the chemist last night looking for something to add protein and carbohydrate. They didn't have much but I had a good chat with the pharmacist who gave me some Aymes chicken soup for snacks, and recommended Maxijul for carbs. I found that on Amazon and also ordered some Impact whey protein powder which makes a strawberry drink. Probably disgusting but we'll see...
Thanks to everyone who replied, it really has been helpful and reassuring.
ClaphamGT3 said:
At risk of sounding alarmist, given your age, has your gp screened you for bowel cancer?
My dad 73 at the time and very fit, started to lose weight.Felt fine but eventually went to get checked.
This was a Tuesday. Operated on for a very big bowel cancer on the Friday.
I would 100% go and get checked as a matter of urgency!
A note to the overweight amongst you. He was told by the specialist that they were happy to operate so quickly because of his physical condition.
However, they are seeing more people in 30-50 age group that they won't operate on until some weight has been lost. People (men and women) that are overweight or obese in their 30s!
Another example of how being overweight can affect your health and life expectancy.
Plus the cost to NHS in terms of more support being required.
No excuse.
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