weight gain on the SCD and information on how to heal a perianal abscess

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

I have a daughter that has been on the SCD for about 17 months (and on remicade

treatments for 2 years)and is feeling better, but has had a perianal abscess all

of the 17 months.She had surgery to drain it 17 months ago, but it continues to

drain and hurt some. We are having trouble healing the knot (swelling) that

seems to still be there. If anyone has any ideas on how to heal a perianal

abscess we would appreciate it!

Also the 17 months that my 18 year old daughter has been on the SCD she cannot

seem to gain weight. She is currently 5'5 " and 95 pounds. Any ideas would be

great - we don't feel like she is getting enough calories and therefore not

gaining weight. But when we try to add alot of butter or avocado to things it is

too rich and she doesn't feel well.

We currently are not cooking with almond flour because it irritates her rectal

area. We are very discouraged - thanks for everyones help:)

We appreciate all the encouragement on this journey to healing,

D.

daughter - crohn's/perianal abscess

SCD - 17 months

remicade - 2 years

flagyl- 6 months

[Guest guest]

At 10:19 AM 8/13/2010, you wrote:

Also the 17 months that my 18

year old daughter has been on the SCD she cannot seem to gain weight. She

is currently 5'5 " and 95 pounds. Any ideas would be great - we don't

feel like she is getting enough calories and therefore not gaining

weight. But when we try to add alot of butter or avocado to things it is

too rich and she doesn't feel well.

We currently are not cooking with almond flour because it irritates her

rectal area. We are very discouraged - thanks for everyones

help:)

My standard question is -- are you keeping a food diary? If not, it would

be a good idea to start.

SCD is a great normalizer of weight. The person who introduced me

to SCD had severe digestive issues and was desperately underweight. She

gained weight on SCD. I was (and am) quite obese. My acquaintance gained

weight on SCD. And SCD has made great strides towards normalizing my

weight, with a loss of nearly 180 pounds.

Once you get past the early days of shifting from rumen to human

digestion, the trick is eating the right number of calories for your

body.

http://www.lifeclinic.com/focus/weight/calories.asp

has some useful information about how many calories you need to

maintain your weight. Basically, a woman needs 10-11 calories per pound

of her optimum weight just to maintain that body. If one is quite active,

more may be needed. A moderately active man takes 15 calories per pound

of his optimum weight -- it's manifestly unfair to the female of the

species!

So if one's chosen optimum weight (which should be verified with a doctor

or health care practitioner) is 140 pounds, a woman needs between 1400

and 1540 calories per day just to carry on her life processes for a

sedentary life. A man will need 2100 calories per day to maintain the

same weight. If one is at all active, it's necessary to figure out how

many calories are being used up with activity, and add those. This will

almost certainly vary from day to day.

I've mentioned before, that FitDay.Com can be a useful tool in this quest

to get weight stabilized. Just keep in mind that their recommendations

for protein, fat, and carbs are based on the USDA Food Pyramid, which in

turn, is based on the idea that Fat Is Bad and that you need Lots of

Grains. We SCDers know better.

If you want to gain 1 pound per week, you must consume 500 calories per

day MORE than you use.

If you want to lose 1 pound per week, your must consume 500 calories per

day LESS than you use.

Using Fit Day lets a person see just how much s/he's actually eating, and

tracks your activity levels so you know when an extra snack is needed or

when to reduce the size of that serving of nut-flour goody.

Also keep in mind that there's plenty of evidence now popping up to

indicate that unbalanced gut flora can cause issues with both weight gain

and weight loss, so although the above is necessary, it may not be all

you have to tinker with. But for certain, if the calories aren't

there somehow, you can't gain weight. Similarly, if there are too many

calories there, you are unlikely to lose weight.

One person I worked with was quite concerned about his weight loss as he

was a very active person. Turned out, with his activity, he was consuming

something like 1500 calories a day less than he was using -- no wonder he

was dropping weight like crazy and was exhausted all the time!

—

Marilyn

New

Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Undiagnosed IBS since 1976, SCD since 2001

Darn Good SCD Cook

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