I have no appetite right now. I really try to make myself finish all my food but I just can't! Any tips? I was very very skinny over Christmas and I do NOT want to end up like that again. Thank you! x
Tips on getting appetite back?
- Thread starter hannaaah666
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Hi Hannah 
Are you experiencing lack of appetite due to abdominal pain and cramping as well? I know when I had an abscess it was difficult for me to feel like eating anything. The smallest bits of food would upset my stomach and make me feel distended. Eating was not fun for me at all.
Once I found out I had an abscess and Crohn's I was put on a liquid diet for 2 weeks while I was in the hospital and they pumped me full of IV antibiotics. Are you on any medications?
I've found that as long as active inflammation is present, eating is difficult for me. Thankfully, I seem to be very close to remission and am not experiencing difficulty eating. I've actually gained more weight than I've ever been, which I'm not sure is entirely a good thing, haha.
So, if you aren't on any sort of medications, I would contact your GI or find one who can get you started on treatment to get your disease under control. If your current medications aren't helping, maybe it's time to get something stronger. Or if you haven't given new medications time to work, maybe your doc can give you something in the meantime to help with the pain until the other medicines have had a chance to kick in.
Otherwise, I would say that trying a liquid diet for a while (though it can be hard) would give your gut some rest and then slowly add low fiber foods back into your diet. These things should be easier to digest and will be easier on the gut if you do still have some active inflammation going on in there. You can find more info on the forum about low fiber/low residue diet, just search the threads. I was on this for about a year and I think it helped my healing tremendously.
If you haven't heard about protein replacement drinks like Boost or Ensure, you should look into those as long as you aren't following a dairy-free diet. It should help you get the calories and vitamins you need on a daily basis if you don't feel like eating.
Hope this helped some.
Are you experiencing lack of appetite due to abdominal pain and cramping as well? I know when I had an abscess it was difficult for me to feel like eating anything. The smallest bits of food would upset my stomach and make me feel distended. Eating was not fun for me at all.
Once I found out I had an abscess and Crohn's I was put on a liquid diet for 2 weeks while I was in the hospital and they pumped me full of IV antibiotics. Are you on any medications?
I've found that as long as active inflammation is present, eating is difficult for me. Thankfully, I seem to be very close to remission and am not experiencing difficulty eating. I've actually gained more weight than I've ever been, which I'm not sure is entirely a good thing, haha.
So, if you aren't on any sort of medications, I would contact your GI or find one who can get you started on treatment to get your disease under control. If your current medications aren't helping, maybe it's time to get something stronger. Or if you haven't given new medications time to work, maybe your doc can give you something in the meantime to help with the pain until the other medicines have had a chance to kick in.
Otherwise, I would say that trying a liquid diet for a while (though it can be hard) would give your gut some rest and then slowly add low fiber foods back into your diet. These things should be easier to digest and will be easier on the gut if you do still have some active inflammation going on in there. You can find more info on the forum about low fiber/low residue diet, just search the threads. I was on this for about a year and I think it helped my healing tremendously.
If you haven't heard about protein replacement drinks like Boost or Ensure, you should look into those as long as you aren't following a dairy-free diet. It should help you get the calories and vitamins you need on a daily basis if you don't feel like eating.
Hope this helped some.
Thank you very much for the reply! I'm on pentasa and have just come off pred, and I seem to be getting some symptoms again. My gp said I could go back on pred for a while to get through my exams, but when he saw how upset I got he said I didn't have to. If the liquid diet you're referring to is Modulin, I have been on that for 3 weeks. I was initially told I would be on it for 8 weeks, but it's very difficult isn't it! I stuck with it for my 3 weeks and I also weighed more than when I started! I'm thinking of going back on Modulin to ease my gut, as you said, and my doctor has also recommended I eat soft foods. Thank you very much for the reply! x
x
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- May 25, 2011
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When I had my first flare before I was diagnosed I also had a loss of apitite. I ate whatever looked best which was hard because nothing looked good! In around a week I'm starting an elemental diet which may work as a treatment for you if your not craving food anyway.
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2011
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The answer is: Get your disease/symptoms under control and your appetite will return. But of course that is not the easiest thing to do, so my next best advice is, as dreamintwilight already suggested, to drink nutritional supplement drinks such as Ensure or Boost. They don't taste horrible and it's better to chug a bottle or two (or more) a day rather than not eat anything at all. Keep yourself hydrated as well.
