Do you find ginger foods/drinks help with nausea/upset stomach? I want to try some but not sure where to start.

Hypersleep · ‎10-08-2017

I've been having trouble eating lately, with a mix of reasons and severity. (If you'd like to give me some advice on that I have another thread on the introduction forums.) So I'm looking for the easiest ways to have ginger foods or drinks. I find that if I wake up too early I get a particularly upset stomach, sometimes throwing up mucus or phlegm in the period between leaving bed and doing an activity, not much though. If you have any other things that help you relax in the morning food based or otherwise don't hesitate to tell me, but I'm really wondering how I can try ginger easily. I've checked the forums for the keyword ginger but didn't really find anything quite like this.

Hypersleep · ‎15-08-2017

Thankyou once again for an insightful caring comment LH. 🙂

I left a big update here but I thought it was also relevant on my first forum post where I introduced myself. The mods don't allow similar comments like that so it was deleted here, even though it was first posted here. I'll link it here, hopefully links to this website are allowed. Either way if you read this mods please make it easy for her to find.

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/online-forums/anxiety/g'day-everyone-just-a-self-introduction-and-a-request-for-some-fairly-specific-anxiety-related-support-

If you could read my comment there and reply I'd love to see what you have to say about it. Also if I'm not allowed to post links to this website in comments here I am really sorry mods! I'll read the rules more thoroughly when I feel better.

A tiny update though. I made some more good progress yesterday after posting that comment, and decided to go to bed early. I went to bed at 5:30 in the morning and only managed to get myself out of bed at 8:00 tonight. I'll hopefully go to bed around the same time or earlier as I'm having my friend over tomorrow again.

What should I tell my GP exactly? Just that I'm doing all I can and I need more advice? I'm planning on asking if she thinks I need to take a higher dose of my current medication. Chances are the weight I've lost will be all the information she needs. I've been feeling okay and managing these past few days, not improving but not getting worse. Still this is no way to live.

Hypersleep · ‎15-08-2017

Part of me wants to ask what I could expect if I went to the hospital for this, even if you said your experience was out dated. Another part of me wants to ask what was the point that made you decide to go to the hospital. Part of me is scared of both those questions and just wants to wake up from this nightmare.

MsPurple · ‎15-08-2017

Hi Hypersleep

Sorry I haven't been on the forums much the last few days.

A lot of people struggle with poor appetite, I feel like it is one of those things people don't talk about. We hear mostly about people struggling to portion control and over eating but we don't hear much about the other way around.

I think it would be good to discuss this with your dr. If you have certain conditions you are eligible to see a dietitian under medicare (under the chronic disease management scheme also known as an EPC, note not all dietitians bulk bill so you'd have to ask when booking). They can help you with you eating and make sure you meet all your protein, energy and vitamin and mineral requirements. They are professionals with tertiary education and are part of an accrediting body.

Sometimes medication isn't always the answer. I am not a doctor however so it would be up to them whether they think it would benefit you. I suggest having small energy dense meals. If you're struggling to eat maybe try a nutritional supplement like sustagen or ensure (dietitian/gp can tell you more on this). When I feel sick and lacking appetite I personally find plain saladas (sometimes with cheese) or lemonade or orange juice helpful. Gives me some energy but it doesn't overly fill me up. With multi-vitamins remember they mix them up in the table. Some minerals are not the best when had together. Example is calcium and iron. That's it is suggested to avoid taking a calcium supplement when eating red meat. Yes they can help with supplementing you with some vitamins and minerals your diet maybe lacking, but if you are not lacking them they are not really required and the excess goes out in your wee (that's why it is fluro yellow after a multi vitamin). I would also consult your gp on this

MP

Hypersleep · ‎16-08-2017

MsPurple said:
I suggest having small energy dense meals. If you're struggling to eat maybe try a nutritional supplement like sustagen or ensure (dietitian/gp can tell you more on this). When I feel sick and lacking appetite I personally find plain saladas (sometimes with cheese) or lemonade or orange juice helpful.

I've heard of Ensure when I began feeling like this 2 months ago, but I couldn't really find it easily available for Australians. I'll look into Sustagen. My friend in the UK I met advised Quest bars, but the Aussie equivalent I'm not sure if I could find. Also sometimes when I get hyper aware of feelings in my body due to my anxiety, I can't tell if I'm hungry or full. Such a rotten feeling. I mean lately I doubt I've been full

Hypersleep · ‎16-08-2017

Oh yeah Sustagen, looks like a good idea. I've been having Up & Go, is it a bit like that? But I remember my Dr saying not to focus on just liquids, I do need solid foods or else when I feel better and can eat more it'll be hard.

Hypersleep · ‎16-08-2017

If I like vanilla Up & Go do you reckon I'd like vanilla Sustagen? Heck, the 'hospital' flavour might be a good idea if its genuinely used in Hospitals.

Ladyhawke · ‎16-08-2017

The 'Hospital' Sustagen is very good if your nutrition has been poor for a while. I've had it off and on for years when I don't feel like eating, but still want to keep up the kilojoules and nutrition. It can't be used for long periods of time without medical supervision (check with your GP), but I find it very useful if I don't feel like eating.

I was hospitalised for anorexia nervosa when I was 15. I was hesitant to mention it in my last post because I don't know if you have an anxiety disorder with food or if you've been diagnosed with something more serious.

When I was in hospital, the treatment was based on forcing us to eat by depriving us of things. We had privileges withdrawn, such as going to stretching classes, sitting on the balcony, restricting our outside phone calls until we agreed to consume food. We also had group and one-on-one therapy and were require to drink a minimum amount of supplementation each day. We were also given meds which had a slight seating effect. It wasn't pleasant.

However, that was over 40 years ago and I understand treatment has improved enormously - patients are no longer punished for not eating and there is much more supportive therapy involved.

I wouldn't start worrying at this stage. You would need to be professionally diagnosed and you would need to be quite unwell for admission.

Is it possible for you to go back to your GP , express your concerns so that he or she can allay your fears and anxiety? Can you try not to project ahead and attempt to concentrate on today? Perhaps think of foods you do enjoy and have small portions, but have a few extra portions throughout the day.

Do you you have a date to see your psychologist? I hope so - that will be something to look forward to and might be the start of a positive turnaround.

Stay strong and try to keep being positive. LH

Ladyhawke · ‎16-08-2017

Hi Hypersleep,

Somehow I missed the post where you inserted a link to your introduction - quite sure it wasn't there when I checked this morning. Clicking on the link doesn't appear to work so I'll do it manually. Won't be able to reply till tomorrow p.m. as I have a deadline to finish.

Stay positive and keep meditating 🙂 LH

MsPurple · ‎16-08-2017

hi hypersleep and ladyhawke. Eating disorder treatment has come a fair way even in the last 10 years. They are trying to encourage treatment before hospitalization and they are treating a larger variety of eating disorders. Unfortunately force feeding is sometimes necessary (e.g. tube feeding) if they are in dying need of it.

Sustagen is more nutritionally complete than up and go. I have tasted the hospital sustagen and I thought it tasted fine. Kinda like the up and go probably better. I think your dr is right. You should do sustagen in conjunction to food. It is more of a tool to help you get your nutritional requirements. I think maybe try something plane such as some bread, saladas, chicken etc. I also think a dietitian would probably be beneficial to see.

MP

Hypersleep · ‎16-08-2017

I look forward to your next reply. 🙂 I'm sorry you had to go through that though.

As far as I know my issue with food is just anxiety related, brought on by high levels of stress. I've never been too worried about my image. (Not that I'm sure what you mentioned is like that) When I went to highschool I wouldn't eat before and sometimes during school because I'd be afraid of getting nervous and having something come up. This is also how I dealt with appointments after school and it took me a long time to realize this wasn't normal. Whenever I got home though I'd gorge myself. I'd usually eat 2 fairly big meals a day, feeling bloated after each one. Though throughout my school life I was always within the lower side of my weight range, probably due to my metabolism because I really did eat BIG meals. Started to steadily gain weight after finishing school (besides bouts where I felt similar to how I do now, this being the 4th, though past ones weren't quite as fierce excluding the 1st) If it's My Dr. even advised me to start losing weight earlier this year, well I didn't expect for it to happen this way but it's happening.

Good news though, yesterday I was content with having the same amount of food as the day before it. 1 Ginger Chew, 1 Banana, 3 Multivitamin Gummies, 1 tiny bag of uglies (difficult today), 1 packet of chicken noodles (They were better than usual!) 1 Banana, 1 Up&Go Popper. The popper was extra. I went to bed at the same time as the day before happy that I added the popper to my day. Then in bed I was really feeling the hunger pangs. But I did the day before and decided to just meditate and sleep. This time however after doing my meditation I couldn't get comfortable so I got up, heated up a 2 minute microwave chicken burger and then ate it down so fast it barely had time to properly burn my mouth and got back into bed with a smile on my face. While I found it a little hard to sleep comfortably on a 'full' tummy, I had so much peace of mind.

I've always found impulse and short notice help with my anxiety. And I've had a similar 'midnight snack' before in the past 2 months feeling like this. It's kind of given me pressure to do it again today but I'm gonna just be happy with what I manage. At the very least I know I'm still just as capable as eating and it's just based on my mental state. Huge mood boost from that though. Little more than a week ago I'd stuff my face after my 'dinner' and feel way more hungry. Almost eating TOO much.