Help! Cannot lose weight put on whilst bedridden and taking steroids

[TotallyUtterlyDesperate]

I hope this is the right place to post this and I have nc just for this thread.

I am in my 60s and for ten years have been struggling with a range of conditions that have left me seriously overweight and mostly bedridden. I have auto-immune problems, chronic cough, asthma, osteoporosis, acid reflux, sarcoidosis and loads more. Amongst my medications are morphine and steroids.

I cannot exercise as that sets off my chronic cough which is so bad that I have been taken to A & E on several occasions. I don’t think that my diet is too bad and I don’t drink any alcohol or smoke. Somehow, I need to try to lose weight.

This is roughly what I eat each day:

• Banana first thing. This is because I wake up every morning feeling nauseous and am often actually sick and the banana seems to help.
• Breakfast: a small bowl of porridge made with milk and a tiny bit of sugar and salt. Pot of tea.
• Lunch: usually a sandwich made with two slices of wholemeal or 50:50 bread, pâté or cheese spread, no margarine. Handful of cherry tomatoes or a small salad. Sometimes supermarket sushi instead of the sandwich.
• Mid afternoon snack: this is where I tend to be “naughty”. Could be any one item of the following: banana, slice of bread and jam, small packet of crisps, or a small bun. Plus tea.
• Dinner: small piece of meat or fish with veg and potatoes, maybe with gravy or a sauce. No pudding.
• Evening: no more food, just tea or water.

All day I drink tea with a small amount of semi-skimmed milk, plus lots of water. No sugary drinks at all. I have to be careful about food because crumbs and other items can set off my cough and a lot of things give me severe acid reflux so no: toast, biscuits, chocolate, apples, oranges, mashed potato etc.

My weight gain has been from around 9 stones when I was working, about five years ago, to 12.5 stones at my weigh-in at the hospital last week. I am 5ft 4ins and wear size 14 to 16 clothes which are now beginning to feel tight. My face has ballooned and I feel miserable and ugly. I know there are loads of people who are worse off than I am, but all of this is affecting my mental health.

Can anyone help me please?

Are you still on the steroids? I think it's very hard to lose if you are. Could they be reduced?
Can you do gentle but perpetual exercise - just keep moving more each day - potter around more, take long slow walks on gentle inclines, stretch whenever you can, rotate ankles and knees to help reduce any swellings.
Could you lift weights? not plenty of reps that get you breathless, but maybe 3-5 reps at a time of a kettlebell or handweights.

I know that's not much but it may begin to help.

I sympathise. Also 5'4" and ballooned from 9.5 stone to 11.5 stone in recent years. I exercise and eat healthily but it keeps piling on. I should probably try a starvation diet but haven't the patience with them. But it's horrible when the larger sizes start feeling tight isn't it?

Thank you MinaPaws - love the name! I know that I need to try to move more. DH is a former PE teacher and keeps trying to encourage me. I just get so terrified that I will have another cough. I think is will be on steroids for life and they have tried to cut down the dose, but then have to put it back up again.

If I don’t move more, I cannot imagine what will happen. So worrying.

Oops! NC fail!

It must be hard to be in that position. It doesn't sound like you're over eating, but I guess if you're not moving a great deal, weight gain will happen. And of course, the steroids are dreadful for weight gain.

The advice from MinaPaws is good - a few reps here and there with weights will help to slowly build muscle and the more muscle you have, the quicker your body will use calories. These should not affect your breathing, therefore hopefully won't set off your cough.

Perhaps try Resistance Bands. You can buy them in different strengths and they can be used for weight training. Their are videos on Youtube of gentle weight training routines.

How much of the time are you bedbound?

I meant to say that resistance bands can be used in bed too. Even when lying down.

I have taken zillions of steroids and I feel your pain.

My thoughts on your diet... you are having quite a lot of carbohydrate: banana, porridge, sugar, bread for sandwich, your afternoon snack, potatoes with dinner.

Also, where are your healthy fats? Salmon, avocado, olive oil?

I would suggest something like:

Banana upon waking (because you like them)
Eggs for breakfast
Smoked salmon salad for lunch
Fruit salad or olives for your snack
Chicken/fish/bean dish for dinner with non-starchy vegetables.

Thank you for the further replies. Too tired to answer now, but I will tomorrow.

The meal plan you've described would fill me up & I'm quite a bit taller than you, active all day but still a bit wobbly. To lose weight you need to consume fewer calories than you use. If you literally can't exercise then you need to eat much less if you want to lose weight (which is difficult on steroids as they are appetite stimulants).

Having been on steroids after I had DS2, I feel your pain! I was only on them for a month, but I was ravenous on them! I had to drink full sugar coke and Lucozade other wise I would feel so sick with hunger!

I think this is something you really need to go back to your doctor and get some medical advice from them. It doesn't sound like you eat very much. I'd be starving eating only that each day! Can you try eating more protein, fish and meat? It keeps you fuller for longer and I always find eating high protein an easy way to shift weight.

Thanks so much to all of you who have posted. You have inspired me to try to do something about the state I have got into.

I woke up feeling really tired and fed up but, after breakfast, I got dressed and managed to walk around the block. It was only ten minutes, but that is ten minutes more walking than I have done for weeks. I felt a bit stiff when I got home, but I expected that and I wasn’t wheezing, which is the main thing.

After a chat with DH, I have decided to try to do this walk on as many days as possible for two weeks, then re-assess with him. I also have one of those chair gyms and will use that, gently at first, on some days too. I need to build back some muscle tone.

We have also discussed my diet and I am going to substitute things like tuna, pilchards or salmon for my pâté at lunchtime. I am also going to change my afternoon snack. Instead of things like cake, I am trying an apple again (will see if it aggravates my acid reflux) with a small piece of cheese.

I will check back here from time to time to write down how I am doing. Please keep your fingers crossed that I can manage this without giving up as I usually do!

BigbreastsBiggerbeard I only manage to get up for three or four hours each day at the very most. It is usually around two hours and often none at all.

Oh, no not again! I am terrible at this!

Hi! As someone who also has sarcoidosis, asthma and arthritis, I hear your pain!
I had to switch from steroids to methotrexate because the side effects of the steroids got so bad.
It meant I lost the steroids weight, mostly, but I did have to stay on my puffers.
I have started on c25k, which seems wild as I was on bed rest most of the time only a few years ago!

I'm interested to know what this 'chair gym' is, OP

Well done on your walk! That's an excellent start. Starting slowly is good, and building up gradually.

Don't give up, OP - even if you have a bad day, it doesn't undo all the good work you've achieved up til that point.

Yes, you are right. I need to persevere and not let the odd setback put me off for good. I am very skilled at procrastinating!

Anyway, here is what I mean by a chair gym. Something like this:

You sound really determined.

Another idea is to have a start day and a target day - maybe 100 days away or something - and to record your efforts and progress in a notebook.

Good luck.

MollyHuaCha Oh, I often sound determined, it’s sustaining that determination that is the problem! One massive coughing attack and I start making excuses as to why I can’t exercise.

I have got a target of four months from my last weigh-in at the hospital. My next appointment is in November, so I aim to lose some weight and tone up a bit by that date. I will track my progress on my blog and also make a note of anything positive on here. I’m not good with notebooks as I tend to accidentally-on-purpose lose them!