I haven't seen mention of "Fibersource HN" as a tube food. Is anyone else here using that? John's RO rx-d a whole bunch of it, but it seems to be lower calorie than some of the things I see mentioned here. It has 300cal per 250ml can and he can't very many down in a day b/c of nausea (sometimes worse, sometimes not so bad) even with the antinausea meds (Zofran, Reglan, Ativan). Is the high calorie Carnation useful in the tube, or only used for oral intake?
I use Nutren 2.0 in my PEG tube. It's made by Nestle, like VHC, but has 500 calories per 250 ml can and is covered by Medicare. Apparently Medicare considers VHC to not be a tube food.
Nutren is also supposed to be drinkable, but when I previously used it I had to add Nestles Nesquick to it for flavor (Addl 60 calories, so that brought it up to VHC.
We used ensure, calogen, and scandishake through the tube, and loads of water.
We've been using Jevity 1 cal which was prescribed by the VA. 237 cal per 8 oz can, 10 per day (totally on the tube) which has been perfectly balanced nutrition. When we were on vacation I shipped 80 cans on the plane but we started to run out so we bought some Ensure plus but the sugar content is so high that he started having reactions (whole nother issue)! I had asked our nutritionist about using the Carnation VHC but she said it was very thick consistency and may be difficult to put thru the tube.
I had also read (on another board) about an additive you can buy at GNC called 'Maxx Muscle' I think...they said you mix it with 2 glasses of milk and it's 900 cal and 50 gm of fat...not sure of the rest of the components.
My husband was very very thin before all of his treatments and lost 20 lbs that he has not been able to put back on yet. His tube feedings are 7 cans of Jevity 1.2 per day, but they are changing him to Jevity 1.5. He is adding cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter blended with his Jevity both for bulk as well as for added calories and fat. The nutrisionist I spoke to this week said to add some Olive oil also. She did say that the cream cheese probably was not enough calories for the bulk, but Chris said he likes it.
Karen, that sounds like it might actually be tasty. Thats a great idea to add the cream cheese and peanut butter. It covers the taste and is smooth but at the same time will thicken it up. Great idea!!!!
Peanut butter is high calories. I add about 1/2 cup to my milkshakes. Im out of treatment about 22 months and still havent gained weight no matter what I eat. It seems to take forever to get back on yoru feet from this awful disease.
Karen, the GNC was 1850 calories and it is called Weight Gainer
There is also a Muscle Milk made buy cytosport. It is 300 calories per serving but is mainly for muscle gain. This you just mix 2 scopps of with cold water.
I have one more for you. This one is calledQuick Gainer from Cort-Avert. There are 690 calories in a serving and 50 grams of High- Biological vsalue Premium protien per serving. It's an anti-cvatabolic mass complex. That should about cover it. geez, I actually made it without my normal typos.
Thanks for all the input! The main problem is the persistent nausea/GERD despite the meds for that (which help but still). Thank goodness he has the PEG, though, b/c otherwise nothing would be getting in!
mgmichael,
Have you mentioned the nausea to the docs? I had to try a couple of things before mine was under control, but what a difference when we got it right! There are lots of drugs out there for nausea, the trick is to find the one, or combination, that actually works.
- Margaret
They gave him Compazine to start, then Zofran, then added Reglan and Ativan. He hasn't vomited, just never feels very settled in the belly!
That's exactly what I had, no vomiting, but a really sour, icky belly which made it really hard to eat. Zofran and the others did absolutely nothing for me. I ended up with a combination of Emend and Aloxi, which worked beautifully.
HI;
My dad had the same problem. He had terrible nausea and although he had a PEG he still could not keep any food down. We tried all the medication that others mentioned and even had a GI test to make sure nothing was wrong with the PEG. Nothing was wrong and the nausea passed. He did end up in the hospital several times with dehydration. So, force the water, even if he cannot tolerated the food.
Good luck,
Boston
I started with Fibersource HN, but being diabetic, it really caused my blood glucose levels to go through the roof. I now use Glucerna 1.2, and my BGL has been normal since I made the switch. The PEG has been a big help in my recovery. I also had the nausea (and subsequent dehydration) at first, but it diminished within the first few weeks post-tx. Hang in there... it gets better.
Oh, forgot to mention that the Glucerna 1.2 is 285 calories per 8 oz (237 mL)can.
I was definitely Linda Blair's dad!!! I threw up so much that I had what I'll call a gag reflex for many months post Tx meaning everytime I ate or drank something I immediately had this urge to toss cookies. I think my bout with nausea was by far the worst part of my Tx followed closely by Mr Nausea's friend and companion, Mr Constipation.
That doesn't sound fun at all.. even for Linda Blair's dad!!! Does the CIB VHC work well through a PEG? My Mom's getting her PEG tomorrow. I copied down the things mentioned above to use with a PEG too. Thanks, everybody - that will come in handy :o)
I guess it depends on the size of tube because I have heard some say they used it and some say they were told not to use it because it was to thick but you can always cut the VHC with some milk to make it thinner.
Watering down the feeding formulas will make them easier to tolerate. Slow down the feed rate and it will help too.
I've had good luck with Carnation's Nutren 2.0 (500 cal/can) and it's acceptable to Medicare and insurance. Basically same as VHC, by same company, but accepted as a PEG food. It's also drinkable, but tastes better supplemented with Nesquick (which brings it to 560 Cal/can, same as VHC).
Four cans by PEG give me 2,000 calories.
The higher the number after the name, the thicker it will be, so PEG size can make a difference.
BTW, the number following the food name is the roughly the number of calories per ml of the drink, so a 1.5 drink is 1.5 x 250 = 375; 2.0 x 250 = 500, etc. If VHC had a number, it would be 2.24.