How long does it take to feed through the peg?

D-Byrd

Hi guys this is Jason again, D-Byrds son. I hope you guys are doing okay this morning and feeling good. I have a question requarding the peg feeding. How long does it ake for you to do one feeding, and how many cans do you do in one feeding session? My dad does 2 cans in one session and seems to feel horrible after each one he does.

It takes him around 10 minutes to do a feeding session plus a liter of water. Maybe he is doing it too fast. Any feed back would be greatly appreciatrd. Thank you so much for your time and God bless you all!!!

Jason

MarineE5

Gravity Feeding
Jason,

I used the Gravity Feeding method to feed myself with my nutrition cans. I would do as your father and feed myself 2 cans of nutrition at a time. I am not sure how your Dad is doing it, but I used the syringe that we use to flush our Peg Tube as a Funnel as well. I would first flush the PEG tube with 2 syringes of luke warm water and then re-cap the PEG tube for a minute.

I would then set myself up at my kitchen counter with my 2 cans of nutrition and the syringe. I would then remove the plunger and insert the syringe into the hose. I would then elevate the syringe at a level just about the PEG and start to pour my can of nutrition in at a rate of 1 can per 10 minutes. I would take 20 minutes per feeding. I found that if I went any faster, I was uncomfortable after the feeding and would also burp a lot, followed by indigestion. So, after some practice, I was able to control the flow rate and keep it at 10 minutes per can. Remember to flush the PEG again with at least 2 syringes of water after the feeding.

Your Dad may be uncomfortable from too much water along with the nutrition cans all in a 10 minute span if I read your post correctly? or did I misread it? we do need to take in at least 64 ozs. of water per day when we are doing our treatments. He may be taking in too much all at one time, space it out a bit more if he is.

My Best to Both of You and Everyone Here

sweetblood22

MarineE5 said:

Gravity Feeding
Jason,

I used the Gravity Feeding method to feed myself with my nutrition cans. I would do as your father and feed myself 2 cans of nutrition at a time. I am not sure how your Dad is doing it, but I used the syringe that we use to flush our Peg Tube as a Funnel as well. I would first flush the PEG tube with 2 syringes of luke warm water and then re-cap the PEG tube for a minute.

I would then set myself up at my kitchen counter with my 2 cans of nutrition and the syringe. I would then remove the plunger and insert the syringe into the hose. I would then elevate the syringe at a level just about the PEG and start to pour my can of nutrition in at a rate of 1 can per 10 minutes. I would take 20 minutes per feeding. I found that if I went any faster, I was uncomfortable after the feeding and would also burp a lot, followed by indigestion. So, after some practice, I was able to control the flow rate and keep it at 10 minutes per can. Remember to flush the PEG again with at least 2 syringes of water after the feeding.

Your Dad may be uncomfortable from too much water along with the nutrition cans all in a 10 minute span if I read your post correctly? or did I misread it? we do need to take in at least 64 ozs. of water per day when we are doing our treatments. He may be taking in too much all at one time, space it out a bit more if he is.

My Best to Both of You and Everyone Here

I would echo everything
I would echo everything Marine said. He helped me out. When I was going through rads I was putting two cans, plus 1 jar of baby food plus my water in like ten minutes. It started after I was done with rads. Where that must have been too fast because I started to get very ill and that's when I lost allmy weight. It's better to go slower.

You can do Marine's way using the syringe. If that is still too fast or you are impatient with that method, you can ask your nutrition people for a gravity bag. It works like an IV bag. I ended up with a pump because I got to where I had to go super slow. It was 55mls per hour. I gradually little by little increased it to where I was up ro 125ml per hour.

Wishing you both well,

Sweet

JUDYV5

IV bag
I used an IV bag I would drip in 2 cans over an hour. I had difficulty keeping things in my stomach if I went any faster then that. I would take 6-8 cans a day. So I did spent a lot of every day hooked up. I have an entire case of feeding bags if you want them. - Judy

kimmygarland

JUDYV5 said:

IV bag
I used an IV bag I would drip in 2 cans over an hour. I had difficulty keeping things in my stomach if I went any faster then that. I would take 6-8 cans a day. So I did spent a lot of every day hooked up. I have an entire case of feeding bags if you want them. - Judy

On Tube for 2 Weeks
My husband has been getting all food and water through the tube for 2 weeks now. He is supposed to have 6 cans of food and a minimum of 3 - 16 oz bottles of water per day. They tell us there is a certain amount of "free water" in the nutrition that counts toward the water.

At first, he could only tolerate 1 can plus the water and his medicine at a time. Now we are up to 1 1/2 cans, plus the water and meds - doing 4 feedings per day. If he does it right, he can get in 6 cans a day. Plus he is getting almost 4 bottles of water a day (64 oz) - which is more than they suggested but I figure it can't hurt. It takes us about 10-15 min to get through the food, water & meds. Flushing along the way of course.

We have not been able to make the "gravity" method work. We have to use the plunger with the syringe. Don't know if it is because of the placement of his tube or what - but I've tried it every which way and it won't go down without the plunger.

It took us a few days to get the hang of the thing, but it's going pretty well now. Just takes some getting used to.

MarineE5

kimmygarland said:

On Tube for 2 Weeks
My husband has been getting all food and water through the tube for 2 weeks now. He is supposed to have 6 cans of food and a minimum of 3 - 16 oz bottles of water per day. They tell us there is a certain amount of "free water" in the nutrition that counts toward the water.

At first, he could only tolerate 1 can plus the water and his medicine at a time. Now we are up to 1 1/2 cans, plus the water and meds - doing 4 feedings per day. If he does it right, he can get in 6 cans a day. Plus he is getting almost 4 bottles of water a day (64 oz) - which is more than they suggested but I figure it can't hurt. It takes us about 10-15 min to get through the food, water & meds. Flushing along the way of course.

We have not been able to make the "gravity" method work. We have to use the plunger with the syringe. Don't know if it is because of the placement of his tube or what - but I've tried it every which way and it won't go down without the plunger.

It took us a few days to get the hang of the thing, but it's going pretty well now. Just takes some getting used to.

Gravity
Kimmygarland,

One thing that is important with the gravity feeding, using the syringe without the plunger is to have the syringe higher then the incision of the PEG Tube. Once the syringe is placed into the flexible hose of the PEG, make sure it is elevated higher then the PEG or some stomach fluids may start to flow out of the unplugged hose.

Once the hose and syringe are a bit higher then the incision, pour some nutrition slowly into the syringe. The flow of the nutrition can be controled by raising or lowering the syringe in relationship to the PEG. Your husband must also sit up straight and not slouch in his chair as it causes the fluids to flow slower. It took me a couple of tries to get it perfect, and once I did, I could be done in 20 minutes and on my way to something else.

Do not take a nap right away ( laying flat ) after feeding as it can cause some acid reflux, wait at least an hour or more. The amount of water that is needed daily also helps eliminate constipation problems along the way. Some patients have this problem due to not drinking enough water along with their medicines, etc.

I used a liquid form stool softener every other day to make sure I didn't get backed up. It is called " Colace " and can be bought at most stores. I hope this is of some help to you.

My Best to Both of You and Everyone Here.

patricke

PEG FEEDING
Hey Jason,

When I started PEG feeding 10 yrs ago, my ENT rxed Zantac to go with the meals. I guess it worked, as I didn't (thankfully) have any problems with stomach upset. I d/c'ed the Zantac after a few months, and haven't had any problems. I too was, and still do when I use them, pouring 2 cans per meal, plus about 20 ozs of H20. I use the gravity method using a syringe as a funnel. The meals always go down pretty fast, in about 10-15 minutes. I hope that your dad is able to find a solution and start feeling good soon. A liter of water per meal sounds like quite a lot.

PATRICK

CLRRN

Hey Jason....
My other half
Hey Jason....

My other half took in 6 cans/day. He did them by gravity/bolus feedings. As other describe, placed the syringe (60 cc) on the end of the PEG and poured a can in slow and then followed by 1 1/2 syringes of water to flush. He wasn't able to tolerate more than one can at a time-as you know, everyone is different. I liter of water might be a lot of volume so try cutting back on the water. Mike felt as if he was doing feedings all day, but it was better than the "fullness" he felt when trying 2 cans. As other suggest, you may want to try some kind of antacid to help. Mike eventually got put on Reglan which helps move the feeding through the system a little faster.

Hang in there.....

sweetblood22

CLRRN said:

Hey Jason....
My other half
Hey Jason....

My other half took in 6 cans/day. He did them by gravity/bolus feedings. As other describe, placed the syringe (60 cc) on the end of the PEG and poured a can in slow and then followed by 1 1/2 syringes of water to flush. He wasn't able to tolerate more than one can at a time-as you know, everyone is different. I liter of water might be a lot of volume so try cutting back on the water. Mike felt as if he was doing feedings all day, but it was better than the "fullness" he felt when trying 2 cans. As other suggest, you may want to try some kind of antacid to help. Mike eventually got put on Reglan which helps move the feeding through the system a little faster.

Hang in there.....

They put me on Reglan too,
They put me on Reglan too, but I ended up having some serious side effects with it and had to discontinue.

Scambuster

Smaller and more frequent
I echo most comments. It will be a bit of trial and error till you find the right balance. I used a gravity cup hung on a hook next to my computer, so I read the online news etc while it went in - in about 10 minutes per feed. Flushed 1 big syringe of water after each feed.

If he has the first feed as soon as he gets up, and them do more often with maybe less each time, that might help. Also sometimes before each feed, I would open the tube over the bathroom sink to allow any trapped gas out and that sometimes helped, especially in the first couple of weeks. After each feed, it also helps to have a walk around to 'get things moving'.

Scam

D Lewis

I used a pump
Did anyone else here do that? By the time I got my PEG, I'd been eating so little that I couldn't even tolerate one full can at a time. I would be over-full and nauseated after. Plus, a bolus feeding of the entire can over ten minutes was too fast. So, someone else told me about the pump, I asked, and my doctor ordered one for me. Insurance paid for it.

You can set the pump for any feeding rate you want. I started with one can over an hour, and over time, I could pump in a can in about 15 or 20 minutes. Also, I could fill the feeding bag with three or four cans, set the pump on a very slow rate, and go to bed. The feed empty alarm would go off at the same time as my regular alarm. Simple, easy and comfortabe.

Best of luck with the feedings.

Deb

sweetblood22

D Lewis said:

I used a pump
Did anyone else here do that? By the time I got my PEG, I'd been eating so little that I couldn't even tolerate one full can at a time. I would be over-full and nauseated after. Plus, a bolus feeding of the entire can over ten minutes was too fast. So, someone else told me about the pump, I asked, and my doctor ordered one for me. Insurance paid for it.

You can set the pump for any feeding rate you want. I started with one can over an hour, and over time, I could pump in a can in about 15 or 20 minutes. Also, I could fill the feeding bag with three or four cans, set the pump on a very slow rate, and go to bed. The feed empty alarm would go off at the same time as my regular alarm. Simple, easy and comfortabe.

Best of luck with the feedings.

Deb

Yes Deb. I had the pump.
Yes Deb. I had the pump.

They finally did something when I was down to 87 lbs and my nausea was so bad I lost 40lbs. As I posted above I had to set mine at 55 which was one can over three hrs. I did great all through radiation. I didn't lose any weight. It was about a week or two after when I got do bad. They should have gotten me that pump earlier. It wasn't my RO or my nutrition people that got it. It was one of my gastro drs. Thank God I ended up seeing her, and she was on the ball. She wasn't even my dr, but I complained so much, that they sent me to see her when my other doc wasn't available.

It was kinda a pain to be hooked up for 12 hrs, but it helped me gain weight back. Towards the end I'd put like 5 cans in there overnight.