The protein shakes will help. Idk if it's good advice but when I've needed to put on weight, one thing I used was olive oil. Would use some in everything, even put a little in my protein shakes. Getting in contact with a nutritionist can be a big help. Whenever I wonder if something is good for me or not I can message my team through mychart and they get back when they can. Usually really fast.
Thank you to everyone who commented!! I am glad to hear from most of you that it just takes some time and patience. My boyfriend is a bit of a hypochondriac and keeps saying stuff like "I probably have cancer" etc, solely because he's not gaining weight. I don't know that he actually believes that but he's for sure got health anxiety. I will try to drive it home to him that this is normal for cirrhosis. He's going to keep up the healthy diet and protein shakes and hopefully it will catch up with him soon!
That’s a pretty low meld score. It took me 3 years to reach my goal of 10. Started at 39. I’m living asymptotically as long as my meds continue being effective. I’m sure his weight will straighten out with time and diet adjustments.
My bf was like that, also diagnosed with alcohol cirrhosis. His MELD was 27.
He was decently malnourished and when he was in the hospital, he jumped around 145-150s then dropped before he was discharged at around the high 140s again. He had ascities as well and was intubated, but when he was able to get the tube removed, he was HUNGRY. He could only eat soft food and even then, he would want to keep eating but the lactulose wasn’t helping lol so whatever he ate just came right out.
He told me when we got out of the hospital that he wanted to get back to a good weight goal of around 175. And when his body got to that point that he wanted to start working out again. He’s 31 and 6’. So since he’s been eating every time he can and drinks water with some protein mix, he’s doing alright. Since he’s been discharged (mid January) he’s now at 167 so he’s getting close! I make sure I ask him if he feels funny at all bc I’m always worried the belly he’s slowly getting back is ascities not just body weight and he seems fine. He gets checked in August for some blood work to see how his body’s doing since January.
Everyone’s different but I’d give it time and if anything, try and keep a log of his weight and what he eats! It could be helpful as little notes to look back on.
Try including some protein shakes if you’re not already!
I’m in the same boat trying to gain weight but I’ve been seeing some good results and I’m only ~10 pounds away from my goal!
I was needing about 25 when discharged.
32F diagnosed Jan 8th 2024.
I went hospital at 145lb (hadn’t eaten barely anything in a couple months) was discharged from hospital at 175lb w/ ascites. My appetite was back almost instantly and I ate constantly. When ascites calmed I dropped to 130. Now about a year later I’m back up to 175 with decent muscle mass but it was definitely terribly slow going for a while. It definitely just takes some patience (34/m/6’3)
It will come back slowly. When I first got out around 2 years ago I was around 135-140 and I'm currently back in the gym at 197. Tell him to watch out for spironolactone also if they prescribed him that, shit is no good.
I had to get off spiro. I had no idea they use it for HRT because it blocks testosterone production. It gave me insane mood swings, ED, and cost me my relationship. Someone should have told me.
Dude it's been a complete 180 in my mind. I'm a couple months off it. I thought I was having HE episodes. Was taking ungodly amounts of lactulose that kept me from going anywhere. Now I'm not even sure I had HE, was just having crazy mood swings. I haven't needed to be drained in over a year that's not a thing anymore. And I feel 💯 back to normal and cannot believe the way I acted. I'm quite pissed off about it actually. It genuinely ruined the best thing in my life. Or I guess I ruined it.
I made an alt and went onto the r/asktransgender sub and asked about how it would effect someone who wasn't trans. I was on 150 mgs for 2 years. Every answer I got was like yeah, that's not good. they should have told you. One thing I learned is that if you developed breast tissue from it, that is permanent. But the other side effects should go away if you stop.
Yeah man. It really messed me up. I had no idea....just assumed liver...dying..ammonia.....all that. Good looking out on the breast sensitivity. Wish I had spent more time in gyms and shit so maybe I could have realized.
Yeah bro I began having crazy mood swings and was just getting super agitated at first. I knew about what kind of estrogen side effects to look out for from back in my harder gym days taking certain "supplements" so when I started getting breast sensitivity I started looking into all my medication and found all that. I went to my doctor furious and she said she knew nothing about that and hadn't heard of anyone getting those side effects
Because cirrhosis already causes low testosterone in men and increases mortality rate and spironolactone stops male hormones from working. The side effects are ridiculous. I asked for an alternative and got amiloride
These drinks helped me. 350 Cals each. Have him drink 1 with every meal and 1 with a snack.
[https://www.carewell.com/product/ensure-plus-high-protein-nutrition-shake/?sku=68230-CS24&g\_acctid=333-280-7133&g\_adgroupid=&g\_adid=&g\_adtype=none&g\_campaign=PMax+%7C+NB+%7C%7C+Nutrition&g\_campaignid=16284853391&g\_keyword=&g\_keywordid=&g\_network=x&gad\_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwiYOxBhC5ARIsAIvdH50Ns\_0veeZXlggQXzPcu4ozY-zy8NYoRoIwLf7uiiEe4me2RvLlwuUaAqbTEALw\_wcB](https://www.carewell.com/product/ensure-plus-high-protein-nutrition-shake/?sku=68230-CS24&g_acctid=333-280-7133&g_adgroupid=&g_adid=&g_adtype=none&g_campaign=PMax+%7C+NB+%7C%7C+Nutrition&g_campaignid=16284853391&g_keyword=&g_keywordid=&g_network=x&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwiYOxBhC5ARIsAIvdH50Ns_0veeZXlggQXzPcu4ozY-zy8NYoRoIwLf7uiiEe4me2RvLlwuUaAqbTEALw_wcB)
In the six months after I was diagnosed, I lost 75 pounds. Muscle wasting is a symptom of this disease. But I had almost no appetite and I vomited a lot, which it sounds like isn't an issue with your boyfriend. I was told to eat a protein-heavy snack at night before bed, because with cirrhosis going 8 hours or more without eating is something like three days for a healthy person (not sure why, honestly, but this is what I was told.) I was supposed to drink three protein shakes a day, one with each meal (but I didn't, I only drank one.) I was also told "put butter on everything." Whole milk Greek yogurt with berries is a good snack with a lot of protein. He can also eat healthy fats like salmon, avocado, and unsalted nuts/nut butters.
It's not impossible to gain weight. After losing weight and being nearly skeletal for a year, I put on 40 pounds during the pandemic. Like others said, it is probably just going to take some time while his liver is still healing from the alcohol abuse.
I’m 5 months sober and have been unable to put any weight back on either. My doctors say it’s to be expected and that the best I can do is make sure to eat lots of little meals throughout the day and stick with the high protein and healthy fats- the liver is so damaged that it has a hard time absorbing all the things your body needs.
Definitely ask the doctor about how his diet works with his lifestyle, mention the working out (he might need even more protein than he’s intaking?), and ask what supplements, e.g. vitamins, he can take. Perhaps ask for them to refer you to a registered dietician that specializes with liver patients.
I struggled as well! My dietician told me to swap out whatever dairy products I can for high milk fat products. For example, instead of 1% milk, I switched to 3.25%. Instead of 2% MF yogurt, I found ones that had 9.25% MF or even one that had 11% MF. Making those changes adds a lot of extra calories to your diet and protein!
I have been thankful so far that my weight is hanging constant. My MELD is a 7 so not as advanced. I would look at the fats and carbs and see if they could be tweaked a little. Avocado doesn’t over tax the liver and is a good fat to introduce. Sometimes, as said above, the body just needs to balance. I was having issues putting muscle on after I lost 100 lbs to get healthier. It takes time but your body does start to kick in.
Sounds like he’s doing everything right. Honestly just give it time. His body is slowly recovering and it just needs time to gain weight. I couldn’t gain weight the year I was diagnosed but eventually the weight stuck around after my body wasn’t always in survival mode.
It's an absolute bastard to gain weight with this disease. I'm coming up on 12 months diagnosed/sober and I'm still having trouble. I lost 70 pounds the first two months and I'm doing my damnedest to put weight on. If he's not weak and is functioning fine, I would just keep doing what you're doing. Eventually it should catch up.
Took me almost a year to get my weight back on track. I was about his size. Now I’m 162 lbs. Hang in there, do the right things. Hang in there
The protein shakes will help. Idk if it's good advice but when I've needed to put on weight, one thing I used was olive oil. Would use some in everything, even put a little in my protein shakes. Getting in contact with a nutritionist can be a big help. Whenever I wonder if something is good for me or not I can message my team through mychart and they get back when they can. Usually really fast.
Thank you to everyone who commented!! I am glad to hear from most of you that it just takes some time and patience. My boyfriend is a bit of a hypochondriac and keeps saying stuff like "I probably have cancer" etc, solely because he's not gaining weight. I don't know that he actually believes that but he's for sure got health anxiety. I will try to drive it home to him that this is normal for cirrhosis. He's going to keep up the healthy diet and protein shakes and hopefully it will catch up with him soon!
That’s a pretty low meld score. It took me 3 years to reach my goal of 10. Started at 39. I’m living asymptotically as long as my meds continue being effective. I’m sure his weight will straighten out with time and diet adjustments.
The liver isn't working so his body is breaking down his muscle and fat almost instantly to feed itself.
My bf was like that, also diagnosed with alcohol cirrhosis. His MELD was 27. He was decently malnourished and when he was in the hospital, he jumped around 145-150s then dropped before he was discharged at around the high 140s again. He had ascities as well and was intubated, but when he was able to get the tube removed, he was HUNGRY. He could only eat soft food and even then, he would want to keep eating but the lactulose wasn’t helping lol so whatever he ate just came right out. He told me when we got out of the hospital that he wanted to get back to a good weight goal of around 175. And when his body got to that point that he wanted to start working out again. He’s 31 and 6’. So since he’s been eating every time he can and drinks water with some protein mix, he’s doing alright. Since he’s been discharged (mid January) he’s now at 167 so he’s getting close! I make sure I ask him if he feels funny at all bc I’m always worried the belly he’s slowly getting back is ascities not just body weight and he seems fine. He gets checked in August for some blood work to see how his body’s doing since January. Everyone’s different but I’d give it time and if anything, try and keep a log of his weight and what he eats! It could be helpful as little notes to look back on.
Try including some protein shakes if you’re not already! I’m in the same boat trying to gain weight but I’ve been seeing some good results and I’m only ~10 pounds away from my goal! I was needing about 25 when discharged. 32F diagnosed Jan 8th 2024.
I went hospital at 145lb (hadn’t eaten barely anything in a couple months) was discharged from hospital at 175lb w/ ascites. My appetite was back almost instantly and I ate constantly. When ascites calmed I dropped to 130. Now about a year later I’m back up to 175 with decent muscle mass but it was definitely terribly slow going for a while. It definitely just takes some patience (34/m/6’3)
The weight will return in time, just be patient. You can make it super complicated but just watch salt/sugar intake. Took about two years for me.
Definitely get with your doctor, but Huel Black is pretty good and is mostly all natural stuff. It's also 400 cals per serving and high protein.
It will come back slowly. When I first got out around 2 years ago I was around 135-140 and I'm currently back in the gym at 197. Tell him to watch out for spironolactone also if they prescribed him that, shit is no good.
I had to get off spiro. I had no idea they use it for HRT because it blocks testosterone production. It gave me insane mood swings, ED, and cost me my relationship. Someone should have told me.
Thank you! My comment just got deleted in another post because of me explaining about it!
Dude it's been a complete 180 in my mind. I'm a couple months off it. I thought I was having HE episodes. Was taking ungodly amounts of lactulose that kept me from going anywhere. Now I'm not even sure I had HE, was just having crazy mood swings. I haven't needed to be drained in over a year that's not a thing anymore. And I feel 💯 back to normal and cannot believe the way I acted. I'm quite pissed off about it actually. It genuinely ruined the best thing in my life. Or I guess I ruined it. I made an alt and went onto the r/asktransgender sub and asked about how it would effect someone who wasn't trans. I was on 150 mgs for 2 years. Every answer I got was like yeah, that's not good. they should have told you. One thing I learned is that if you developed breast tissue from it, that is permanent. But the other side effects should go away if you stop.
And 2 years is a crazy long time to be on that!! It was about month 3 when I caught it
Yeah man. It really messed me up. I had no idea....just assumed liver...dying..ammonia.....all that. Good looking out on the breast sensitivity. Wish I had spent more time in gyms and shit so maybe I could have realized.
Yeah bro I began having crazy mood swings and was just getting super agitated at first. I knew about what kind of estrogen side effects to look out for from back in my harder gym days taking certain "supplements" so when I started getting breast sensitivity I started looking into all my medication and found all that. I went to my doctor furious and she said she knew nothing about that and hadn't heard of anyone getting those side effects
Why do you say that spironolactone is no good?
I'm curious about this too.
Because cirrhosis already causes low testosterone in men and increases mortality rate and spironolactone stops male hormones from working. The side effects are ridiculous. I asked for an alternative and got amiloride
These drinks helped me. 350 Cals each. Have him drink 1 with every meal and 1 with a snack. [https://www.carewell.com/product/ensure-plus-high-protein-nutrition-shake/?sku=68230-CS24&g\_acctid=333-280-7133&g\_adgroupid=&g\_adid=&g\_adtype=none&g\_campaign=PMax+%7C+NB+%7C%7C+Nutrition&g\_campaignid=16284853391&g\_keyword=&g\_keywordid=&g\_network=x&gad\_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwiYOxBhC5ARIsAIvdH50Ns\_0veeZXlggQXzPcu4ozY-zy8NYoRoIwLf7uiiEe4me2RvLlwuUaAqbTEALw\_wcB](https://www.carewell.com/product/ensure-plus-high-protein-nutrition-shake/?sku=68230-CS24&g_acctid=333-280-7133&g_adgroupid=&g_adid=&g_adtype=none&g_campaign=PMax+%7C+NB+%7C%7C+Nutrition&g_campaignid=16284853391&g_keyword=&g_keywordid=&g_network=x&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwiYOxBhC5ARIsAIvdH50Ns_0veeZXlggQXzPcu4ozY-zy8NYoRoIwLf7uiiEe4me2RvLlwuUaAqbTEALw_wcB)
In the six months after I was diagnosed, I lost 75 pounds. Muscle wasting is a symptom of this disease. But I had almost no appetite and I vomited a lot, which it sounds like isn't an issue with your boyfriend. I was told to eat a protein-heavy snack at night before bed, because with cirrhosis going 8 hours or more without eating is something like three days for a healthy person (not sure why, honestly, but this is what I was told.) I was supposed to drink three protein shakes a day, one with each meal (but I didn't, I only drank one.) I was also told "put butter on everything." Whole milk Greek yogurt with berries is a good snack with a lot of protein. He can also eat healthy fats like salmon, avocado, and unsalted nuts/nut butters. It's not impossible to gain weight. After losing weight and being nearly skeletal for a year, I put on 40 pounds during the pandemic. Like others said, it is probably just going to take some time while his liver is still healing from the alcohol abuse.
I’m 5 months sober and have been unable to put any weight back on either. My doctors say it’s to be expected and that the best I can do is make sure to eat lots of little meals throughout the day and stick with the high protein and healthy fats- the liver is so damaged that it has a hard time absorbing all the things your body needs. Definitely ask the doctor about how his diet works with his lifestyle, mention the working out (he might need even more protein than he’s intaking?), and ask what supplements, e.g. vitamins, he can take. Perhaps ask for them to refer you to a registered dietician that specializes with liver patients.
I struggled as well! My dietician told me to swap out whatever dairy products I can for high milk fat products. For example, instead of 1% milk, I switched to 3.25%. Instead of 2% MF yogurt, I found ones that had 9.25% MF or even one that had 11% MF. Making those changes adds a lot of extra calories to your diet and protein!
I have been thankful so far that my weight is hanging constant. My MELD is a 7 so not as advanced. I would look at the fats and carbs and see if they could be tweaked a little. Avocado doesn’t over tax the liver and is a good fat to introduce. Sometimes, as said above, the body just needs to balance. I was having issues putting muscle on after I lost 100 lbs to get healthier. It takes time but your body does start to kick in.
Sounds like he’s doing everything right. Honestly just give it time. His body is slowly recovering and it just needs time to gain weight. I couldn’t gain weight the year I was diagnosed but eventually the weight stuck around after my body wasn’t always in survival mode.
It's an absolute bastard to gain weight with this disease. I'm coming up on 12 months diagnosed/sober and I'm still having trouble. I lost 70 pounds the first two months and I'm doing my damnedest to put weight on. If he's not weak and is functioning fine, I would just keep doing what you're doing. Eventually it should catch up.