# drinking ensure/slimfast... is my idea just stupid?



## 16963 (Dec 5, 2006)

so classes started this week, and I have been waiting to eat until after them, because I know that eating can trigger D, plus I want to have as little in me available to create D, you know what I mean?on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday it's not so bad. I have 1-2 classes that end at 2, so I just have to skip breakfast and come home ready to eat lunch. But on Tuesday and Thursday, I have classes until 6:45pm! I don't know if I can wait that long to eat.For tomorrow, I'm packing applesauce, yogurt, and oatmeal to eat for a mini lunch, hoping that will tide me over until I get out of classes. But I don't know if that's enough. So I was thinking of buying some cans of Ensure, Slimfast, etc...basically anything that's a meal in a can.Does anyone know what this will do? This is a weird question, but does slimfast make pee or poop? I mean, if I drink it do you think I'll have to worry as much about D as I would if I ate a normal breakfast because it's "food", or will it just run through me as urine because it's a liquid? I feel sure it would just be treated like any other liquid, but for some reason I feel like there's some kind of flaw in this plan...thanks for listening to my dumb question, and thanks for anyone who can help!


----------



## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I think Slimfast is made with regular milk and has enough lactose to be bothersome for some people on an empty stomach.Ensure I think has lactose free versions and that may be a better bet if the lactose bothers you at all.It will come out as pee the same way water you drink. You have to absorb the liquid and have it filtered by the kidneys. There is no direct path from stomach to bladder.K.


----------



## 16963 (Dec 5, 2006)

haha that's what I thought, but for some reason I just feel like this is a bad plan, and I can't figure out what I'm nervous aboutAlso, I bought applesauce because I remember early on when I was having 'digestive problems', for a while I was on the BRAT (bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast) diet because it was supposed to be pretty bland and good for those with D. But I was just browsing in the Constipation section of the forum, and in there people were advising applesauce for people with C. Who's right? Should I avoid eating applesauce? I was planning on eating it in the middle of the day tomorrow as a bland food to help keep hunger and D away...


----------



## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Applesauce is part of the BRAT diet.If you really want to ease constipation you should eat uncooked apples or juices that still have all the sorbitol in them. Cooked applesauce may have a bit of fructose, but in the cooking you got rid of most of the stool consistancy altering properties.If it is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup you may want to avoid it.K.


----------



## 16963 (Dec 5, 2006)

oh, stupendous! I got the "pure" applesauce, with no sugar or corn syrup... just apples and water, I think. dumb luck! yay!


----------



## Jannybitt (Oct 13, 2006)

Lynnie;The SlimFast seemed to make me very gassy and have diarrhea. Carbs for me tend to be calming to my stomach, such as peanut butter crackers. You could try a type of granola bar that would give you a pick-me-up in the middle of your classes.I do think they make slimfast with a soy milk now. It seems I saw that, but it could be a different brand.Maybe on the days that you have to be there all day, or when you have big tests coming up, you could do the immodium as a preventative so you could eat to fuel your brain.Don't know if any of this helped. Good luck in school, and hope it all goes well. I'm sure you'll figure stuff out that will work for you. Bring you emergency stuff in your backpack in case you have to "go".


----------



## 18438 (Dec 14, 2006)

apple sauce is great! I live on it when I get d attacks. mmm... i love ityou might want to try smoothies, those are something that when i worked in a mall, with a smoothie booth, I lived off of when I was sick, they are full of nutrients and often times you can get the dairy free, or made with low-fat frozen yogurt (if you can handle it). I dont know if it was just because the fruit was mushed up, but i never had a problem with them.


----------



## overitnow (Nov 25, 2001)

I have used store brand meal replacements from drug stores that were non-dairy. This is certainly something you could try at home pretty simply.Mark


----------



## 20298 (Feb 26, 2006)

I definitely know how you feel about the classes thing. I just eat yogurt in the morning before I leave and I try to pack some plain crackers or bars in my bag to tide me over. Luckily if I do have attacks, I have told my professors and they have been amazingly great about it. I also love the smoothies from my school. They are good for me and really don't give me any problems. If you can find one, or make one, go for it. They help fill you up. Good luck!


----------



## 15976 (Nov 22, 2006)

A doctor also told me about the BRAT diet and said in India (her native country) they eat bananas to ease D. So in school, I would mostly eat things like soda cracker, rice chex (no milk), rice krispies, toast plain or with some white sugar, applesauce, etc. It is hard because if I go too long without food, I get tired and a headache.


----------



## 19528 (Nov 15, 2006)

If you do try the ensure/slimfast shake idea-will you tell me how well that goes for you? I NEVER want to eat before classes because who knows what can happen. thanks!


----------



## 16963 (Dec 5, 2006)

> quote:Originally posted by shlep923:If you do try the ensure/slimfast shake idea-will you tell me how well that goes for you? I NEVER want to eat before classes because who knows what can happen. thanks!


Sure! I'll probably having it next week, since there's only one more day of classes and tomorrow won't be too bad for me because I get out at 2. So I'll post something sometime towards the end of next week and let you all know how it's working out


----------



## 16963 (Dec 5, 2006)

> quote:Originally posted by Jannybitt:Lynnie;The SlimFast seemed to make me very gassy and have diarrhea. Carbs for me tend to be calming to my stomach, such as peanut butter crackers. You could try a type of granola bar that would give you a pick-me-up in the middle of your classes.I do think they make slimfast with a soy milk now. It seems I saw that, but it could be a different brand.Maybe on the days that you have to be there all day, or when you have big tests coming up, you could do the immodium as a preventative so you could eat to fuel your brain.Don't know if any of this helped. Good luck in school, and hope it all goes well. I'm sure you'll figure stuff out that will work for you. Bring you emergency stuff in your backpack in case you have to "go".


Thanks for the info! I already do take Immodium/Pepto/Lomotil every day, so hopefully if there's a problem with me being on slimfast that will help! I bought some oatmeal "breakfast to go" bars, I ate one today and that seemed to tide me over.I definitely have an emergency IBS "kit" in my backpack... all my meds and a pair of extra undies... I keep it in a little makeup bag so if I have to leave class and bring it with me, people will just think I'm carrying around a little purse. I'd much rather be thought vain than disgusting!


----------



## 16963 (Dec 5, 2006)

thanks for everyone's suggestions... bland food seems to be the way to go, which I am fine with as long as I don't have D! I'm still nervous sometimes that even crackers and applesauce will trigger something.I'm afraid of smoothies, because I feel like fruit has a lot of fiber in it? I'm still going to try a few smoothies at home before I make the big leap to smoothies at school...but I'm hoping to get there!


----------



## 16963 (Dec 5, 2006)

> quote:Originally posted by lynnie:
> 
> 
> > quote:Originally posted by shlep923:If you do try the ensure/slimfast shake idea-will you tell me how well that goes for you? I NEVER want to eat before classes because who knows what can happen. thanks!
> ...


Hey! I just wanted to check back and say this is working out pretty well for me! After just trying a few days to go without food, I knew I couldn't do it. I drink something called "Fortify" (which is my grocery store's store brand version of Ensure), before my first class or in my break between the first and second. It tides me through the morning, and I have a break for a couple hours in the afternoon before my evening class, so thankfully I can usually have a small snack in that time. But this idea has been a godsend. I still have something in my stomach to give me energy through the morning and early afternoon, but nothing solid to digest that could make my IBS worse. I feel slightly more gassy drinking this than if I eat nothing, but it's not at all enough to stop me from using it. Basically... this may be one of my best tools for dealing with IBS. I predict drinking it a lot, like if I have something to do at night and I don't want my IBS acting up, I'll probably drink my Fortify instead of having lunch of dinner. I'm going to use this plan for the first time on Saturday when I have a long party to attend...and I'm pretty optimistic about it!


----------



## 15976 (Nov 22, 2006)

If you do smoothies, you need to have bananas in them I'd say...they are constipating.


----------



## tkelly (May 11, 2004)

> quote:If you do smoothies, you need to have bananas in them I'd say...they are constipating.


They aren't constipating for me. Just the opposite. Maybe once in a blue moon can I have a banana. Don't they have a lot of fiber in them?


----------



## 16963 (Dec 5, 2006)

bananas have soluble fiber, which is different from the fiber used for constipation. Soluble fiber is supposed to be anti-D.Still, even with a banana, I can't drink smoothies except at night. All that other fruit has too much fiber in it and it just gets things going for me. I can't have it during the day if I want to be functional.


----------



## madge (Oct 1, 2006)

Slimfast gives me really bad bloating, cramping, and diarrhea. I don't think I'm lactose intolerant, so it must be something else in it.


----------



## 20070 (Dec 13, 2005)

Ensure is no problem with me, they actual energize me a bit, but I wouldn't have one on an empty stomach. Slimfast is a different story, I get D every time. If you read the ingredients it's no surprise. There's allot of additives and sugar-substitutes.


----------



## kitkat17 Lady of the Loo (Jul 21, 2005)

Slimfast gave me MAJOR D everytime. I will never drink one of those again.


----------



## clareuk (Feb 7, 2006)

I used to have soup as it is a liquid and fills you up at the same time. In England we can get soup in a small packet and called "Cup a soups". I used to get so hungry but I understand about no wanting to eat as it has to come out again. The soup didn't cause me any problems and I didn't worry as it was a liquid. Just an idea for you


----------



## patience2 (Sep 26, 2006)

This info has been helpful. I've wondered about these drinks in the past, but have never tried them. I definitely assumed that the milk-based ingredients would be bothersome.I've learned to rely on a bland diet throughout the day, and then eat better when I get home. I eat pretzels constantly. Also carry poptarts, apples/bananas, yogurt with granola, etc.


----------



## 16963 (Dec 5, 2006)

The one that I drink says that it contains milk, but on the front of the can it also says that it's "lactose free"I don't know enough about lactose intolerance to know what exactly that means, because I'm fine with milk, but for you guys concerned about the milk thing, you might be able to find one that doesn't bother your tummy.


----------

