Ensure Plus Drinks encouragement needed!

[bettyboop12]

Hi,

I need to start Ensure plus drinks for 2 weeks solid without any foods. Problem is that I like my food!

I have been having them for breakfast and dinner but come evening time I want proper food! My consultant made it clear last week that I need to have the drinks now for 2 weeks without anything else to give my bowel complete rest.

Any advise on this?! How did you cope with just having these drinks? I think I can have sugar free mints and sugar free cordial but thats about it.

2 weeks is a long time for me without food... I am told it will help my symptons so I guess thats something to think about. Anyone have any tips of how to get me through this?! I start on Monday.

Thank you in anticipation

 

[bettyboop12]

Second note on this is that I don't actually find the drink taste too bad, its just I want food!!!!

 

[Kip1]

bettyboop I may have to do what you are doing if things don't pick up this week, I will try the blended option 1st.
I too like my food so it will be so hard to keep going on this but I know it may be for the best & it beats going back in to hospital to go on the drip again.
Just one question, do we have to avoid tea? I am useless without 2 cups of tea in the morning.

 

[bettyboop12]

Whats the blended option? I have small cartons that I drink with a straw.

I asked that question to the dietician as I drink decaf tea/coffee and she said no I could not have that so I assume the normal tea is out too sorry!!!

Bannana, fruits of the forest, strawberry, blackcurrant are very nice. The Orange one I was a little unsure - great if you like terrys chocolate orange as it tastes the same!

 

[Kip1]

The blended option is me blending food or having normal soups. It worked for a while before but really the best thing that helped me was not having anything at all but obviously that can't be done for any length of time with medical help.
I have just had rice pudding & that sort of thing lately but I just don't seem to get this under control.

 

[bettyboop12]

Ah I see! Silly me, makes sense of course! If I have had food then I still stick to the low-residue diet i.e. white bread, white rice, chicken, etc (okay okay with a little treat of white rice and Chicken Korma sometimes!).

GI said nothing as my liver function is up the wall too so the drinks are to calm everything. He said the ensure drinks which I already have or he will give me a polymetric drinks but he said tastes worse. I chosen teh less of the 2 evils!

Rice pudding sounds good, although I always imagine what the food will do as it is digesting i.e I can picture the gluppyness of the rice pudding sticking to the sides!

Having nothing at all seems like an option but you end up not having any energy to do anything.

 

[Kip1]

Having nothing wasn't my plan but I ended up in hospital in a lot of pain & I was put on a drip as even water was painful to get down (turns out I have severe inflammation & ulcer in my duodenum & pangastritis too).
After 2 days I felt so much better & they started to introduce drinks then the low residue diet when I could tolerate & keep down the drinks.

 

[bettyboop12]

That rings a bell to when I decided to go in hospital back in July. Pain in stomach (not necessarily my gut) was more upper pain. Water was not helping too. Turns I out had inflamation in my duodenum too. As I wasn't under the GI at the hospital, they were just investigating my stomach. I had a follow up app with my GI month later and he said all these were classic symptons secondary to crohns. I was sleeping up right, kept getting reflux,etc. For some reason it calmed down once I went on low GI diet.

My main issue now is the inflamation - the strictures I have I have been told are nothing much to worry about.

What medication are you on if you don't mind me asking? They are 'prepping' me for the Azathriopine (have have to take the shakes to calm everthing down first) and I have just started taking Adcal-D3 (Calcium and Vit D) tablets.... says chewable but they are very chalky so Im just going to suck them!

 

[Kip1]

I started Azathioprine 100 mg daily 4 weeks post op after right hemicolectomy.
I also take 80 mg pantoprazole to help with ulcer.
Due to have 3rd gastroscopy since April so they can get more biopsies of ulcer & current inflammation. I am being referred as a candiate for pill cam as GI thinks disease may be right the way through, although colonoscopy showed no re-occurrence around op site.

 

[bettyboop12]

Typical isnt it, waiting for more tests and results. At least you are on something at the moment whilst waiting. So are you still on the Azathioprine? I was told by the IBD nurse that I would have to take it for at least 2 years.

Do you get mouth ulcers too? I often get thoses recently. Its good that your op was a success, lets hope they tackle the other area as quickly as possible.

 

[Kip1]

Yes been on aza since august. I do get mouth ulcers & also have peri anal crohns but the aza seems to have got that under control.

 

[bettyboop12]

I couldnt take the ensure plus in the end. Everytime I took it, I had a bloated full feeling in my stomach then had BM about 1 hour later. I guess it was too 'rich' for me.

I have just started the Aza today so hoping this treatment will work wonders instead. Still got lots of drinks left but make take them if im on the go during the day once the Aza works.