I have met the criteria to get the transplant as my BMI is below the required measure. However my surgeon still believes it would be best for me to lose 20 pounds before the surgery in order to have a better outcome.
I know loss of appetite is one of the symptoms when it comes to ESRD however, it has been very much noticeable. I know 20 pounds is the goal but the feeling of not wanting to eat and not being hungry at all is very alarming. It has come to a point to where I am not hungry l and I eat once a day only because I have to not because I want to. I went to the grocery yesterday and got very few items because I didn't feel hungry and thinking about food makes me nauseated sometimes. With my kidneys declining, I feel as I if I have an eating disorder.
Has anyone experienced this? and if so, how do you manage? So far I have been eating healthy and clean but not conumsing as much calories. I would say im averaging about 500 to at 800 calories a day. Most I can go is 1000 a day but if I consume that much, I start to feel nauseated.
Yes this can probably help with the loosing weight lol, but on a serious note, it is quite scary and alarming.
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LillyBear09
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You are not the only one. I'm not at a point where I need to lose weight, I need to put on at least 5 pounds if not 10. However this low sodium, low phosphorus, low protein kidney friendly diet is full of food with low calories. On top of that I'm somewhat picky. I won't eat onions, peppers of any sort, not a fan of "mushy" food like cooked carrots but will eat them raw. Spicy food makes my stomach ache. I can't eat enough "plants" to put on weight. And I go through the nausea and can't eat state too. I wish I could help, perhaps someone here can.
It doesn't help when food is limited and restricted on certain nutrients. In your case, have you tried sautéing certain vegetables you are willing to try? At least it it won't be mushy and you can control the texture and seasoning of it since everything is being cooked all in done setting. Im with you with the whole nausea feeling. It defiantly does not help when your needing to lose weight or gaining some. I hope some of this helped you out. Your not alone in this.
I went through the same eating problem. Over the course of four years I lost 30 pounds. I was never told that I needed to lose weight, but I’m glad I did. In my mind I needed to lose it.Not being able to eat is no fun. I ate when I could and what ever I could and I didn’t really get upset about it, other than I just didn’t feel good. I did not suffer nutritionally from it.
After my transplant, I immediately put on 15 pounds. So, it’s a roller coaster ride. Buckle in and relax!
When I could not eat anything but had to, I found that I could eat instant miso soup. It’s quite good.
And no, you don’t have an eating disorder. You have a kidney problem that is causing toxins to build up in your system and making you nauseated.
That is how I feel most often. It really is difficult going though this entire process. I am glad to hear that you had a successful transplant! It gives me hope in this joinery to keep on moving and knowing that things will be OKAY. Thank you for sharing.
Boy does this sound familiar. I remember going grocery shopping and coming home with very little…or opening the fridge to find something to eat and then closing it again cuz nothing looked good. I could not touch raw chicken to prepare it for dinner, so gross! My nurse told me I was becoming protein aversive because of my poor kidney function. So, yeah, it is definitely weird to not be hungry and to also deal with breakthrough nausea. I did not let it scare me though, as I understood it to be simply one more side effect of failing kidneys. My body was doing the best it could with what it had left to work with. You have met the criteria for transplant so hopefully you won’t have to deal with this too much longer. One thing I did was ended up asking for anti nausea medication which helped get me through those last months before transplant. So maybe you can ask your doc about that?
Your not the first one who recommended anti-nausea medications. Does it really work? Im with you on the protein intake. Since I have been eating less, I've been more conscience about how much protein I take in. Even though I am not hungry, I still need to feed my body clean food in order for me to function. It just really difficult.
Yes, the anti nausea meds really worked for me. I took Zofran but the side effect was constipation so I had to then take miralax to offset that, which was fine with me. As always, different people respond to drugs in different ways, everyone is unique. So your doc would best be able to best determine what type of anti nausea drug might appropriate for you to try, should you decide to go that route. Ask questions, good luck and hang in there.
Not knowing if you have food restrictions, I will answer based on what I did. I also feel your pain. You are probably not hungry because of your kidney disease, and food probably doesn't taste good to you. I also know from experience that if you eat too much one day it is hard to eat enough the next day. I was never hungry, but craved certain foods. I think I might have been starving or deficient in nutrients.
I added collogen protein powder to drinks, usually juice to kill the taste, but it can be added to something else, as well. (Vital Proteins unflavored). sometimes I would add it to sweetened tea.
I put whey protein powder in the blender with coconut water and then added frozen fruit to make a smoothie. (Isopure unflavored whey protein isolate). I also added the protein powder to jello, as well.
I stated what I use and used to get extra protein sort of easily. These brands are not the cheapest, but since they are unflavored, they don't have extra chemicals or artificial flavors. I alternated these. If you are vegan, you cannot use these protein powders. I'm allergic to legumes, including lentils and peas, and I am soy intolerant, so I cannot consume vegan protein powders.
Artificial sweeteners can be difficult on your kidneys, so try to avoid those.
See if there is something you can do to keep your food fun. I started making rolled eggs, like Koreans and Japanese make. I also used a lot of ketchup to force myself to eat more. Nothing tasted good, so that helped sometimes. If you are not diabetic, try rice. That is pretty easy to digest.
Regarding eating more, the more I walked, the more I could eat. My digestion was slowed from the peritoneal dialysis. After a year of walking, I was up to walking 3.5 miles in 45 to 55 min, depending on how I was feeling. It took me a year to get from 20 min to that point, though.
Good luck. I hope something I said helps. My appetite didn't return after my transplant, but food tastes good again, and I am able to eat, Just to give you a little hope.
In addition to the protein supplements Baby Tee suggested, consider getting the Premier Protein shakes available at most grocery stores or Costco. My favorite is the latte flavor. It has 30 grams of protein in just 11 ounces, and 160 calories, along with lots of vitamins and minerals. Stick them in the refrigerator and they're good to go. I do make my own protein shakes from scratch from time to time, but these are super convenient for the many days when food just doesn't sound good and even throwing things in the blender is too much work. I'm coming up on three years post transplant, and still dealing with gastroparesis, so still rely on the shakes to get sufficient protein and nutrients in my diet. Best wishes to you.
I did try those protein shakes that have 30g of protein, but I could usually only get down 1/2 or 1/3 of them. Something is better than nothing, so try this and don't feel bad if you can't consume the whole thing.
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