Strange Metabolism?

My wife has a "condition" where she gains weight if she eats over about 900 calories in a day. The problem is she weighs about 260. She has lost some weight with healthy eating and exercise but still cannot go below a very low caloric intake. She had gastric bypass surgery and it helped her not be as hungry and she eats healthy and exercises regularly. She lost a little more recently to the weight she is at now, and has to stop eating at a little bit lower caloric amount. Doctors don't find any issues and her blood work is always fine. She takes daily vitamins, as do I. Has anyone heard of this type if condition and if there are any remedies for this? She's had this for over 10 years, possibly her whole life.

[allmymarbles]

This happened to one of my daughters who is a very moderate eater. But we think, in her case, that we have found the cause. She suffered from overwork and lack of exercise, along with the only diet that was available to her (bad). This all happened when she was in Iraq for five years.

Now our doctor has taken her in hand. He has solved a digestion problem (insufficient stomach acid) and found that she was mildly hypothyroid. A small dose of Armour's thyroid, apple cider vinegar before eating, colonic irrigations, and a vast quantity of supplements all seem to be helping. She, by nature, eats a very healthy diet. (It just wasn't available in Iraq.) Unlike the rest of the family, she has always had a mild tendency to gain weight (but I am only talking about an extra 10 pounds). She does not have diabetes (which runs in my husband's family).

I don't know if any of this helps you, but I present it as another case of someone who is overweight who does not overeat.

[allmymarbles]

Check to see if she is even mildly hypothyroid. In such cases treatment is found to help.

[j_sinr]

Thanks for posting. Her issue doesn't seem to be related to any of those things. She has been eating healthy, exercising, etc. Just had a physical and no thyroid issues, bloodwork normal. As expected, the doctor had trouble believing the story. I went along just to back up the story and he started the usual "well, if you were overweight as a teenager then you weren't getting enough exercise and your parents fed you bad food and now you need to overcome that programming, etc, etc". We again explained that she was on a softball league, was always active and the family didn't eat greasy, gravy covered foods all the time. He finally said "well, they haven't discovered all the metabolism conditions yet" and left it at that. He basically went by his medical knowledge and had problems believing what we said.  There are weird genetics in her family so I think that's part if it. Her dad has 2 nervous systems.

[j_sinr]

Sorry, not 2 nervous systems. He has 2 sets of nerves.