Can I ask what others' experience has been with weight gain (or lack thereof) following an ileostomy?
I had my ileostomy coming up to a year ago (it will be a year in May). This was after suffering from an acute attack of severe ulcerative colitis.
Before the illness, I was about 75 kgs. I'm 5 ft 9, so I wasn't a muscle man to start with, but was a fairly respectable weight.
After the operation and a combination of the illness, loss of appetite, and NHS food, I was down to 55 kgs. Not at all a healthy weight!
I had the summer off work to recover, come to terms with things, and put on some weight by eating as many high-protein meals as possible. I also drank the Fresubin Energy drinks which the NHS prescribes, which are high in protein. By the time I went back to work (August, so within 3 months), I managed to get myself up to 64 kgs, still underweight compared to what I'm used to, but getting toward normal.
The problem is that since returning to work, I haven't been able to smash the 64 kg barrier. In fact, I caught the dreaded winter vomiting bug that did the rounds two months back and was knocked down to 60 kgs. I weigh myself every week and since then it's been gain a kilo, lose a kilo, gain two, lose one the next week, and the end result is I'm still hovering around the 60 kgs mark.
Is this a normal experience? Is there a magic solution to putting the weight back on following an ileostomy? I always try to go for high-protein dishes when I can and I keep drinking a Fresubin drink every day, but it just doesn't seem to be happening for me. Any suggestions?
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