EEN and weakness

[jadegreen]

Hey everyone. I am 2 weeks into my 6 weeks of EEN, and I'm feeling pretty weak. Nutritionist suggested I drink 1625 to 1750 calories a day, but I have kept upping the amount because I lost a couple pounds in the first week. Right now I'm doing 2500 calories/day and I'm 5'2" (barely). I don't know if I've just had a couple of bad days that have nothing to do with EEN, but I just feel so tired. Maybe it's just the heat? We don't have AC in our house. I'm trying to drink around 100 oz. of water per day. I was feeling great when I was doing 50% food and 50% EN, so this feels like a set-back.

I'm using Orgain and supplementing with iron, fish oil, Vit D3, occasional Vit B12 spray and today I added in a multi-vitamin and some vitamin C in case I'm fighting a bug.

Did anyone else experience weakness when you tried EEN? Could it be the meal replacement beverage I'm using? Could a different one be better? If I still feel this way in the next couple of days I'm going to reach out to my GI and my nutritionist.

 

[my little penguin]

So orgain is not complete nutrition (meaning meant to be used as a sole nutrition source )
Kate farms is organic if that is your concern

you may not be absorbing (orgain is polymeric supplement )
Semi elemental (peptamen,Kate farms peptide and a few others ) are more broken down so easier for an inflamed gut to absorb
Elemental (vionex ) is amino acid based so you only need a few inches of healthy intestine to absorb it .

to put in reference when my kiddo was 7 years old
He drank 8 peptamen jr a day (250 calories each ) at 78 lbs .

are you splitting them up
He had two from breakfast/lunch /dinner
One for snacks after lunch and after dinner

some days he drank more
Definitely let your Gi know
Pure liquid diet een can be an issue if you have blood sugar issues
Diabetics can not drink normal formula only

 

[westernbuddy]

I'm on two weeks today as today.

Don't feel Weak, but my inflamation is also still here, so say it takes 2-3 weeks to really get going.

It does sound like you need the correct drinks, you know the correct drinks also have ingredients that help with inflammation.

 

[jadegreen]

Thanks for sharing. I had been wondering if Orgain was inadequate for EEN, but the nutritionist said I could go ahead and use it, so I figured I would try. She was primarily concerned about its lack of iron, therefore the supplement.

Thankfully, I only have inflammation in my terminal illium, so I don't think I should need an elemental. I already have bad experiences with Kate Farms and EleCare (from my son using them...or attempting to use them ) so I will probably ask about switching to Modulen. It's not much more expensive than Orgain per serving.

 

[jadegreen]

And oh, yes, I'm splitting them up over the day at our usual meal and snack times, but to get that 10th shake in, some days I've stayed up later than I usually do and read a book or a blog to take my mind off of getting one more shake down. I try to find a relaxing, quiet place away from the rest of the family, otherwise my toddler won't give me peace because he wants my shake so bad. He's managed to get ahold of quite a number of them and just chugs them down.

 

[my little penguin]

The other thing orgain is very healthy
So drinking one to two a day not as big of an issue as 8-10
That’s a lot of flax seed etc that the body wouldn’t normally have in a day
Peptamen is similar to modulen
So you may have better luck also you can freeze some of it
Not for nutrition (doesn’t count towards daily total )
But you mouth needs to chew and you stomach will have something to do

 

[jadegreen]

You know, it could be anemia. I was low on iron to begin with and Orgain doesn't have much iron. My supplement probably isn't cutting it. Gonna check with my healthcare providers today.

 

[my little penguin]

How are you doing now ?

 

[jadegreen]

Hey, thanks for asking. I'm feeling better now. I decided to increase my iron supplement from 25mg to 50mg/day and take it alongside a vit C supplement. I think it's helped. My doctor ordered blood tests last week, but I haven't gotten the results back yet. I've finished three weeks and still don't have the energy that I have when I'm eating food. It can be frustrating. I guess I've gotten this far, though, and may as well do the next three weeks.

 

[jadegreen]

And that tip to eat ice with the shakes was good. I've been doing that with two or three shakes per day and it makes me feel more sated.