Gastroschisis and what else it affects?

[Scudreloaded]

Hello. I was born with gastroschisis and was fed via feeding tubes and given TPN for the first 18 years or so of my life. I'm currently about to turn 24 and I've been wondering a few things.
I weigh about 100 lbs and I'm 5 '7, am I always going to be underweight like this? I've tried eating and eating more and had little results. The most I've ever weighed was 120 and that was when I was on a drip feeding pump. Sometimes I've felt when I've gone job hunting or I'm in public like people are looking at me like I'm a crack head or something because I'm so skinny.
I've developed gas problems the last few years. I haven't seemed to have been able to get much help from doctors other than try gas x. I don't eat a lot of beans and over the last few years Ive started avoiding some foods that Ive found give me more gas. Probiotices have been helping slightly but it's still an issue.
Do other people that have gastroschisis have depression as well, and If so how do i combat and solve it? I was diagnosed with it about 8 years ago and it feels like I keep getting more down about it. I'm currently seeking a counselor to help with this aspect also.  Are there support groups for people with medical issues like this?

I finally found an indigent care program and have been accepted into it and in a couple weeks I have an apointment with my general Doctor.  I haven't seen a GI specialist in even longer. I'm trying to figure out and solve some of these problems as Ive just started worry that something may be wrong and i need to figure out what it is. A lady at my last job told me I'm prolly just depressed cause I'm probably sick or somethings very wrong with me. How am I supposed to feel about that, if I'm its normally to be super skinny and thin?

[sheilapalus1209]

I am with Averys Angels Gastroschisis Foundation. Our website is averysangels.org. We are a support group for gastroschisis families and survivors. You might enjoy meeting other adult survivors and sharing your story. Contact me if I can help in anyway ***@****

[patient915]

Welcome to the gastroenterology community!  First off let me say that it is really nice to find another young person who was tube fed and had a central line.  For the past year and a half I have been 100% fed through the J portion of a GJ tube and I have a central line (a tunneled IJ) to get certain medications and other nutrients.  I have gastroparesis and most likely also CIP.

You most likely will always have a low BMI.  For the gas, you can try avoiding all lactose from your diet to see if that helps.  If eliminating different foods doesn't help, you might want to get some testing done to check for malabsorptions/SIBO.  People with chronic illnesses and those who look different in some say (ex. being very skinny) are often prone to depression.  Seeing a therapist about this is a good idea, as well as talking to a doctor about starting on an antidepressant.  I am unsure about support groups specifically for people with gastroschisis.  The Oley foundation (http://www.oley.org/) is a great resource (and I believe they also have a support group) for people who are tube fed or are on home TPN.  Depression can definitely cause symptoms or cause symptoms you already have to become worse.