My usual weight is about nine and a half stone which is suitable for my height, age and build. Genetically, my paternal family on both my mother and father’s side were lithe chaps, so I know my baseline. However, after stroke I have struggled with eating, and then a bout of Covid caused a lapse in hunger. After coming out of hospital, I dropped to seven stone, and although this has its advantages with such activities as climbing trees, my post stroke condition was and is not fitted to such shenanigans anymore.
In the last five months, I have had little choice but to embrace a gluttony of treats and comfort food. The pandemic of coronavirus has a few silver-linings for me, one was home delivery of groceries. Going to the supermarket was, and still is, overwhelming. We grow most of our own veggies and fruit, but there are some things that are difficult to grow, such as chocolates, bara brith and Hobnobs. I started ordering sweet stuff. The delivery drivers must have been bemused at this mere wisp of a man picking up bagfuls of sweets every week. I set up a small cupboard in my study to store all this, and shared some of it for pudding with my children in order to not be found gorging it alone. I ate this stuff late at night when I was sure that my levels of Lactobacillus and my high metabolism were more idle, and I wasn’t being active and burning off fat.
All my life, pre-stroke, I didn’t care for sweet stuff. Didn’t eat pudding, didn’t eat chocolate, or sweets. If offered, I’d decline. It had got to a point post stroke that I knew I had to bulk up somehow. It’s not the healthiest method but nothing else was working. I have now reached ten stone, the heaviest I have been in my life. It feels good to have this extra insulation on me. In the past I always had to add an extra hole to belts, when I dropped weight, that extra hole no longer served to keep my trousers aloft, so I had to add another hole. Now, the last original belt hole suffices.
Hopefully, I can start to deviate from this binge of sweetness, although I would like to aim for eleven stone if possible.
@Rups I too have lost a lot of weight since my stroke. 3 stone now. Like you I have added some sweet treats into my diet…although they don’t help keep my high cholesterol down.
Glad to hear you’ve managed to increase your weight now…albeit in a not so healthy way. Bet the kids enjoy sharing your treats though
Good luck getting to your next target.
Rups. It’s worth checking things through with your doctor. I lost a stone in hospital after my first stroke. After Covid in July, I lost my appetite, felt nauseous and bloated. Went to the doctor and found I had lost six kilos since last being weighed. They booked me a colonoscopy and the prep for it really flushed me out. Nothing bad found other than diverticulosis, but my appetite has now improved.
Im 14 months post stroke and have lost 3 stone my appetite is slowly improving though . I have lost my enjoyment of eating out … nothing savoury tastes the same but give me a pudding and I can woof it down ! I’m within normal bmi so trying not to worry about it .
I’ve lost 20lbs since my stroke at the end of May and I’m finding it hard to keep to a heart friendly low cholesterol diet without losing more weight. Mostly sticking to porridge with fruit for breakfast, almonds and dried fruit for lunch/snacks and chicken breast with a few spices and home made ratatouille or rice or sweet potatoes for dinner.
If anyone has any good ideas please let me know.
I used to love my food but it just isn’t the same anymore.
Good luck with your goal. I also have lost weight since the stroke, but as I was overweight before that isn’t necessarily all bad. What has been horrible though is the indigestion and vomiting - not a way to loose weight healthily. I had a gastroscopy last week and while it in iteself was clear, the GP has just rung me to say that the test they did for Helicobacter was positive so, while I have to take a pretty nasty course of anti biotics to clear it hopefully it can be treated and then I can try to maintain my weight in a healthy manner. I’m aiming for a stable 10 stone too.
Hello @Rups. I was a healthy 10 stone, carrying years of weight training lean muscle mass prestroke/accident. I lost 2 stone in the 7 weeks I was in hospital the majority of which was muscle. I am still below 9 stone. I recently managed to put on 4 lbs on holiday so I know it can happen. I was more relaxed and had a separation from alot of anxiety provoking stuff I have to deal with at the moment. I used to be a dentist so really struggle with the idea of sugar to the point that if I am going to have 1 sweet biscuit and have a decay causing episode then I might as well have 5 and get the most amount of calories for the hit. Bonkers. The sugar is an issue for the time you are eating it and for 20 minutes afterwards. So the quicker you can stuff them in the better! I try and snack on nuts and carb/fat heavy things like toast loaded with butter. Always previously really conscious over fats. How times have changed. I love butter though so will continue to enjoy it😋. Happy to hear you quest to gain weight is winning. Julia x
Hi everyone. It seems to be pretty general to have lost weight. I also am now down to eight and a half stone. I put it down to giving up alcohol,I used to love my wine. Now I can’t bear even to smell it. Good luck with your diet Rups. Lilian
Hi Rups
I too have lost 2 stones since stroke 3 months ago which is welcome as I am overweight.
The problem is that I have no appetite and am still struggling to eat much with not much sensation of taste. I feel like I have reflux and feel full. This is a problem as my wife likes to eat out and I leave half on plate.
I was just wondering if lack of taste and appetite is common amongst stroke survivors and whether it is permanent or clears eventually?
@scott.mcque welcome to the forum although sorry you’ve had a stroke.
I have now lost over 3 stone since my stroke & have no appetite & never feel hungry. I do still eat 3 meals a day but more because it’s mesl time rather than because I want it. I am almost 12 months post stroke. My taste changed initially but has come back now.
I am told my appetite should return but who knows when. Hopefully yours will return quicker than mine.
Shwmae @scott.mcque, sorry to hear you’ve been struck. Three months is fairly fresh out of the shock. My appetite was all over the place for about a year and a half. At one time, I went down to seven stone. I relied on cravings, in that I had to think through different foodstuff in order to find something in my mind I wanted to eat. At three months, I virtually existed on salads. Big bowls of salad for supper or soup. Particularly salad with tuna chunks. I think this was more for the liquid content it provided. I could manage picking at a salad or drinking soup. I couldn’t really face hearty meals, I think it was a texture thing rather than taste.
Two years on and my appetite has improved greatly, but it all goes through trends and phases. Some food I have gone off completely, but I think that is a psychosomatic thing rather than damage related.
Aye @Mahoney, I echo that, grazing helped a lot to keep me full of nutrients. Like you, I now default to smaller plates. A couple of starters could satisfy me now, but there are some dishes I can gorge, particularly simple pasta.
@Mahoney i am the same now too. My meals are much smaller than before & a piled plate puts me off. I try & graze a bit in day but don’t really feel like it most of the time.
There seems to be a theme here as I also lost just over 2 stone! Almost 18 months on I haven’t regained the wright (but am quite happy to lose a bit of fat). I’m probably at the very low end of my BMI now but most of the loss is muscle from much lower levels of excercise. I eat well so will need to slowly do a few load bearing strength excercises. Always difficult to loose fat round the middle bit that box is ticked so time to increase the muscle.
The first thing my stroke consultant told me about in hospital was “flabby muscles” after stroke. I think this all comes down to the motor neurones not firing adequately after brain injury. If not worked on, it can lead to muscle atrophy. Even just practicing muscle flexing is a good start. My muscles became limpid, and I could physically see that, whereas before stroke, I had a lot of core strength, wiry but strong.
