I was told to eat little and often af... - Oesophageal & Gas...
I was told to eat little and often after surgery, but I find I NEVER feel hungry and often forget to eat. Anyone else have this problem?
I won't say I forget to eat, but I rarely fancy food & rapidly feel full. I am loosing weight - 2.5Kg since leaving hospital a fortnight ago. Been told I will probably loose more before stabilising. Dietician says I need to remember high calorie snacks between meals. Have a cream scone instead of a biscuit. Trouble is I don't then fancy lunch.
I know how you feel. It is 7 years since my operation and i still can't eat properly. My dietician tells me too to eat high caloie things as snacks but as i have little appetite i cannot eat more than 2 times during the day. I am now using a jejunal feeding tube overnight as a consequece of my not eating enough as my weight had dropped to around 6 stone!
Hi Yorkshirerose,
I'm now five years on from surgery and still eat small portions and more often than before surgery, sometimes just grazing most of the day rather than set meal times.
Feeling hungry does not happen with me still, something that is due to the surgery I believe.
Try different things to tempt yourself to enjoy eating taste wise,
I go for dark chocolate (Green and Blacks 85%) plenty of fruit with custard (with added ginger and nutmeg) and stir fried veg with sweet and sour chicken and home made sweet potato and coconut soup.
And don't worry..
Dave C
Hi Dave, yes I agree with trying different things to try and tempt myself. One thing I found post surgery is my tastes have changed, I used to love Green and Blacks dark chocolate now I find it gives me indigestion, but Green and Blacks milk chocolate with chillies -- yum yum
Hi, Its a problem for me as well I am 2 years post op. I do try to eat little and often but like you I find it quite difficult as as there is no appertite and feel full all the time. I have tried these high protein bars but the high sugar content leads to sugar dumping. It is hard to find a happy medium and maintain my weight.
Hi, having a similar problem I'm 18 mth post op. I have to remind myself that I need to eat and can only have child size portions. Those are the 2 things I've trained myself to accept. I went for my 6 monthly check in August and I have put on nearly a stone in weight. You'll find a solution that works for you it just takes time and a bit of trial and error.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, I think that is how life is after an oesophagectomy. I am almost 5 years post surgery and I still have to clock watch to ensure I alternate eating and drinking throughout the day, whether I want to eat or not. It's been a mission for me to maintain my weight and I have found that if I miss too many snacks then I am prone to lose weight then it is very hard to put the weight back on (well that's my experience anyway). As others have commented, you just need to reprogramme you're thinking and tell yourself it is acceptable to eat high calorie foods. In time this will become your 'new normal' in regards to having to continually chivvy yourself on to eat. Soon after surgery I used to set my mobile to remind me to eat because if I was engrossed in something I'd forget, now it's my husband phoning me every lunch time as a reminder, bless him! I wish you all the best.
Yes I have realised that this is my life from now on, my surgeon tells me I will accomodate my new digestive system and won't even notice its little quirks after a while!!!! Although I don't eat very much I do seem to be able to maintain my weight so I must be doing something right. I had to smile at the 'reprogramming of accepting it is ok to eat high calorie foods after a lifetime I not eating high calorie foods. I am the envy of my friends that I can now eat anything I want with out gaining weight
Regards Edwina
Im not fare of 4 years post surgery & im 59 years old, i feel eating little & often is the way to go, my wife makes me up a lunch box full of goodies, sandwitches cut into four, crisps,nuts, grapes & a few biscuits, i just dip in whenever i want. I do have a main meal in an evening & you do have to be carfull not to over do it, but I must say i do enjoy my food most of the time, i do think things get better in time, you just have to be patient.
Hi Peter can I borrow your wife? My husband is very good but he would draw the line at making my lunch box. I guess it is just a case of re-eduacting a digestive system that is in shock. I eat from a side plate so I can't over do it, If I eat too much I just throw up 
Thanks for your input, it is much appreciated
Edwina
We all need a wife!
It does tend to destroy the pleasure in what is supposed to be a good quality experience ie eating, doesn't it!
Stimulating an appetite is a really hard thing to do. I think it is to do with taste buds, saliva, smells and so on. Some people find an aperitif helpful, like a sherry before meals. I think that some people gradually find their appetite improving after a while, but it does not happen for everybody.
It is quite important to keep eating what you can, little and often, and to keep using trial and error to find something that either works, or, failing that, is not so bad.
Hi Alan,
My husband laughs at me as I sit reading cookery books trying to get the gastric juices working, but nothing seems to work. My tummy doesn't even rumble anymore.
Tried the sherry but just gave me hiccups lol
I have a list of foods to now avoid as they cause dumping, but now and again I try them again, if I get a bad reaction they are dumped so to speak.
My weight seems to have stabilised at 9st so I guess I am doing something right and my body is getting what it needs. I have noticed my taste have changed. Before surgery I never ate meat, now I do, probably my body telling me what I need as beef is in very small amounts quite enjoyed.
So glad I found this site it is sooooo helpful, thanks Alan
Hi All,
even being 5 years out, I am finding this forum very helpful with everyones different views, ideas and experiences.
Refined sugar caused late dumping with me big time, we changed to using natural cane only in drinks, baking & all cooking and on everything, and it worked within a week or two.
It does get easier eating and enjoying food again but in small amounts, my tastes have changed and it has us helped by trying different styles and combinations when cooking.
After 2 years my weight slowly started to increase and has now settled for the last year, no matter what I eat.
Try Green & Blacks white chocolate melted and poured over chocolate sponge as icing and orange buttercream filler, all homemade.
Now on 12 monthly outpatient appointments, another milestone.
Dave C
I had surgery 15 months ago and empathise completely. I went from a size 14 to a 10 in weeks and weighed 7.1/2 stone at 5.4" I did manage to put on half a stone by keeping a strict diary of food, eating 3 x350 calorie meals interspersed with 3 milk based shake type drinks. Couldn't stand the perscribed food supplements but found the diet(!) ones sold by the big stores much more palatable and made them up with full cream milk. Hard to keep up that discipline though and I have now slipped back! I live alone so its hard and quite boring to keep thinking of food especially as I dont even like chocolate and sweet things. High fat as in fish and chips, can cause dumping with me..It really seems one has to be very disciplined and try to find a method of eating that suits you as an individual. I have found the whole issue of weight loss, body image, food a real issue. This web site is very welcome! I am also a big fan of a certain stores "meals for one" and their snacks! Not formally a fan of "ding meals" but any food is better than no food! I have also found Belvita biscuits are very usefull and have a low GI so don't cause dumping, with me anyway.
This is my first posting and I hope I haven't bypassed any internet ettiquet!
Best wishes,
Charlie.
Hi Charlie,
Like you I have found this website very helpful, I had loads of questions but just reading through other posts so many have been answered. Sugar is a real problem for me too so I try to avoid it, but am not too strict with myself and try them now and again to see how my new digestion reacts. One of my problems is milk, I can't stand the stuff after having to drink warm full fat milk at school I am also lactose intolerant which took till adulthood to realise.I am slowly getting used to my small meals and if eating out just having a starter, my problem is remembering to eat at all. But I am sure it will all come right in the end, and well when you think of the alternative... well.........
But thanks for your comments
Best wishes
Edwina
Hi everyone. My problem is keeping food inside me...it either comes out up top or below !! I had my op on 2nd June 2011. I was doing really well but following 20 sessions of radiotherapy in August through to September I feel as if I have been pushed backwards. I find breathing difficult, I have a cough, sickness and diarreah. I have lost 3 1/2 stone was a size 12/14 now a size 6/8. I will mention this to my GI nurse when I seeher next week, but reading all the posts it seems that this is going to be a way of life for a couple of years or more!!!! Take care all
Maria
yes But the time goes quickly, you will feel beter, I am back at work full time now, those electric beds work very good if you can get hold of one
you sometimes find them on e-bay, ( I sometimes have a glass of wine or two, ) arn't I bad boy.
Hi my name is Tony, yep I do not fell hungry most of the time, the only time I do is when I smell a curry, but as spices do not help me with my new insides, so I go without, I had my op nearly 5 years ago, Did find using my Grandchildrens
plates (thomas the tank and others,) my grandchildren find it funny
Hi Tony, thanks for that, nothing seems to get my gastric juices flowing. I had to laugh at your Thomas the Tank plate, I use Winnie the Poo bowl and plate lol
Hi,
I don't feel hungry either at all and would quite happily not eat at all all day!
I also found the high protien snacks etc were full of sugar and caused dumping.
I have discovered pro cal shot which is low on sugar and helps with the energy, I get it from my doctor.
I eat breakfast biscuits be-cal with dariy lea cheese as a snack its small and easy.
I also have a childs lunch bag with snacks ie nuts, dried fruit, fruit, biscuits, enery bars like nutri grain etc which I keep in the car or take with me if I go on a walk so I can snack easily if I am out rather than having to face a sandwich!!
I have set the alam on my mobile to go off twice a day to remind me its food time.
All silly little things but they seem to help me.
Liz
Hi Liz,
thanks for that. I will talk to my GP about the pro cal shot next time I see her.
I have my mobile alarm set now to remind me to eat, trouble is it goes off and I don't fancy anything anyway. The lack of appertite is all to do with the vagus nerve being cut during surgery I believe.
We have been through the mill and are still going through it in many ways, but we will all get there in the end
Best wishes
Edwina
i'm eight months post op and have very little appetite. after trying all types of foods i've found i'm ok with boiled eggs, cheese on toast, tinned mackerel fillets or sardines, cup a soups and sliced ham sandwiches. my one regret is no longer being able to eat shellfish. that causes early dumping. as others have said, it's a case of trial and error until you find a diet that suits. good luck x
Since my eosophagectomy in 2004 eating remains painful and I have struggled continuously to maintain my body weight. I have lost half my original weight and now weigh around five and a half stone at 5 ft. 2 ins. It feels like I am slowly withering away from starvation yet the doctor seems to put it down to depression or lack of will power. It seems that it should be such an easy thing for them to provide some sort of alternative nutritional product which would be readily digestible, yet everything I have been offered, my body has purged more quickly than ordinary food. Anyone any ideas?
Gosh Angela that is not very big. I too am struggling with maintaining my weight. I am 5 months post op. I was fitted with a gastric nasal tube (I think they call it something else!!)on Tuesday. They say I won't gain a lot of weight if any but hopefully I will be able to stabilise my weight. I am 5'2" and weigh 42.9kgs. It might be worth your asking your doctor about having feeding tube fitted. Best of luck xxx
I suggest that you see a specialist Upper GI dietician - or a gastroenterologist. If there is not a specialist dietician at the hospital you were treated at, send me a message back and I will try and sort something out for you.
It is not lack of will power, because you know how your own insides feel like around food. If your new system pushes things through at a frightening rate and you are having diarrhoea, your body may not have time to absorb things like nutrition. Some people swear by liquid immodium to slow things down.
It may be that you have developed some sort of allergic reaction against, say, milk or dairy products. So try soya instead.
There are also low glycemic index foods that make your system work harder to digest things so that you have less of a sugar spike to upset your insulin:sugar balance for 'late dumping'
So you really need somebody to give you some specialist advice. Keep a careful food diary in the meantime so that it will help them to work out what is best. It is the sort of problem that quite a lot of people get - and overcome.
Alan
Agree with much of what has been said. I have tried forticep drinks but they just upset my stomach. Find milk lollies (most supermarkets)
agreeable and refreshing
I'm not hungry at all anymore either. I have alarms set on my phone that tell me to eat and drink at certain times. I used to be a real foodie and I miss that at times but at the moment if that's what it's going to take to get my weight stabilised / healthier then I'll do it.
I pack little tubs of things and try and eat every two hours and have something to drink in the hours in between that, I joke to the guys at work that if you don't see me with something in my mouth it's a rareity!!
My tastes have changed completely too since the op, I used to have quite a sweet tooth and loved chocolate but now can't stand the idea of it now apart from the 85% dark chocolate so I pack fruity sour things like dried fruit and nuts trail mix, the dried fruit is good for calories and the nuts gives calories and healthy fats plus it helps to 'contain' the sugars in the fruit so helps to stop dumping which I suffer from quite often.
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Moderation team
