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I can't eat dinner.

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Posted 1/30/2009 3:03 AM (GMT 0)
I haven't been able to eat a "proper" dinner in almost two weeks.  Maybe longer.

I compensate by eating at breakfast and lunch, because I am fine then, but come late afternoon and dinner-time...and I'm feeling major ookie.  I can make dinner for my husband, but I don't eat.  I maybe pick at it if I do fix a plate.  Sometimes, I can eat after 9 or 10pm, but not often.  I have tried snacks to keep my stomach from getting empty and rebelling, but it just doesn't seem to matter.  I have a very difficult time bringing myself to eat in the evenings.

A problem, is we have a 'go-to-hell' room.  It is basically another sitting-room with a TV so I can watch whatever I want and he can 'go-to-hell'.  It is not said in a mean-spirited way, it is a funny family joke for us.  Anyway, because of the GTH room, he hasn't noticed that I'm not eating.  He is away this week, out of state, training.  I had a girlfriend come over for dinner Tuesday night and she noticed I only ate a few bites of dinner, and she commented on it.  When my husband comes home, I think I will tell him of my difficulty and he will be able to help monitor the problem.  We may start eating at the table and not in front of seperate TVs, that way he can help encourage me.

I am holding steady at about 120#, but I think that is too thin and I would like to put on 5-10, but I am barely managing to not drop weight the way I am currently eating.  I do have phenergen (or something similar) but it knocks me to sleep before I can feel non-nauseated to eat.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Heidi

Posted 1/30/2009 3:32 AM (GMT 0)
I'm going through similar eating issues myself. No fun. My husband tries so hard to get me to eat on a "normal" person schedule, but the simple fact is that sometimes it just isn't gonna happen.

I know it is a highly controversial subject, and I hope I don't break any rules by mentioning it... (medical mj is not allowed on the site)- in the hopes that it would get me to eat. It does. I haven't managed to gain any weight, but I have at least stabilized with my current routine so I'm not disintegrating anymore.


I believe there is a pharmaceutical version called something like "Marinol" maybe?

I wish I had a better suggestion, but I'm grasping at straws here myself! I bet you get just as mad when someone comments about your weight too... the "I wish I could be skinny like you" kind of comments. I hate those! I always want to tell them, "I wish I could EAT like you!". People take eating and the desire to eat for granted. Not me! When I get hungry, I REVEL in it because it means I feel pretty good. :-)

I hope you get to feeling better!

Post Edited By Moderator (MMMNAVY) : 1/30/2009 7:26:45 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/30/2009 3:43 AM (GMT 0)
I hope I start to feel better, too.
Thanks for the suggestion.
heidi

Post Edited By Moderator (MMMNAVY) : 1/30/2009 7:27:29 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/30/2009 4:43 AM (GMT 0)
 I don't know about the Rx pill version

Post Edited By Moderator (MMMNAVY) : 1/30/2009 7:28:17 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/30/2009 6:23 AM (GMT 0)
I was just re-reading this and got to thinking...
My CRF (chronic renal failure) cat had to be prescribed an appetite stimulant in addition to an initial anti-nausea injection just to get her over the hump and eating so she would feel better.
Is there an appetite stimulant for people? Besides prednisone? *laughs*
Posted 1/30/2009 2:18 PM (GMT 0)
Well another anti nausea med to look into is Zofran. This one takes away the nausea without making you drowsy.
Posted 1/30/2009 2:34 PM (GMT 0)
There is also a school of thought that you should it a dinner size meal at breakfast and a breakfast size meal at dinner. However I just carry around a jar of cream peanut butter and eat a spoonful here and there, which is also why I am probably280 lbs...LOL
Posted 1/30/2009 9:59 PM (GMT 0)
Welllllll... I usually drink Ensure when I'm like that...which is every day. I buy tons of the stuff now. It's like a lifesaver for me. I don't feel hungry anymore. For MOST meals. When I DO feel hungry, I eat but I watch what and how much. Then I may not eat another full meal all day 'cause I'm not hungry but I know I should get more nutrients so I Ensure it away with two or three drinks. It's not great for everything but it does help keep my weight more level so it's not the difference of two or three pant sizes instead one-two pant sizes.

Though, I never gained back all the weight I had before last February when I got diagnosed and had TPN and a resection so just try to keep watch. Or eat bun sized meals five times a day.
Posted 1/30/2009 10:18 PM (GMT 0)
Hi I too am a good believer of ensure and boost for skipped meals. May I ask why you are not eating in the evening? lol gail
Posted 1/30/2009 10:24 PM (GMT 0)
I can't really help with the nausea except to try drinking ginger tea or organic ginger ale? But I can understand about not wanting to eat in the evening let alone a big meal. I agree with the others in drinking something like ensure or boost and/or eating small fist-sized meals throughout the day.
Posted 1/30/2009 10:50 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry you had to edit, Navy.

Just a quick heads-up about Ensure... they work great for a lot of people, but mind the ingredients. Most seem to have soy or lactose, both of which are no-no's for some of us, which is a shame with a drink like Ensure, but... just make sure you read the labels if you have any food sensitivities.
Posted 1/31/2009 3:21 AM (GMT 0)
I have a similiar problem. I feel nausea in the evening and don't feel like eating a proper dinner. Sometimes I find breakfast foods sit better at night than meat/potatoes. I like the others suggestions about Boost or Ensure - Resource Fruit Beverage is also easily tolerated although it does not have as many calories.
Posted 1/31/2009 3:57 AM (GMT 0)

gachrons said...
May I ask why you are not eating in the evening? lol gail

Nausea.  I like to eat, I just can't seem to bring myself to feel like eating in the evening because of nausea. 

Truthfully, I really think it is meat.  I am a firm carnivore (well, omnivore) but there was a period of time when meat was very unappealing to me and I wonder if that is coming back and having an affect, now.  Though, in the evening it is ALL foods, no matter what.  I am trying to have meat at my lunch-meal and that is working very well.  I think I will pick up some boost or ensure at the grocery, though, and give them a try in the evening. 

I think I could drink easier than chew/eat right now.

Heidi

*sorry for making you have to edit* redface

Posted 1/31/2009 12:55 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Hope this will be something that subsides as your injestions work instead of the pill form,sometimes meds can be hard on the stomach, pred. used to give me killer heartburn, and let us know how you find the drinks .I am still on the low residue diet after resection which is easy on the innards, I hope things will improve for you soon. lol gail
Posted 1/31/2009 2:24 PM (GMT 0)
no worries...
Posted 2/1/2009 4:56 PM (GMT 0)
Are you taking any antibiotics right now? I noticed that when I was on a combo of Flagyl and Cipro, I stopped eating almost all together. I just hated food and nothing ever sounded good. Part of it was the nausea but part of it was just...bleh. I hope you find something because I know that it sucks.
Posted 2/2/2009 6:24 AM (GMT 0)
Nope, no antibiotics. Just Tramadol for pain (hip), 1x/week MTX (Tues), Hycosomax(?) for keeping my guts from spasming and Promethezine for nausea.

I did better today, taking a HALF of a promethazine about a half hour before I wanted to eat dinner with friends at a SuperBowl party. I was able to eat about 3/4 of my bowl.
heidi
Posted 2/2/2009 3:08 PM (GMT 0)
could be the MTX ....I am assuming it is the 25 mg shot?
Posted 2/2/2009 5:28 PM (GMT 0)
Yeah. I figured it would be the MTX. The first 6wks of it, I had FAB results and NO nausea at all. Pills brought on side effects and lowered the positive response to the med with symptoms returning. Now, it seems I am slowly, so very slowly, regaining the ground I lost while taking 2mo of MTX pills and also having to deal with the side effects.

Could my MTX I get from my pharmacy be different than what the Oncologist's office had given me?
heidi
Posted 2/3/2009 12:47 AM (GMT 0)
I had a really bad problem with pills. The injection made the difference to me...
Posted 2/3/2009 2:47 AM (GMT 0)

MMMNAVY said...
I had a really bad problem with pills. The injection made the difference to me...

Yes, that was my experience, too.  However, I started with injections (6wks) and then went to oral pills (8wks) and began declining in medication effectiveness and symptoms returning.  I've now been on injections again for 8wks (tomorrow will be 9th injection) and I am very slowly regaining the ground I lost backsliding with the pills.
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