I never noticed ewnsure plus until last night at Sam's Club. It has 350 calories to an 8 OZ bottle. There the price is $32.00 a case. Still a lot of money for 350 calories. I have to vote for VHC from carnation.

It's a matter of taste. Since I did not have a PEG the first time around, the hospital dietician recommended Ensure Plus when I could not eat solid foods after the first 4 weeks. I just could not stomach more than one can a day of VHC. The Ensure Plus was palatable although hardly tasty. The VHC was just too "chalky". Of course, with the PEG, I use the Jevity 1.5 which is like Ensure Plus in terms of calories (355 calories per 8 fl oz can). And insurance pays partly for it, while they will not pay a penny for Ensure or VHC
How is Nutren 2- with its 500 calories? My ENT said her other patients have had cramping and diarrhea issues with Nutren 2 more so than with Jevity 1.5

I agree with you on the taste Charm, it's chalky as eraser dust like we used to make while cleaning erasers for the teachers in grade school. I have never tried Nutren in fact I have never seen it. Maybe because something pretty walks by and I lose my train of thought . LOL,, I think ensure tastes much better than VHC

I went thru 3 formulas before I found one I could tolerate. Jevity made me very sick but the Nutren worked ok when I watered it down. The postive side of having a PEG tube was I never had to taste any of the formulas, the smell was bad enough.

LOL what else can I say. None of it is really tasty but needed.

i still think that VHC tastes like pancake mix...but for some reason i can drink a can of it in seconds...faster then ensure or boost...boost is nasty but i also found it all to be good in coffee

How much really can you taste. It's like everything else. The 1st taste has flavor and after the flavor is gone. I put hot pepper juice on some spaghetti I tried, LOL Same with it.

Actually, I'm beginning to quite like the flavor of vanilla Ensure Plus. This is what I tell myself each day, lol. I tortured myself last night by watching the Texas Steak Cookoff on Food Network. Wish I could drool.

Martin couldn't stomach ensure, he found it too thick and it tasted horrible. But he managed the banana flavour scandishake to mix with milk, but he could only manage 1 pint as it filled him up. Then he couldn't swallow full stop so had the PEG. Thank God for the PEG, I could feed him regularly while he was dosing and make sure he had some nutrition in him.
& months on he managed some chinese food just today, beef in black bean sauce with rice. It was wet and a bit spicy, so tasty. He made the mistake of trying a slice of orange, and the look on his face was a picture! It tasted like sea salt!

LOL poor Martin learned a lesson today. One I had to learn too like all of us did. David I watch the cooking shows all of the time and can't figure out why the hell I do it. LOL Must be envy of the eating population.

I watch some of them too Jim - I actually get some ideas on ways to make things that do not have to be chewed.

Patty

I bought some fatty pork the other day and put it in the slow cooker with plenty of onions, chicken broth, celery and carrots. It all eneded up tender and soft , but too tough for my mouth. I got out the blender and really let it do it's job. LOL It looked like babyfood when I shut the blender off. Nasty looking stuff but put over bread with a lot of butter made it work, The 1st bite or 2 had the normal taste and after ti could have been filet mignon or whatever, LOL, it all taste the same after #1Bite

I actually enjoy the chocolate ensure plus and have my pharmacy order that exclusively anymore. I'm lucky that my medical covers it. I don't mind the vanilla but it got old after a while and I really couldn't do the strawberry.

Boost plus wasn't bad but I didn't like the taste as much as I do Ensure plus. I can't do the Carnation stuff...too thick for me.

I'm mostly on a liquid diet and occasionally use my PEG but every now and again I eat solids...had mexican with my wife tonight and cherished every bite.

I wish my insurance would pay for ensure. THey will pay for noting like it at all for some reason. My oncologist called them right after the implants and the paid for 3 montyhs for VHC then stopped and it was a medical substance.

I think they only pay for the kind that has to go through the 'Roo bags or a pump -- That's what my supplier said about the VHC when I asked for it -- Turns out the Nutren 2.0 is a gray area, being a bag food but also being 'drinkable', although I had to use the Nesquick to make it palatable.

Back when I was drinking Ensure-type stuf, I was using Safeway's generic version, which cost less (esp on sale) and tasted the same. Likewise, Wal-Mart has some canned stuf that was tolerable and inexpensive last I checked.

I was in Wal-Mart today -- A six-pack of Ensure Plus was about $8.50 and a six-pack of Wally's Equate Plus, same calories, was $6.50.

i must say I cheated and tasted martin's ensure. I did like the vanilla one and the chocolate, but the most foul one was orange. That was horrid.
We have Nutriment for about 70 cent a can, it taste nicer than ensure and they have chocolate and vanilla and strawberry too. It's a meal in can too. So I reckon it's probably near Ensure. They sell in Asda (which owned by Walmart only is in the UK). It might make a change if you can find it in the US.

But please keep in mind that you are tasting it as a normal person would, not one whose taste has been severely compromised.

Go for the GNC weight Gainer 1850.. 1850 calories per serving. Rite Aid has it on sale right now.

I've got several packs of powdered scandishake to be mixed with milk. Martin doesn't need them anymore, so if anyone wants them I could send them in a jiffy bag to make it less bulky. I have some calorie filled powder as well where you just sneak in a spoonful in soup. (the pharmacy will only destroy them if we return them).
If anyone wants it i will be glad to send it. Martin did like the banana flavour for a while. It might make a nice change to ensure as it's thinner.

I would volunteer to take them,, but it would be too costly. I'm sure someone closer will take you up on your generous offer tho.

I don't think it would cost loads if I take them out of the box. I will test a bag out and weigh it at the post office on Tuesday. Monday is a holiday for us so I can't go earlier and i got somewhat destracted today at the DIY store (I practically live there! I go to buy some nails and I come out with a car load a �100 less in my purse).

That is so funny, my husband watches the cooking shows all of the time too!

The Food Network is total torture but I can't tear myself away from it. Iron Chef, Throw Down with Bobby Flay, Chopped, I love them all and all I can eat is noodle soup, cereal and Ensure.

My husband had his 2nd chemo of Cisplatin and Taxotere last Wed. His throat and mouth are already so sore from the RT that he is using his PEG. He is so nauseous and having diarrhea since Sun. due to chemo. He is taking Phenergan and Zofran for nausea and then Lomotil and Imodium for diarrhea. I am having a hard time getting him to take anything in his Peg. He had 1 2/3 cans of Boost today and 1 can yesterday. The first week of treatment he lost 8 lbs. He has probably lost 6 lbs this week (just guessing)at least. The chemo doc told him today if he doesn't start getting more nutrition and liquid to balance the diarrhea and 1 time vomiting or he looses too much weight, they may have to stop his treatment. My husband says he is doing all he can do. Help, is there anything better for nausea and diarrhea? Would the doctor really stop treatment?

Hi jimorpam

Sorry your husband is having to deal with all this.

If you look under CURRENTLY IN TREATMENT and read through the post "Constant Nausea" - ChristineB and others have written some advice on slowing down the feeds that may help.

I know that from my own experience, I did suffer from diarrhea and slowing down the Ensure feeds made alot of difference.

(I'm not sure how to put the link up to take you directly to it)

Hope this helps

Karen

Constant Nausea

Thanks Catherine for putting the link up

Karen

What about Boost Plus? It tastes good, but is it as healthy as Ensure?

Is Boost Plus as good as Ensure Plus in regard to nutrition. Boost sure tastes better?

Is Ensure Plus better for nutrition than Boost Plus? Boost Plus has 360 calories and tastes good. I had Ensure when I had a feeding tube last year, so didn't really get to taste it. Which is better healthwise?

Dont know about Boost plus. I drank ensure only twice and it was awful. I couldnt even drink it holding my nose or when I had no taste. Alot of people here use carnation very high calorie which is about 500 calories per can. You can get this by asking at the pharmacy of any major retailer or ordering it thru the amazon link on here.

I used prescription feedig formulas. Sorry I couldnt help you more.

Surprisingly I still drink vanilla Ensure Plus for breakfast every day and like it. It must be ice cold. The other flavors that I liked while on radiation were Butter Almond and Coffee. I could not stand the regular Ensure and had to drink the Plus variety. I did not like Boost but I'm not certain they had a Plus variety back then. Strawberry and Chocolate were the worst Ensure flavors. Carnation VHC didn't exist back then amd I don't need the calories now.

Take care,
Eileen

Eileen,

I just saw a commercial last night on a new Ensure drink that is supposed to boost the immune system and have an active culture in it so maybe you can look into that?

I drink the Members Mark from Sam's Club. It;s ensure under a different name and cost about 8 or 9 dollars less. I like the taste if it is very cold.

I saw that commercial too. It sure makes it look like something pretty tasty. I still havent been able to bring myself to drink that kind of stuff.

I drink Ensure after my partial glossectomies and I thought they were really good. I liked chocolate and vanilla. I can't drink it now because it takes me back so surgery days. I'm very sensitive to smells and tastes. Christine, I'm surprised you found it so bad...

The ensure was horrible to me. Dont know if it was due to my wacked out sense of taste. It just reminded me too much of the canned fedding formulas I used for my PEG.

Thats funny you mentioned about being sensitive to smells. My nose is now the super sniffer!!!!! Maybe that plays a part in my sense of taste.

Ive always been overly picky when it came to food and drinks.

Eileen, you and Suzanne are brave souls to drink that stuff.

Unless I am mistaken, all Ensure products with expiration dates beginning 1 March 2010 now have the prebiotics in them. This has caused a real problem for me as within a few days the old diarrhea retuned from nowhere. It was not until the other day when I went to their site looking for their new product that I found out about the new addition and what it is supposed to do. I found a case with a Feb 2010 expiration date and upon switching over to it the problem stopped. I am in touch with them to see what might be done to alleviate my problem. I sure would hate to have to change over to a different product now.

I guess I might be able to qualify as an expert on Ensure. Since I began using it back in 2005 I have consumed right close to 15,000 cans of it, ten a day. Most likely some 99.9 percent of that consumed has been the Creamy Milk Chocolate. They now have a brand new flavor, Dark Chocolate which I am looking forward to tasting.

oohhh Bill...let me know what you think of the Dark Chocolate! I've tried almost every flavor and like you am stuck and strangely addicted to the Creamy Milk Chocolate.

I think I'm going to grab a few right now...help me with my hunger and dry mouth issue...lol :P

Be Well

Eric

[quote]De gustibus, non disputandum est.[/quote] One of my favorite Latin sayings from the Seminary days: LIterally: concerning tastes, there cab be no argument, but meaning that matters of taste are solely preferences and you can't have a valid argument about which taste is better, only an opinion not based on reason or facts. During my first round of radiation back in 07, I forced down Ensure Plus Vanilla. I could not stand the so called chocolate flavors as the taste was so different from good chocolate (sort of like instant coffee compared to ground beans put through a french press). Even the super cheap Palmer chocolate candy that floods the bargin bins at holidays tasted better. My wife really had to shop around as apparently all the shoppers in our area agreed. She had to hit 5 different chain stores as they all had only a few vanilla left on the shelves but lots of chocolate sitting around. When I got better I asked some of the managers about it and they said that the vanilla sold out almost as soon as it came it, but their marketing offices had committed in advance to buying equal amounts of chocolate and strawberry so they just stockpiled those in the back or put them up for huge discounts.

Florida bill

even my PEG tube food: Jevity 1.5 boasts on its front that it has [quote]Prebiotics to help maintain and restore gut flora damaged by antibiotics or disease[/quote] under the trade name of Nutraflora FOS Good luck in finding no prebiotic drinks.

The absolute worst was the Strawberry. I too could not stand the choc flavors.

15,000 cans, that has to be some record and 10 a day, wow you win the award for perseverance.

Florida Bill,

Welcome back. We need you down on the island to rustle us up one of those lobsters dinners you use to make us. Hope all is going well.

Dark Chocolate sounds delicious. Is that Ensure or Ensure Plus? I can't stand regular Ensure. I liken the difference in taste to drinking skim milk vs heavy cream. I will have to have my husband look for for the Dark Chocolate.

Also thank you for the heads up on the probiotics. I think I had the same reaction when I ate Dannon Activia for a couple weeks. I contacted Dannon about it and they assured my that it couldn't possibly cause diarrhea. The minute I stopped eating it, the problem went away. Hopefully that will not happen with the Ensure Plus.

Take care,
Eileen

The best way to drink any of that is to swallow fast and avoid the taste.

That's the way I did it but taste was not my main reason it was nausea.

I spoke to one of the nicest customer service people I have ever encountered yesterday at Ross. She informed me that the only difference in the old and new product is the amount of fibre it contains. The old product has less than 1 gram. The new and improved one has 3 grams.

I contacted my supplier, they made some calls and found me several cases of the old product. At the suggestion of the Ross customer service woman I am going to use some of the new and old products and hopefully my system will adjust to the increase in fibre. I think that just may work.

Not sure if this a new product, but we just received samples of SCANDSHAKE instant shake mix-vanilla flavor from our nutrionist. You mix it with one cup of whole milk. It is 600 calories. My husband can't stand the taste of anything, including ensure and carnation VHC but he actually thought this tasted pretty good. So I thought I'd share this with everyone. It has to be ordered. 1800-472-2634. I have no idea how much it costs since I'll be ordering on Monday. Apparently it is expensive ( what we call liquid gold)!

Vanessa

Whoops.. it is called SCANDISHAKE.

If he likes it and will drink it, that's great.

One problem I had was I could like something today and tomorrow it would taste like crap.

David,
That is apparently true today. He can't taste the ensure at all and before it was really too sweet.

Yes, don't fall into this trap that my wife and I did. One day I would taste something, say lemon Gatorade, and it would suit me so I would tell my wife to go get me some and she, being so desperate for me to drink anything, would buy an excessive amount only to find out the next day that I couldn't stand lemon Gatorade. We ended up giving a bunch of stuff away post Tx. It is amazing this gift of taste we are born with and it's equally amazing how quickly this Tx can ruin it.