Any healthy meal replacement supps out there?

[[do...]]

Hi Buddies

 

I'm struggling to eat lately. I know it's making me weak but I just can't get out of bed. Are there any meal replacement supplements that are not just pure sugar? Does anyone use them?

 

Sick N Tired

[[su...]]

Can you make yourself a shake with fruits and veggies plus protein?  There are many protein powders available that are not sweetened or full of garbage. Vega makes bars, and then has various protein powder mixes available but they are expensive.  You can get a plain whey, hemp, pea, rice, etc... protein powder to mix up with greens and fruit plus some type of liquid like water, milk, dairy free milk product, etc...

 

I had this problem but now it's the opposite.  I think I preferred not being able to eat frankly as I had more energy some how than I do now.  Then again the lower I'm going on my taper, the more exhausted I'm feeling. This is a process. Hang in there, I know it's a tiresome drag and you feel terrible.  You're not alone.

[[do...]]

Me too. I feel like eating makes me feel worse so I don't eat and then of course after a day or two of barely eating I'm ready to pass out...

 

Thanks 

[[do...]]

You also got me thinking... I am going to get a magic bullet tomorrow to easily make some super shakes 

[[su...]]

I hope you've gotten your bullet and are sipping some shakes!

[[er...]]

Hey, I got just the thing for you.

 

Try "almased" look it up, it's a German engineered powder you mix with water and just have that 3-4 times a day.  I'm on my 12th day of it and I'm feeling much better.  Lost 8lbs, benzo belly is gone and I feel much better.  - Eric

[[su...]]

Almased is a low-calorie food replacement shake. Not what our buddie is looking for though there is an entire thread about weight gain where you may want to share    Lot's of us are looking for something to shed stubborn benzo weight gain!

[[Mi...]]

For what it's worth, here is my eating story, which has kept me alive for 20 months (I'm still in withdrawal, at 5.8 mg. Valium).

 

Gastroparesis story

 

I have gastroparesis (slow stomach emptying - diagnosed as tolerance withdrawal set in) and believe it is related to the benzos and withdrawal. It was diagnosed via stomach emptying study, and it causes terrible nausea. I've been coping with it since October 2014. For many months, it occurred all the time and flares up badly at times during my taper. But it is a little better now. I don't know what your gastroenterologist says, but, first and foremost, find a gastroenterologist that you like and trust. Here is what my doctor recommends and what works for me. It may not be the same for you - so I am not giving medical advice. Some gastroenterologists say not to consume fats such as whole milk, but my gastro doc says to consume whole milk to get the calories - I was losing too much weight - down from 125 pounds to 100 in three months. I gain about one or two pounds per month on this diet. I am 5' 1" tall and up to 110 pounds now (Feb. 2016).

 

I eat six small meals a day - no fresh or cooked fruits or vegetables, except well cooked carrots and canned peaches, and nothing greasy. My stomach cannot digest fresh fruits or vegetables. I also take a daily vitamin/mineral supplement to make up for the lack of fruits and vegetables. I eat: at 6 am: 2 scrambled eggs and one cup lactose-free milk with a little bit of liquid chocolate. Maybe also some canned peaches. About 10 am I have four crackers with tuna fish (mixed with mayonnaise) and a cup of Campbell's tomato soup made with whole lactose-free milk. About 1 pm I have four crackers with peanut butter and a carton of yogurt (with lactaid). About 4 pm I blender two cups of lactose-free milk with a little liquid chocolate and three tablespoons peanut butter. About 6:30 pm I have baked chicken (I roast a chicken every week or so, cut the breast into portions and freeze them, then thaw one in the refrigerator every day), along with mashed potatoes or pasta or cooked carrots or white bread from the deli or canned yams mashed in the blender. About 1 a.m. I repeat the four peanut butter crackers and yogurt meal or some chocolate milk. The goal is to get 2,000 calories.

 

Before each meal I take 10 drops of Iberogast. It is an herbal product from Germany that I have to order through Amazon or feelgoodnatural.com. Your doctor won't know anything about it, but it really helps my digestion. It costs about $20 per bottle and lasts about two months. I also take a capsule of 550 mg. powdered ginger (I take Nature's Bounty from Walgreen's or the grocery store) before each meal. And I take prescription ondansetron (Zofran) 8 mg. three times per day.

 

If my nausea gets bad, I drink 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon aloe vera juice (Lakewood organic from a health food store). It has a laxative effect, so be prepared. But it does get my system moving.

 

This is a very monotonous meal schedule, but I stick to it and am glad I am gaining a little. My stomach feels better than it did, and I hope that when I get through benzo wtihdrawal my stomach will improve. But I don't know if it will or not. I'm eating just to stay alive now (gosh, I miss Mexican food and pizza) and hope I won't ever need feeding tubes in my intestines if my weight drops. I prepare most of this food on the weekends when my husband is home to help me, and all I have to do is heat it up during the week.

 

I hope you get well and get through benzo withdrawal okay. I started on klonopin after back surgery in 2013, hit tolerance withdrawal in 2014, learned about benzo dependence, got switched to Ativan, transferred to mostly Valium and have been tapering since then. I've had all kinds of symptoms and figure I will be tapering well into the year 2017, then postwithdrawal to deal with. It's really miserable. I hope you are one of the lucky ones who doesn't have too bad a time. This site provides a lot of good support.

 

- MirandaJane