Diario de dyerseve726, 09 jul. 23

I'm no doctor, but it is common for me to get light headed in weight loss. And, dizziness consistently goes away when I'm gaining. It is exceptionally difficult to gain muscle while cutting fat. Best wishes on your journey. 

working your way up is hard to do in your situation, make sure you get 3 meals and 3 snacks. focus on meals the most. I hope you are about to gain the amount you need to 

@onedayatatim3 thank you for the kind words. I have an eating disorder called ARFID which makes all of this extra difficult. I often times don't want to eat and have to force myself. I do better at it some days than other and it seems like all my progress gets undone in a matter of a couple days. I think that I also may have IBSC. I plan to ask my doctor what needs to happen to get diagnosed next time I go in. I hope to see a gastroenterologist and really get to the bottom of it.  

@Penderg I would gladly take a whole helping of fat, lol. I'm not trying to lose at all. I'll take every pound I can get. I get this misunderstanding here a lot since I'm one of the few trying to gain and not lose. Thanks for the comment ☺ 

Wish we could trade places for a few months. Are you lightheaded simply from not eating enough? Maybe track your food closely for a week and see if it goes away when your intake is good. You are likely already doing that. Good luck! 💕 

To help my daughter get calories we would use more calorically dense foods, like heavy cream in soups, protein shakes with ice cream added to the blender, veggies cooked in butter and olive oil. Things that packed a big calorie punch but are small switches. I think gaining is harder than losing! Hope you get some ibs relief and good luck on your journey! 

If you want to gain weight, try the "diet" I used when I was 450 pounds, here's a sample menu- Breakfast 2 boxes of Little Debbie (any variety!) and a pot of coffee (alternatively if you want a "healthier" option, a gallon of milk), snack 2 packs of Ramen noodles (any variety) Lunch- 1 Papa John's The Works pizza, half a case of Dr. Pepper -Snack Three Snickers -Dinner: A dozen Tamales, beans and rice, and a couple of bonus tacos for dessert (I'm not much of a sweets guy!) a gallon of sweet tea- Snack- a can of peaches because I gotta get my fruit in. <<-- That's how you pack it on my friend.  

Try adding about 2 tsp of salt to some water and/or electrolytes for help with being light-headed.  

Are you eating in a caloric surplus? Over 2,000? 

You are in a tough spot. I agree, you need some legitimate medical help. Regarding your diet, actually log what you are eating if you are not already doing that and see if your calorie intake is actually meeting your basic requirements. Concentrate on good quality fats like avocado (makes a great chocolate smoothie or chocolate pudding) and high quality proteins. Skip the junk food, you don’t need those kind of calories. You need nutrition. Use a protein drink or an actual meal replacement shake like BOOST or ENSURE. Don’t give up on your search for a medical clinician, you need some help 

I was actually on the same boat. Couldn’t gain until I started counting how much I ate. And it turn out to be 1600-1800 increases it to 2200-2400 which seemed like an immense amount of food being that I was whole foods only at the time but the weight went up 

With ARFID you will only eat a limited amount of certain foods if i understand this eating disorder correctly? What are the foods you will allow yourself to eat? Are they high in protein? Or fat? The lightheadedness most likely is from caloric insufficiency. Have you met with a nutritionist and/or are you in a position to do so? 

I just took a glance at your food journal. Like a lot of folks your protein is way too low and it looks like your calories are definitely too low. Can you start with adding cheddar cheese to your burger? Get a little extra protein and some fat that way. Can you beef up your protein shake by adding yogurt and bananas and making it into a smoothie? Little extra additions. 

@Yearofhealth2023 I didn't realize you could see my food journal. I only just started tracking again and I've been feeling quite ill the last two days, so I wouldn't put too much stock in my recent history. Everything I eat makes me feel sick right now. Pretty severe stomach/intestinal pain. I'll be taking a trip to the ER tomorrow if I can't begin eating properly again. I'm starting to suspect something beyond IBSC, possibly an ulcer. I am normally able to get 2000 calories when I'm not feeling sick and I put the effort in. The thing about ARFID though is that, as you get older, your safe foods become almost tedious to force down. Pizza and burgers are great, but eating them every day is not great.  

Dyer-due to my caloric restrictions (not because i want them restricted but because my metabolism is very screwed up) my foods tend to be the same few things over and over unless i see something on here that can fit my protein goals/calorie goals. If you are having severe pain dont want a day. I had multiple duodenal ulcers in my 20’s and they can be very serious. Please go today. Are there any other foods that you feel safe with aside from pizza and burgers? 

Don’t wait a day to see doc i meant. Didn’t proofread before sent  

Yearofhealth2023 I took your advice. In the ER as we speak. I was in afib when I got here so there's more going on than gastro stuff. Thank you!  

Dyer-OMG. Please keep me posted! You look like you are very very young im so concerned for you. I followed you so your posts should populate for me but you can always private message me. God bless you sweet boy. 

@Yearofhealth2023 I have been released and told I have nothing immediately life threatening going on. They want me to followup with my cardiologist due to the occasional arrhythmia. Unfortunately, this isn't my first go round at this. I had a similar event about a year and a half ago. Went to the ER with unexplained heart palpitations. Eventually released basically saying "you're not gonna die right now", lol. Gave me a heart monitor to wear for a few weeks. Had a stress test and echocardiogram a couple months later that turned up nothing, but of course I wasn't having symptoms at that point. They also said that the pain I'm feeling is definitely not my heart, could very well be an ulcer, but again, nothing immediately dangerous. I'll be calling cardiology and GI in the morning. Thanks for your encouragement. I hate going to the ER. Fresh trauma every time for a nervous nelly like myself. However, it's nice to know my heart probably won't stop tonight ☺  

Dyer-i went back and read thru your journals so i saw that. I am not a medical professional so im just asking a couple of general questions—how many ounces of clear fluids do you get in a day? What are the foods that you are comfortable eating? I saw that you had yourself up around 2000 calories at one point but were still struggling a little trying to put on weight. How tall are you? How old are you? Im guessing early 20’s? Did you manage to stay off the vape? I saw that you had stopped alcohol (good for you) and had stopped vaping but then didnt mention again. Lot of toxins in vape chemicals. Do you have a family history of GI problems? There is a reason im asking these questions. You definitely need some help and certainly from someone much more qualified than i am but sometimes there are simple things going on that we dont think of and a stranger may think of if that makes sense. Im glad you are out of danger for the night but its very worrisome.