Loosing weight/ putting on weight

[MaddyS]

Hubby has always been thin and would loose weight quickly ( wish I had that 'problem'), just by missing a meal. Now that mealtimes take a long time he tends to eat less, causing his weight to go beyond reasonable. There is no time for more frequent meals as he naps a lot. Does anyone have a suggestion of how to increase calories? I have started to add complan, lots of cream and butter to his diet. We have an appointment to see the dietitian in two weeks time. He eats a good varied diet but now not enough of it. The neuro suggested a PEG which we are trying to avoid. Thank you all for any comments. Maddy

[Keith246rk5]

Hi MaddyS sorry to hear about your husband

I've lost 11kg since January and I am no longer able to go to the gym which I was doing my nurse and I were discussing this yesterday and she has suggested milk shakes with full fat milk and cream which you've mentioned

Sometimes it's a thought to eat for fear of chocking so getting my wife to pick up nesquick and ff milk to have a shake when feeling like that

All the best

[MaddyS]

Keith many thanks, I will give milkshakes a go. We have had a problem with milk, even in tea. Instead of milk we have been using lemon for a while. This went well, however, he missed his cuppa. We are now back to tea with milk, no problems so far.

Take care, maddy

[Hidden]

Dear MaddyS,

Have you tried the Fortisip nutritional supplements? My Dad has one a day because he, like your hubby has always been thin and the nursing home food is not that good. They do various types but the plain straight forward one is the best, I think because they are the lightest and thinnest so easy to suck up with the straw. They come in several flavours too. Each little bottle is equivalent to a complete meal. Look them up on the net, they are made by Nutricia but they are expensive. Would he take malt and cod liver oil? My Dad loves it, I take him a dessert spoonful every day and we call it toffee! His mother used to give it to him when he was a child and so it holds gerat memories for him and of course after the war it was used a great deal in this country as a food supplement.

[shasha]

dear maddy

i read with some trepidation of your drs suggestion to let your husband be peg fed - i have decided that i do not want tio be peg fed as it is awful and degrading to be treated like a baby and have a nappy changed - also if you read the other post onthis site it gets ti be si difficult to then decide to come off the peg when it comes to quality of life - i hope you dont mind my being so frank but i feel very strongly about it #

yours sincerely shasha

[MaddyS in reply to shasha]

Dear Shasha

We agree with your view on peg. Some months ago, when hubby could speak, he decided he did not want it. The neuro's reason for suggesting it was to give him enough nurishment and of course he could still eat for taste. BUT, when do you discontinue the peg once it is in place? That's the big decision. We prefer more calorie input, especially as there is no problem swallowing at the moment. Thank you for your views.

Take care, Maddy

[Lorri-2]

Hi Maddy

My husbands weight has been stable for a while. His nursing home has good food and the carers offer him as much as he can eat, they always give him fortified milk, which is prescribed by the GP, but also make sure he has Ambrosia custards which are cheap and very good and I always put his tea time cake into his custard as he finds dry food hard to swallow. Tony never seems to be still as his body is constantly jerking, we are trying to reduce the Clonazepam med incase this is the problem, which is why he needs a high protein diet. Hope this helps.

Love Lorri

[MaddyS]

Thank you all for your replies. I will take all your suggestions to heart. What would we do without the wonderful support of this site .

Maddy

[daughter_Julie]

Note the fortisips and even special fortified chocolate puddings come on prescription if you ask the gp.

[jillannf6]

Hi I,do not have a ,prob with food and eating at the moment but m tending to,lose,weight :at my age I do not want to look too, scraggy !!

But the,weight loss had,to be explained byt he PSP i,think

Loljill

[Hidden]

If he has a sweet tooth things like creme brûlée or some other high calorie desserts can be useful and often easy to eat. I had one the other day from Waitrose in a ceramic ramekin, sorry don't know brand, but it was a passion fruit and orange panne cotta and it had loads of calories and was delightful. Also agree about using cream in everything, mashed potato, sauces on puds and cakes instead of custard....that works a treat! A tablespoon here and there will really make a difference. Good luck.