No Food for 2 days now

Crohn's Disease Forum

Help Support Crohn's Disease Forum:

C

carolinajak

Guest
So I have started my six week trek towards (hopefully) remission by not eating food and only taking in elemental shakes, vitamins, and organic chicken broth.

so far the hunger has not been that bad, but the cravings are already driving me crazy. you notice food commercials, restaurants, and anything related to food a lot more often when you can't have it. its tough. so far so good. i just hope it gets a little easier.

anyways, its definitely touch so far, but doable. would appreciate hearing about anyone else's experience with an elemental diet if your out there.
 
Hello jak,

I usually go three or four days on a liquid diet when I'm in a flare.
Just to rest the bowel and let it heal.
But I've never gone longer.

May I ask where you heard about this six weeks of no solid food,
which hopefully leads to remission?
 
Hope things go well for you Carolinajak. Can I ask why the organic chicken broth? My understanding of the elemental is that you have NO FOOD of any description at all and that all the necessary vitamins etc are within the elemental and because it is absorbed within the first metre of the small bowel your gut then gets a rest and a chance to heal and settle.

You are right about the food ads etc. I find it hard at work as I have to walk through the staff canteen to get to one department. As for cravings I really wanted stuff like hot buttered toast and things full of flavour. So I understand where you are coming from on that front. It does get easier as the days go on with only the odd day of craving which I think is because eating is a natural thing to do.

Hope you are doing ok, hang in there!

Jan
 
Last edited:
Good luck! Make sure you monitor your health very closely, as it is important that you continue to maintain your weight and are absorbing everything you take in. It is great you are taking vitamins in, but if you do not absorb them properly than it is not helping. That was my problem and I was losing a lot of weight.

I was off solid foods for about 4 months, and all I can really say is do your best to forget about the food. Stay focused on the goal, and if what you are doing is making you feel better than that should make you stay more focused. If it is not helping ,then be realistic also. Do what is best for you and your body though.

The only time I watched the food network religiously was when I was on this liquids only diet. I do not know why, but I felt like watching the food network was comforting to me. I would not recommend it, but if that is what works for you then go with it also.
 
The diet specifics came from THE IBD REMISSION DIET by jini thompson and some of my own extensive research to make sure I was comfortable with it.

I am taking Absorb Plus, a pretty expensive elemental shake, but it had the best overall ingredient of all the products I researched.

The Chicken Broth is basically sodium water with no nutritional value outside of water. I eat it as suggested in the book to mix in a salty taste so the sweet shakes do not drive me crazy.

I am definitely monitoring my health, energy, and weight. So far, only 2 days, I can already say I am feeling better. It might be psychosomatic, but so far so good.
 
Wow! Great news here jak! :)
Make sure you keep us posted.
I'm very interested in seeing how well this works for you.
 
Best of luck on this diet mate. If you need someone to talk to you can always pm me. I wish you the best of luck, also where do you get this book, can I get it at Barnes and Noble or something thanks.
 
4 days down, 38 to go. Sounds daunting when I say it like that. Still going pretty strong. 3 shakes each for the first two days, 4 on the third, and only 2 today so far. I am definitely going to have another one later tonight. I can feel it coming. Hunger has not been an issue at all. But I have cravings all the time. They usually last anywhere from 5-20 minutes. Its just a mental exercise to get through them and so far I have. I think the longer things go on the less these cravings will get and the easier it will be to ignore them. Considering the longer I keep this up, the more work I will be throwing out the window if I give in.
 
Thats exactly what has kept me going when the cravings hit so hang in there! You have done really well to get the first few days over and the cravings can be very strong sometimes but the thought of undoing the work to date is one of the best ways to cope.

Thinking of you!

Jan
 
Hi Jak. Are you handling the Absorb Plus well? does it taste good? Also do you recommned the Jini Patel books? I read some reviews and it looks promising.

Good luck
 
I would definitely recommend her books. Adsorb plus taste great, no issues there. The nothing to chew thing is starting to wear on me. I've made some popsicles from organic juice. They are a little bit of a help.

I handle Absorb plus fine. One thing to keep in mind is that you take in only liquids, so everything that comes out of you is liquid. Its definitely not the best part of the diet, but its normal. And if I take probiotics with it, I usually only have 1-3 bowel movements a day.

Today is day 7 and still going. I have been staying in for the most part. I went out to a lunch meeting on Saturday and watched some people devour chicken wings. It did not drive me as crazy as I expected. The amount of cravings I have really is stable despite seeing food or commercials or anything. 1 week down and 5 weeks to go.
 
My god Jak, you've got balls of steel. I can't imagine doing a liquid diet for that long.

I have been suffering a very bad flare-up for close to two months, now. I've been using Asocol at 4.8 grams/day and prednisone at 40 mg/day for almost 2 weeks, and I'm experiencing VERY little progress. I'm considering admitting myself to the hospital, but I will be trying a liquid diet for as long as I can hold it before I go that route. Also, I will consult with my gastroenterologist before admitting myself to the hospital.

I did an all liquid diet today, and I do feel better. Maybe I'll do something like 5 days on, one day off, something like that. Just had teas and juices, forgot to have broths/soups, though. I also took a multivitamin. I'll try to down a couple of whey isolate protein shakes per day, too.

I totally know what you mean when you say you 'feel' food commercials a lot more, now!

Jak, are you undergoing this diet because you've currently been experiencing a flare-up? What compelled you to start this, were you recently experiencing bad symptoms?
 
Last edited:
I am on the diet because I had two surgeries last year and I basically want to make sure crohns does not attack those spots and it heals fully.

if your doing the diet, they say two weeks is a good minimum to see real benefit. i dont know the science behind that claim, but i would suggest if you are considering it to invest in absorb plus and to drink a shake a day or something similar, because it is specifically createdto help with crohns.

i am on day 12 and doing well. im coming to the conclusion that i might not make it the full 6 weeks. its pretty tough to look at food everyday, but i think my real stumbling block will be going back to work. it looks like i may have a job and if thats the case i will be going to work in a week or so. i will try to keep it going when and if i start back working, but if it starts getting in the way, the new job has to win out. but i am not giving up yet.

on the positive side i am feeling great. i am not loosing weight and have been able to step up my exercise regime really well. im taking my triathlon training to the next level and so far my hunger has not increased, in fact i have had mroe energy to put into my workouts. and because of the diet, good and bad, i think i have confirmed that i have Candida (yeast overgrowth in the GI track). the first few days i had some numbness in one of my arms and figured out that was a key symptom. so i am going to treat the Candida while i am n the diet with oregano oil (a treatment from jini patel). wish me luck.
 
i have a feeling alot of crohn's sufferers have candida infection problems. i had some of the signs of it as well and i did not begin my path to healing until treating it first so i'm pretty sure this was one of my problems as well.

stick with it as long as you have to bro. hope it continues to improve.
 
good luck cjak on your trek, that is quite an undertaking by most of our standards. the absorb+ looks good, do you know what form the carbs are in? i didn't really see it listed, may have just overlooked it. also, i'm new here, & you seem to have a great wealth of knowledge on crohns. is there a good thread about the natural/homeopathic routes you & others have suggested i can peruse? what do you think of "physician heal thyself"? i think that's the name of the book. alot of probiotics & such. TIA & best of luck sir.
 
"patient heal thyself" is the name of the book and I use some of his products. they have helped me quite a bit. I would give what he says a shot to see if it helps you. I also take a lactase supplement and beano when i eat gassy foods and they seem to help amazingly well.
 
I'm feeling tons better on an elemental liquid diet... but it really sucks.
I have an NG tube taped to my face most of the time, and it has been 7 weeks since I've had food. I think the worst thing is the reaction of fellow students... I'm a senior in high school, and answering questions about a feeding tube all day isn't my idea of ending high school on a good note. No food at senior picnic, prom, graduation parties, my birthday... it'll be another month or two before I get anything more than clear liquids.

sorry. having a bad day. the liquid diet has seriously helped me feel amazing!
 
Hi Medio,

You have worked your way through the last 7 weeks fantastically well. I agree it gets tough facing others looks and questions and some can be very patronising too. I work in a hospital and all I get are sympathy looks and isnt it terrible you cant eat whilst they stuff the latest cream bun.

However, the benefits of elemental and knowing you feel so much better are what keeps me going when the going gets tough. I have been on elemental since the wednesday before last Christmas and have tried eating twice now.

The first time I lasted a week and the second 2 weeks under supervision of my gastro team. They started me on Azathioprine as I have to be able to eat at some point! Thing is I am quite comfortable on the elemental and feel "safe" in some respects.

When you have your tough days hang in there and remember you are definately not alone on this front. My way of looking at the elemental is - its the fastest food on the planet, I dont have to do drive through, I have no grocery bill, no dishes and hey I dont even have to work hard to absorb it! LOL

Thinking of you.

Jan
 
Can you drink the elemental diet in shakes, or does have to be through a tube? I once got a pck of an elemental drink called E028 and it says you mix it with water and drink it, no mention of tube!!
 
Hi Mazen,

Not sure what you mean by drinking it in shakes.. if you mean adding it to them then the answer is no, if you mean does it come in a shake format then yeah I guess you could say it does. You are right the E028 comes in 100mg packs that you mix with water and you can make them up to 500ml or 750mls. It does however also come in carton form ready made with a straw and all attached, all you do is chill it before drinking. I use the cartons at work or if I am going out and the packets or sachets at home. They also come in different flavours depending on whether you choose sachet or carton.

Some folk cant tolerate the taste of it or find it difficult to drink a certain volume all at once so have a nasogastric tube placed through their nose down into their stomach and are then given or "fed" the elemental in a more continuous way over a longer time period but in smaller amount an hour i.e. 100mls an hour instead of a 250ml carton all at once if that makes sense? The person may also find they have less discomfort with smaller volumes in a continous cycle and benefit more physically and also psychologically as they feel better and see the difference in themselves as time goes on.

Hope this helps.
 

Similar threads

P
New to Crohn's and Hoping to Treat Naturally Long Term
Replies
3
Views
3K
Justanothercp
Justanothercp
L
My day
Replies
11
Views
2K
ronroush7
ronroush7
Pangolin
Newly Diagnosed 10 yr Old with Crohn's
Replies
8
Views
2K
Jmrogers4
Jmrogers4
K
Newly Diagnosed: My Story + Questions
Replies
3
Views
2K
dormere
D
J
IBD, Crohn's and Candida
Replies
7
Views
2K
cmack
cmack

Latest posts

Back
Top