Posted by bleauberry on December 15, 2007, at 6:31:50
In reply to Ritalin weight loss. What can I do to gain Weight?, posted by AdamCanada on December 13, 2007, at 2:13:01
I am 6' tall and weigh 125lbs. So I can definitely relate to your situation. If I had found a solution believe me I would gladly share it. Still searching.
Workouts and protein did nothing. Made my muscles harder but not bigger.
Keep in mind that when people want to lose weight a common strategy is to eat lots of protein and not much carbs. That really works. My doctor said to eat a balanced diet but to put extra emphasis on the carbs. He showed me fatty acid research that shows the fats from milk, cream, and butter are actually very good for you, contrary to all the paranoia of these things clogging arteries (which they don't...long story based on misbalanced diets). His instructions were for me to eat all the butter and fats I can, except avoid the heavy fats of meats such as that grease when cooking hamburger meat.
So eat more butter, more milk, cheese, cream, and more carbs. Keep the diet balanced, but put extra emphasis on those things.
Low weight is often a symptom of low cortisol or hypoadrenalism. You could try an adrenal cortex extract (not adrenal glandular extract) which will help cortisol's functions. Good brand is Allergy Research Products.
It might be interesting to take a complete thyroid lab test including T3, T4 and autoimmune antibodies. Regardless, they only give a rough picture of whether your thyroid is too active or not.
You might consider a parasite cleanse. Don't bother with stool lab tests as they are often negative even when patients start to pass obvious parasites in their stool days or weeks after beginning a cleanse. Dr Clarkia makes a tincture product with Black Walnut Hulls, Wormwood, and Cloves. The combo of those 3 is deadly to all parasites and their eggs. Because it is in a tincture you can customize your dose easily by how many drops you take. If you have parasites (it is estimated 90% of people do, and estimated 100% of psychiatric people do), then they are absorbing some of what you eat while your body is expending massive energy to fight them. My parasite cleanse begins pretty soon.
Malabsorption is another issue. A stool lab test would be helpful to show things about your intestinal health and absorption. Without a test, good intestinal support and healing comes from daily use of plant based digestive enzymes, high quality high dose probiotics, and daily psyllium husks powder that you mix in water or juice.
As for medications that will do it, I gained weight fast on zyprexa. It leveled off after a few months. I went from 135lbs to 148lbs. For me, that was a lot and rather astounding. Great sleep too. So if you aren't afraid of drugs, 2.5mg to 5mg zyprexa might be considered.
Many psych drugs cause weight gain. But it varies so much from person to person you can't predict it, except maybe with zyprexa. The old TCAs like amitriptyline were notorious for weight gain. Maybe take 10mg to 25mg of that a couple hours before bed. It is dirt cheap, whereas zyprexa is gold plated.
And my doc said to eat at least 3 meals per day with a snack inbetween each one. Each snack should also be balanced like a meal, with emphasis on carbs and good fats.
A dietician told me weight is simply the difference between how many calories you eat and how many you burn. I burn a lot at work. A calculator indicated that for me to gain 1 pound per week I would have to eat 5000 calories a day! Geez. I tried as hard as I could one day to eat as much as I could and all high calorie stuff. By the end of the day, stuffed full with no ability to eat another thing, I had only taken in 3500 calories. 5000 is just way out of reach for me.
Oh well. My doc says on the good side that almost everyone would love to be as skinny as you and me. I doubt it. Let them try it.
poster:bleauberry
thread:800497
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071213/msgs/800970.html