Appetite.

[dodie74]

Kians appetite is really poor at the minute, he does eat but he just seems to pick at his food. His appetite used to be great and im worried now as he just doesn't seem to put weight on, grows up the way ok but not weight wise. Is there anything out there that we can give our crohns kids to boost their appetite at all?

 

[my little penguin]

Periactin- old school antihistamine
It boost appetite and stops abdominal pain in some.

DS used it. It didn't work because his crohn's wasn't under control.
If all is fixed crohn's wise then it should work.

Good luck
What about supplementing until his appetite is back ?
We do that alot with DS
Food is optional shakes are not.

 

[CarolinAlaska]

Zinc deficiency can cause decreased appetite. When I asked about periactin for my daughter, they recommended we test her zinc first, which was low. I think it has helped.

 

[dodie74]

I wonder if zinc deficiency is tested when his bloods are routinely done? I will have to enquire about that. Would it be dangerous just to give a zinc vitamin if he didn't really need it? He was taking a muliuvit of a,c,d and e and omega 3 but he started saying he didn't like the taste and to get different ones. Is so difficult sometimes and I constantly worry about his appetite. x

 

[CarolinAlaska]

Look up and read about zinc deficiency. It is very interesting - it causes skin issues and can change their taste sensations, making food taste off. It is not in routine bloodwork and had to be tested for separately.

 

[Willowcat05]

Hi

My sons appetite is poor also he mainly survives on toast or sausages. I have put him on centrum advance muliti vit other than that I don't really know if there is anything you could give him to boost his appetite. You said that he had a good appetite before could he be having a flare up? This is the first sigh that my son is flaring.


currently waiting on word from surgeon to see if Jack needs righr side colon and ileum removed.

meds
Athathioprine
ferrous sulphate
centrum multi vit

 

[dodie74]

His appetite was really good up until he was on flagyll for 5 months, we finished it in May and his appetite hasn't been the same since. I struggle sometimes as kian doesn't sgow symtoms really, no tummy pains etc. His recent calprotectin was 600 but his ibd team were happy with that and didn't feel he need any attention. Apart from the appetite he feels well in himself. Do you find the centrum mulitvit has helped at all?
How old is yr son willowcat05 and is it yorkhill you attend? xx

 

[Sascot]

The heat might not be helping with the appetite just now - it has been really oppresive the last couple weeks. You could try an antihistamine to see if it makes any difference - I checked with the pharmacy and cetrizine doesn't have any contra-indications with 6mp so that's what we use. Don't blame him not liking the vitamin with omega-3, neither of my kids can stand the taste of any of the omega-3 vitamins! Hope his appetite picks up.

 

[CarolinAlaska]

Have you tried any probiotics after all that antibiotics?

 

[dodie74]

He takes a probiotic every day called actimel, we buy it in the supermarket, I started giving that to him as soon as he went on the antibiotic. The only antihistamine we give kian is Benadryl, that's got a different ingredient I think, do u think it would be worth trying a different one then, I did read about antihistamine that boosts appetite, am I right in saying that?

 

[my little penguin]

regular antihistamines do not do the same thing as periactin.
the appetite boost was just an added extra they found out later with periactin.
too much regular antihistamine can be deadly.
SO ask a doc before you do anything.

can your Gp or gi prescribe probiotics - most over the counter ones have next to no real bacteria in it.

for example the ones here at the store have a high amount of 20 billon once day.
the ones Ds's gi prescribed have 900 billon given twice a day ( 1800 billon total)

 

[Tesscorm]

I'll also suggest to just try making one or two nutritional shakes a daily routine. Even though S is now 19, he's still a picky eater and the enteral nutrition supplementation he did for over a year gave me huge peace of mind! Now that he's done with that (ie overnight through NG tube), I'm trying to get him into a habit of having one or two Boost shakes per day.

It can only help your little one gain some weight and will provide him with some extra nutrition. If you google Boost recipes, their site offers a few smoothie recipes using Boost shakes (I think there were even one or two dessert recipes). Also, I believe it's the Boost brand that also has Boost puddings.

 

[dodie74]

I will definitely ask at our next app in Sept, it should have been Dec our next check up but because he didn't gain any weight at last app he wanted to see us sooner. x

 

[dodie74]

Do the shakes have to be prescribed by the doctor or is it one I can buy over the counter?

 

[my little penguin]

http://www.nestlehealthscience.co.uk/products/build-up-nutritious-shakes-

You could direct order these
I checked peptamen seems to only be by doc orders in the uk

 

[my little penguin]

There might be others in the uk from nestle or another brand
Look in the breakfast section ( sometimes breakfast shakes)
The baby toddler food section
Or near the diet section of the store ( you can use diet shakes)
They only cause you to lose weight in an adult if they don't eat anything else .

 

[Willowcat05]

dodie 74

My son is 13yrs and yes we attend Yorkhill he is under Dr Barcley. I find the vits have not helped but at least he is getting vitiams from somewhere.
my son is a really fussy eater at the best of times .He has just finished being on Modulen for 8wks so trying to keep the weight that he has gained while being ng feed which is hard when he does not want to eat. Hope your son regains his appetite now that the hot weather is subsiding.:smile:

 

[kimmidwife]

Dodge,
A fecal calprotectin of 600 seems kind of high unless they have different reference ranges over there. Does anyone else know?

 

[Catherine]

My daughter second faecal calprotectin result of 620, resulted in second MRI, at the time her was consider to be in clinical remission. First was 580.

 

[positivemum]

My son had to do a liquid only diet at the beginning of 8 weeks on Fortisip shakes. We now have a supply in the house for him so that he has one sometimes 2 a day to get some calories in him as he doesn't always want to eat. They are on prescription from his consultant. Worth asking about.

 

[dodie74]

His team said to me it was slightly high and that at this stage they weren't concerned at all.They said a lot of their kids they see have calprotectin levels in the thousands and that's when something needs to be done. Its all so confusing sometimes. Positivemum, yea I know about the fortisip and fortijuice drinks as my dear nana who fought stomach cancer last year couldn't eat and had to drink those. Thank goodness these drinks are around eh. xx

 

[Jmrogers4]

Jack takes Periactin for appetite it really seams to help him. We pulled him off for a month as he was eating really well and doing good weight wise but as soon as he stopped appetite plummeted. He started with taking 2 doses a day am/pm and is now on only 1 in the morning.
We also do the supplemental shakes. He did 8 weeks of 8 of them a day and now is only 1-2 a day but if he misses a day or two here and there I don't worry as he seems to be eating regular sized meals and snacking throughout the day.

 

[Brian'sMom]

Jacqui, do you notice any dryness in nose or throat or skin? Our pharmacist mentioned that to us. We have periactin but haven't tried it yet. Also have heard on here that after a period of time it loses its effectiveness...is that true?

 

[Jmrogers4]

No dryness anywhere. We have heard about it losing effectiveness as well which is why we had pulled him off it for about a month and appetite kept decreasing so we started up again and appetite increased so we will continue using while it works at this point.
Even if it works only for a little bit for us I'll take it. Maybe it will trick his mind into thinking it needs to eat a certain amount or increase the size of his stomach while he is on it so he is hungrier for more then he was before he started, if that makes any sense.

 

[DustyKat]

I personally don't believe in multivitamins but that is just me. I prefer to supplement to deficiencies and IIRC your lad has disease in his ileum??

If that is the case then I feel the critical things you need to look to having tested, supplemented as needed and then monitored regularly are:

Iron Studies
B12
Vitamin D
Zinc
Magesium

Dusty. xxx

 

[dodie74]

Well, for the last 2 days Kians appetite has got better Last night he had a lamb dinner with carrots, broccoli and Yorkshire puddings. cup of tea and biscuits before bed. So far today( he only got out bed at 12.30pm, school holidays ) He has had 2 huge crumpets with butter and syrup and is now munching a pkt of crisps. Ok so it might not be such a healthy brunch but im just glad he eating. xx

 

[Jmrogers4]

I hear you on the healthy stuff! I've so been there - didn't care as long as he was eating. Glad his appetite is improving, dinner sounds fabulous.