Elemental diet

[lins]

elemental diet

Hi was just wondering if any body could give me advise on the elemental diet. I have been told by my bowel I am starting this next week via a tube through the nose. Other than that I know nothing about it and I am panicking abit, as I love my food and have 2 young children to look after. Can anybody give me any info please.:ysmile:

 

[Tesscorm]

Hi Lins,

Have a look the the subforum, Enternal Nutrition, in the Treatment forum. There's quite a bit of info in the subforum and there are a number of members who have done the treatment, are in the midst of treatment or are beginning.

My son has done the enteral nutrition through ng tube for months now (was only restricted from eating for the first six weeks though! ).

The EN therapy certainly helped my son immensely since his diagnosis in May 2011. He continues the therapy on a maintenance level and has reintroduced all foods. Some people have had problems with the tube - the insertion, irritation, etc., however, my son has not had any of these issues - as with all else related to crohns, everyone's different . But, unfortunately, you must be prepared for the challenge of not eating for a time period. This was the most difficult aspect for my son. At the beginning, he found that he wasn't very hungry during the day (aside from 'behavioural' hunger while sitting with friends at lunch, etc.) but he did feel hunger in the evenings. And, as the six weeks passed and he healed, he did begin to feel more hunger during the day. He was allowed only broth, jello, clear candies (like Lifesavers), freezies, clear juices or pop - not much to actually alleviate hunger.

With two young children, I can imagine you're anxious to feel well soon! Prior to diagnosis, my son was feverish, lethargic, no appetite - within a week or so of beginning the EN therapy, he showed a big improvement with no unpleasant side effects (although he also had IV flagyl for a week before commencing the EN therapy while at the hospital).

Good luck, feel free to ask any questions - I'll share whatever I know and there are many other members here who, I'm sure, will be along to help as well.

 

[lins]

Thankyou for your response, it was very helpful. I also want to know how the food is fed through the tubes and how long does it take, as 1 of my children is a very active 2 year old who I chase round all day long, am I going to be able to do this.

 

[Tesscorm]

My son was fed overnight. He was given 2000 ml per night at a rate of 200 ml per hour (he had the option of increasing the rate to 300/hr as long as he didn't feel nauseated. I believe at higher speeds, your body may not be able to absorb so much at once). His feed ran from 9pm to 7am. This schedule accommodated his school schedule. If he had a late evening, that's when we would run it at the higher speed. In a couple of instances, if we were still going to run out of time overnight, he would take in 1-2 hours of the formula immediately following school, go out for the evening and finish the balance overnight. Being fed the formula (in the evening, before bed) didn't seem to bother him at all - he would do his homework, watch tv, talk to friends, even 'eat' broth or freezies (although I didn't encourage the 'eating' as I worried that the mixture of broth/freezie and formula could have had an effect but seemed to be fine with him).

It would be difficult to manage during the day while chasing a toddler! It did annoy him somewhat to drag the stand around with him everywhere in the evening. The set-up is almost identical to when you receive medication through an iv (except, in place of the IV, it is hooked up to the NG tube) - so the food is in a bag, the bag has a tube that is connected through a pump (which is attached to an IV stand) and then to the NG tube. While the stand is on wheels and movable, you are moving only with the stand - not ideal when chasing down a 2 year old!

If your doctor suggested that this be done during the day, perhaps it is to help curb your hunger. Ask if you can split up the feed for short periods during the day. You can just disconnect the NG tube from the bag tube. In my son's case, he removed the tube each morning and reinserted each evening, however, you can leave the NG tube in place for weeks, if preferred.

 

[lins]

Thankyou so much, I now understand what happens, none of this has been explained to me, I was basically told you will have a tube fitted next week. So you have been a great help. Now I need to have a think of what to do as this may be to much, aswel as look after 2 children, thanks again, I'm very grateful.

 

[Tesscorm]

Certainly don't want to discourage you as I think it's a great treatment without any 'physical' side effects, but it certainly will have some sort of impact on lifestyle (for a little while, anyway).

My son has only been treated with formula through NG tube, but there are drinkable versions - modulen, peptamin, and others. I'm not too familiar with them as I've only read about them on this forum. These may be more accommodating to your lifestyle.

Good luck!