I am having a very hard time findng a food (for my tube) that doesnt cause horrible gas and bloating. Ensure makes my stomach hurt, boost is okay but still makes me uncomfortably gassy. The nutritionist just put me on ultra cal, that one is an absolute no!! Does anyone have any suggestions that I could talk to the nutritionist about. I am lactose intolerant, and I know that most foods are lactose free, but maybe they arent as lactose free as they say. Any suggestions? I've lost 50 pounds since January.

I found that I had to use the Ensure very diluted. This wasn't that big of a problem for me, since getting adequate water is part of the game. That combined with VERY SLOW DRIP, like 2 hours in front of the tube and staying upright finally worked for me. Alternative nubmer 2 is to take something like Gas-x before you eat, this is simethicone and works really well.

My husband found Ensure made hime very nauseous, Boost wasn't much better. He had good luck with NutriSource (I believe that is the name...it's been awhile) I ordered it from a catalogue the dietician gave us. It also had more calories than either Ensure or Boost, so he didn't have to take quite as much. As Brian said, the slow drip was also key. I believe I'd load the bag with all the cans (about 6 I think) in the evening and put the pump on a very slow setting to drip all night long while he slept (partially upright). The pump also fit in a nifty little backpack so that he could continue to drip food into the morning but still be mobile.

This nutrition stuff is difficult, I know, but also really really important.

Anita

BLENDER - BLENDER - BLENDER..... You can liquify anything on the planet with a good blender.
I am lactose intollerant as well as dysphagic. My wife is very creative with the blender. She uses soy milk as a thinning agent.
For instance, tonight I will dine on a baked potato and veggies, complete with tofu sour cream. YUMMY....
Note: always strain through a fine seive/screen to insure the liquid that you have magically created isn't lumpy..
Darrell

My mother in law uses Jevity and has for nearly 4 yrs now... we have had trouble with every other formula we have tried (diarrhea mostly).

Heidi

I use Nestle's ProBalance eight cans per day for 2 years now and haven't lost hardly any weight. It goes down easy and I have had virtually no stomach or bowel problems with it. You might give it a try. I was given Jevity in the hospital but have been on ProBalance ever since.

Jim Haucke

SCC (T1/2) right lateral tongue partial glossectomy Nov 03; recurrence SCC BOT & pharynx (T4N0M0) Jan 04; subtotal glossectomy and pharyngectomy with microvascular forearm free flap Feb 04, 36 rads Mar-May 04

I used Jevity 1.5 and had no problems. It is formulated expressly for tube feeding.

We use Jevity 1 cal which has about 260 calories and 10 gram protein per can. Gas and bloating have not been a problem.

We also use Benecalorie which comes in a small round 1.5 oz plastic container. It is a thick white liquid which can easily be dissolved in water. One container provides 330 calories and 7g protein. It is available at walgreens.com.

I use probalance and also nutren 2.0. same thing except on calories and fat. nutren 2.0 has 500 calories per can, quite concentrated, vs 300 in probalance. both haven't given me problems. they are made by nestle but are by prescription only.

The Equate Plus (from Wal-Mart) is very inexpensive and has the same content as the Ensure. Most of my stomach and GI problems were solved with fiber. I live entirely on my peg tube, and I knew I needed the roughage.

After lots of experimenting, I settled on Benefiber. I toss a couple of teaspoons into each bottle of water during the day and it does the trick. Remember that some of those GI problems are med induced too.

I've tried blending real meals, but I just can't get enough calories that way. Consider using high calorie Ensure (Equate or other) instead of soy milk as a thinner. My latest routine is to combine blended foods with a couple of cans of Equate - 3-4 times per day. Tom