Underweight need to gain weight for IVF

[Loulou543]

Hello everyone :)

Me and my husband have been TTC for 2 years now with no luck. We've had fertility investigations and we both look really good on paper and have just got a diagnosis of unexplained infertility. I'm 38 and husband 41, both very healthy. I've done ALL the things to optimise fertility such as quitting caffeine, stopped drinking alcohol, taking all the supplements, drinking full-fat milk, doing acupuncture etc. We are now in the process of trying to get IVF through the NHS.

In our last consultancy meeting they said I needed to have a BMI of 19 to qualify for IVF. I am currently 18 and have pretty much been the same weight (55kg) since I was 16 years old. I'm naturally slim and have a petite frame but I'm tall! To reach BMI of 19 I have to put on 5kg, which is almost 10% of my current bodyweight and feels A LOT. I'm not worried about looking bigger or have any superficial worries, it's just that I normally eat 3 meals a day + snacks, and often desserts several times a week and I just never gain weight. This has been the case since I was a child, just high metabolism I guess. I'm just wondering if anyone has any experience and tips for gaining weight? I don't want to become unhealthy by just overeating and not moving, but I need to try gain weight until next appointment at the fertility clinic in 2 months time. I'm at loss with all this, and the consultant just laughed at me when I asked how I should gain all this weight, and just said Good luck, without giving any advice. What to do??

We are trying for our first child and really really really want to get IVF so this is so important to me that I try do everything I can to achieve this! Thanks so much for reading :) any advice appreaciated!

How frustrating. Do you go to the gym? Maybe you could focus on trying to build muscle as that's denser than fat. So maybe some muscle building exercise and increasing your calorie intake? This absolutely doesn't have to be unhealthy, but you will need to add more carbs and fats to your diet:

Peanut butter and banana on toast
Porridge with nuts, maple syrup, nut butter
Eggs on toast with some cheese grated on top
Full fat dairy products
Homemade milkshakes/smoothies with full fat milk and fruit
Avocado on toast
Snack on nuts and dates with nut butter

Do you find that you get full very quickly? Maybe grazing throughout the day on calorie-dense foods could help?

Thanks for your answer countrypunk! I am quite active physically anyway through my job but yes, since the conversation with the consultant I decided to sign up for the gym and have had some coaching sessions there to try bulk up. Even the gym coach was a bit confused, feeling like it was a lot of weight to put on, even through muscle building. But that is my approach now. He told me to stop doing cardio completely and just do weight lifting, drinking protein shakes and up the calories to about 500 more per day. We shall see, I might be very muscular in two months time :)

Good luck!

@Loulou543 I’m not underweight now but I was until I hit late 20s no matter what I ate. When I was a child my mum used to wake me up before she went to bed to give me a slice of bread otherwise I’d be really faint in the morning and I used to have a build-up (1980s equivalent of a protein shake) twice a day. What helped me (other than aging) was protein shakes (ones recommended by a dietitian/nutritionist not some body builder type thing and some supplements (honestly can’t remember what). I went to the dietician initially because I was having digestive problems, which she fixed, it probably took me about 8 months to gain 1 1/2 stone. I don’t drink the shakes/ take the pills anymore because I’ve found I can maintain my weight and my BMI is around 21. I suspect my underweight issues were partly genetic but also partly my stomach issue and perhaps I just wasn’t absorbing enough nutrients. I don’t know what my BMI was before but I’m 5’10 and I was about 8 stone.
I would see a dietician and take their advice. I essentially started eating 5 meals a day and had 3 protein shakes alongside my main meals. The ones I took were called Ultrameal and I got them from the dietician, from an invoice I had back in 2013 they were £56 for 3 tubs and I used to get mocha and chocolate and mix with 1/2 pint of full fat milk so I was drinking 1 1/2 pints a day plus cereal etc.(the others flavours were pretty disgusting).
I really would see a dietitian though because although this worked for me you may need something different. The lady I saw specialised in clients who were underweight or needed to maintain the weight not weight loss. At the time she was seeing a friend of mine who was having triplets and needed to keep healthy.

Oh, I also really struggle to eat when I’m not hungry so I used to leave 1/2 my plate (well DH ate it) I also started putting less out, but eating it all and if I wanted more having seconds.
it’s essentially the opposite of dieting! All my colleagues trying to lose weight found it hilarious that I was calorie counting the other way.

Have you had your thyroid function checked? Could be worth checking if your intake is good. Otherwise agree - speak with a Dietitian for advice re diet.

@NorthernDuckling Thanks so much for responding and sharing your experience! Glad to hear it's worked out for you. I've been thinking it could be a digestive issue as have had problems with that my whole life. A trip to a dietitian sounds like a good plan, I will check with my GP if they can refer me :)
I know it's so strange counting calories the other way. My husband is trying to loose weight and I'm trying to gain, it's pretty absurd!

@MGee123 I haven't! I was just reading about it then after your comment and could well be the case! I have a lot of the symptoms, but really should avoid self-diagnosing as I'm bad for that. Trip to the GP it is!

Definitely worth checking then @Loulou543. You never know. I understand the difficulty re calorie counting in the opposite direction - I've always been slim but struggle to keep weight on since having our daughter. Too many recurrent sickness bugs and not enough time! It's not a problem you can every really complain about to anyone though!!

I have a similar situation. BMI 18.5 and was advised to gain a little weight to reduce chances of OHSS. I happen to be a dietitian so of course doing it the right way is a priority. My diet is pretty healthy so I've focused on increasing my portion sizes overall. Besides adding a protein shake every morning, I've also prioritized healthy nutrient-dense foods that are higher in calories, e.g., nuts and seeds, oily fish (salmon, sardines), beans, lentils, chickpeas, eggs, bananas. I hope this helps.

@trustitwillhappen aha, interesting! Yes I’ve been in the past month been eating bigger portions, snacks like nuts, yoghurt with musli, protein shakes and healthy smoothies with peanut butter, seeds etc. Have stopped cardio completely and just weightlifting 3-4 times per week. I’ve gone from BMI 18 to 18.7 so it is working!
I didn’t know the weight gain had to do with reducing OHSS, that’s really good to know, thank you!