Diets/Eating Habits?

[PattiL]

Just thought it'd be kind of neat to find out from everyone what we all eat on a daily basis?

Are certain foods intolerable? Do other foods help symptoms? Do you feel better most of the day after starting your day off with a certain food?

I know I salt my food like crazy, eat a LOT of fruit every day and try to eat a little bit every few hours rather than a few big meals. I do find it hard for me to eat a lot of the time though, because I just don't feel hungry at all. Same with drinking. I have to switch off with my foods and drinks a lot, I kind of get on a "kick" for Gatorade, but after a couple weeks I don't want to drink it anymore. Same thing happened with pink lemonade, chocolate milk ... plain white rice with salt, chicken salads, pancakes, you name it!

Does anyone have any good recipes/meals that don't bother them and that keep them eating most of the time? Even a snack that seems to help! For me, Nilla Wafers and Premium Saltine Crackers are my favorite.

Seeing that we all need to keep ourselves hydrated and eating well, I think it would be a great thing for everyone to share. Eating even the littlest bit is so hard to do when you feel sick!

Thanks!

Chrissy~

[MightyMouse]

The only things that effect my ANS issues are as follows:

caffiene-helps me keep a decent baseline blood pressure in the morning. One cup is all...any more is overkill.

alcohol-I can tolerate one drink, maybe two. After that, I'm prone to syncope more than other times.

Nothing else seems to cause me problems and/or make things better.

Nina

[dizzygirl]

Hi,

some of the foods that I avoid (or if I do eat them in very small quanties) potatoes of anykind, pasta, and beef.

I find that if i eat these things that I feel really awful.

I also have IBS, so I avoid fatty, greasy, heavy foods. and i also avoid drinking pop, or anything with bubbles in, bubbles do a number on my tummy!!

But foods that I do eat are salads, bannana puding, cottage cheese, chicken.

I find my self craving peanut butter really bad at times...

When I am feeling yucky, I will eat some green olives and chug down some gatorade... sometimes does the trick.

TO snack on, I'll eat pretzels...or a bannana with PB on it!!

I also put alot of salt on my food....

[taylortotmom]

Soup, soup, soup! The higher the sodium the better! I actually have created my own special dysautonomia soup which is a guarantee to make me feel better. Start with a can of chicken broth add a can of creamed corn- heat to boiling then drop in an egg and whisk it quickly as it heats. It's a chicken corn version of egg drop soup. It's much better than it sounds. You can top it with crackers (I personally like french fried onions on this). It's good- I'm telling you. If I feel too bad to stir this up, Good ol Campbells chicken noodle is just as effective. I dilute it with less than one half can of water and put a ton of saltines in. Those are my secret dyautonomia brews. Other things that are standbys are peanut butter crackers. With this you're getting sodium and protein- it helps. Peanut butter and orange juice to drink or milk. All give you a shot of sodium and protein. I could write a recipe book for dysautonomia. For me, these things are what help the most. Oh, and back to the soup thing- soups are awesome because a little goes a long way as far as nutrition. I, too, have a problem of filling up very quickly so soups give a lot of bang for your buck. I have learned that when I do eat out to avoid heavy foods because I simply cannot eat much at one time anymore but soup really fills the bill. Hope this helps! Carmen

[Sunfish]

Right now I'm doing better GI-wise than I have been since new years, which means that I'm VERY thankfully eating with some semblance of normalacy...relatively speaking. In terms how eating or not eating things makes me feel in general as opposed to how things effect me GI-wise, the only things I can tell are fluids & salt. I can tell when/if either start to fall behind.

For me it's generally more about quantity than quality...or rather I can generally eat almost anything if it's only a few bites. I do, however, know I get into problems with larger amounts of things that are really spicy, really full of fiber or fat, or really acidic. I'm okay with dairy generally but not in massive quantities at once. Before this past November, except for a few rough patches over the years, my body was a lot more accepting of things in general. Now I'm just coming out of severe gastroparesis since January during which time I could hardly keep liquids down at times. So...I've been on every which side of things in terms of tolerance.

When I simply feel cruddy in terms of BP/HR & my stomach itself is uneasy but not a complete disaster, I gravitate toward gatorade & tortilla chips, pretzels, or my latest obcession...Bold Chex Mix. YUMMY!!!

I'm also a big soup fan although just getting back into it b/c it wasn't a high enough calorie ratio to keep be functioning when my stomach wasn't even letting fluids through much this winter.

I too am a saltine fan. And a big monkey (aka banana-eater) as my stomach likes them & my potassium is often on the low side.

As I've mentioned in some gastroparesis posts, when I'm really having trouble stomach-wise, I've had to resort to Boost, Ensure, Boost Breezes, Snapple One-A-Days, & Gerber Fruit&Yogurt drinks to keep myself going (sort of). When I'm so-so and know my food intake isn't grand I sometimes add one of these things in as a "bonus" for the day.

I always try to have yogurts & a few microwave dinners on hand for when I feel up to eating but not able to fix anything...otherwise I have a tendency to eat nothing BUT salty snacks.

When Mom's around to cook I find myself doing well with various varieties of eggs & potatoes (sweet & regular).

And always a salt shaker to top it off!!!

:-)melissa

[sally]

everyone had wonderful suggestions, I especially like the soup suggestion. I like tv dinners especially stouffers. TV dins are great for lunch and have very high sodium. I also like to snack on pickles which as also high in sodium. pretzels are great as well.

[Sunfish]

I can't believe I failed to mention pickles...I'm an addict! (something I've enjoyed being able to add back in now that my tummy's a bit less moody!)

And stouffer's are also my favorite frozen meals. And if I can't eat the whole thing they generally warm up well.

Even long before my diagnosis I joked that I liked all "P" foods...pickles, pretzels, popcorn, pizza, potatoes, pierogies (polish dumpling...my FAVORITE)....there are exceptions as I'm not a fan of pop (aka soda for the easterners...i'm a cross-breed) or potato chips (although if I'm cravin salt I'll nibble)...

and now i'm getting punchy & about to fall asleep.

g'night all,

:-)melissa

[Guest tearose]

must have my "nectar of the goddess" in the morning...coffee.

must have oatmeal, usually mid morning,...just tastes yummy no matter what time of year and always goes down and stays down. (good fiber too)

I think my "diet" is to just graze all day on a variety of good things and never overeat.

If I have inflamed my stomach or my dysautonomia is making it hard for me to digest food, I then take out acidic food and things that in the past were hard to digest. For example, I can manage salad except if I am in a pots spell. Then I eat only cooked vegetables and usually mash them.

Also, I take a combo of vitamins and minerals daily. I drink water but not to excess. I can't tolerate alcohol well at all. Maybe I have one drink a month? (probably less)

I always have electrolytes and protein supplement available if and when I need.

hope this helps, tearose

[Poohbear]

I have trouble eating pasta unless I also eat protein with it. I can eat Lasagne okay but if I eat fettacuine alfredo with no chicken I get a really bad tummy ache and feel awful (combination of lactose problem and pasta turns to sugar).

I've been allergic to bananas for a long time now and in the past year I've become intolerant to most of the fruits I like (strawberries, apples, avocado, kiwi, grapes). Oranges are too acidic for me. Tomatoes sometimes give me problems too unless they are cooked (such as spaghetti sauce).

I too love soups and have found this a good, nutritional option. I can make a large batch to eat on during the week or freeze part of it for days I can't cook but need a healthy meal. I have a really good recipie for a potatoe cheese soup that I love!!! (If anyone is interested they can email me (click on "Poohbear and send personal message) and I will give them the recipie). It's very simple and quick so that's a big help to me!!

Other than that, I tend to snack on pudding, I avoid caffeine (except the small amount in an occasional candy bar), I avoid carbonated beverages to keep the IBS problems down. I too salt everything (maybe one of the few "Good" things about having this disorder )

[Poohbear]

Oops! Almost forgot.....I discovered last year kinda by accident.... PANCAKES seem to help settle my stomach. If I'm feeling very queasy but need to eat and I get tired of broths or potatoes then I can eat Pancakes with just a tiny bit of butter and very little syrup and that is something I can keep down, is filling and doesn't make me feel worse.

[Dawg Tired]

I'm like Nina... Gotta have my AM coffee. I buy beans and grind it every am. Tha "canned" coffee has a lot of impurities in it - leaves, sticks and things like that. All those cause indigestion so I guess I'm a coffee "purist". It's the only med that works for me without being overkill. If we are traveling and I miss my coffee it throws me off for several days.

TV dinners - nice high sodium; and I am prety much unable to cook! Love saltines for a snack. Dates are high in fiber and more palatable to me than prunes.

Wal-Mart has GREAT rice pudding in the dairy case - it's near the yogurt - easy on the tummy.

[Jenn202]

I'm a huge cereal fan! I love it with Rice Milk.... I also eat at least 2 peices of fruit a day.... salads...... I avoid as much processed stuff as possible and no sugar...everytime I cheat I have to pay for it.

I also avoid dairy as much as possible.....

I eat mostly chicken and turkey for meats, but I am also not a big fan of meat and have never digested them well.

[Gena]

I'm similar to Jenn202, in that I eat mostly natural foods, nothing processed and organic whenever possible. I add sea salt to almost everything, except my fruit of course. I also have to eat gluten free.

The only frozen dinners I eat are Amy's brand organics (they have great gluten free enchiladas and veggie noodle stir frys, etc.).

I have fruit smoothies in the mornings with protein powder. I eat a lot of salads and brown rice too.

I can eat carbs like GF breads and pastas if I eat them in small amounts and with some protein. My protein mainly consists of chicken, turkey, wild salmon and buffalo. I do not each much dairy unless it's organic cheese or yogurt.

If I eat a candy bar or anything with refined sugar in it, I pay for it via tachycardia. (Although that doesn't always stop me from indulging once in a while! )

Gena