Anyone get sick from drinking Boost?

Larry, hello and glad you are doing well except for a few issues.

As far as eating and swallowing there is surely room for Improvement.

So Check with your care team, you should be seeing a Speech Therapist which helps you with all things Head & Neck, swallowing, speech, mouth opening, breathing, and anything to do with that area.

They will monitor your swallowing, saliva, and other things while you deal with this and will give you swallowing exercises, jaw exercises, and maybe even have you get a swallow test so they can see what is exactly going on in your case. It will help you greatly. It has helped me very much. There are a couple of links below one for swallowing and speech rehab for us H&N patients and one covering a swallow test. Please get on top of these problems, trust me there is room for improvement working through your care team and getting the right assistance.

Since you were checked out with an endoscopy and all was well that is good news, no issues there.

I drink boost VHC when I need some weight gain and have not had issues with it except for feeling a bit bloated at times.

But I do know that Crystal (LitlCjdoll) on here had issues with some of these feeding solutions and drinks and only used a certain one that agreed with her system.

I hope your doctors can come up with an answer.

In the meantime, I have a bunch of weight gain recipes I have gathered and kept and hope you can find something there.

Recipes for weight gain.

Here's my radiologist's recipe. You can change the flavors by finding a substitute for peanut butter, or using a different fruit or flavored yogurt. These are mixed by my better half in a Vitamix machine.

1 cup ice cream

1 cup greek (or any full fat) yogurt

Pack of Carnation instant breakfast

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 banana

Milk to thin to the right consistancy

Also here is a weight gain recipe that 2 ladies shared that I found a long time ago related to cancer and gaining weight afterward--

Deb,

So sorry I’ve taken so long to get that receipe for your dad! I checked with our nurses and here it is:

1 box (3.4oz) of instant pudding

3/4 cup half & half cream

1/2 cup of water

1 cup of carnation evaporated milk (use canned not powdered etc.)

Mix together in a bowl then mix with a mixer for one minute until it begins to thicken. This receipe makes 4 servings. We use it to help individual’s we serve who are under weight to assist in gaining weight. As you can see…it is very rich and full of calories etc. Let us know how your dad is doing!

Karen

These Recipes and Tips Are From Debbiel0 on CSN H&N Section

And here is another communication shared recently with me by a lady on this forum concerning weight gain after cancer treatment and I am sure she would be glad if I would share it--

• Coffee cream ( 18%) 1 cup 480 calories
• Coconut milk 1/3 cup 150 calories
• Greek style yogurt 1 cup 270 cal
• 2 tbsp Ground Flax seed 100 cal
• 3 tbsp Hemp Hearts 170 cal
• 1 tsp nut butter 100 cal
• 1 tsp honey 100 cal
• banana 80 cal.

I would mix all of the above into a shake for my husband. It makes about 3 - 3 1/2 cups and 1300 calories.. he would sip on it all day. Then we would make him soft eggs or oatmeal to top off the calories for the day. Jello or pudding and ice cream are also another easy foods to slide down.

Using coffee cream when making soups, or sauces, cooking oatmeal in it, using it for puddings. Is an easy way to boost calorie intake. The Hemp Hearts and ground Flax can be expensive. If you have access to Costco, they are reasonably priced there. ( at least in canada that is the way it is)

Use honey as much as you can in tea or coffee, or just in warm water.

I think the best advice I got from our nutritionist was to think outside the box and add cream or greek yogurt to what ever you can think of. Throw in a couple of tbsps of flax or hemp seeds to soups, your boost, hot cereal cooked in heavy cream. Mashed potatoes with heavy cream and lots of gooey gravy is always good too.

Hope some of these ideas help. Another well balanced change from boost is Soylent. I cant remember the calorie count, but it is a very good meal replacement.

I know I am kind of rambling... but hope some of these ideas help, or at least give you a variety. It is hard to get excited for a meal that is same as the last one!

Split pea soup and baked beans with honey are great for calories..

The flaxseed and hemo hearts dont change the taste all that much..just a way to sneak another 100 calories in. I had never ventured into that type of food either. My daughter in law is super healthy, and introduced me ( young ones, ya know!)

Almond butter or cashew butter is just another alternative to peanut butter. Change up the taste a bit.

I have a long list if food allergies, no dairy, no cheese, no chocolate, so finding calories was really tough for me. Example, geek yogurt can be up to 270 cal, my non dairy yogurt is 60 calories. So, when my husband was going thru his treatment it was actually fun for me to keep finding new things to make for him. Cheese is another good source of calories, melt it and add it to soup, potatoes.

Take care Russ. Maybe sit down and try to enjoy a slice of pumpkin pie with whipped cream!

Also Here Are A Few More Postings For Weight Gain From The Forum

Flyinhigh says:

High calorie

I use a powdered mix from GNC called 1340. If you followed their mixing instructions and used 4 large scoops with water and you supposedly get 1340 calories. I mix it half or third strength with 12 oz. of milk and figure I get 500-600 calories, plus a lot of protein. You can try this and if you don't like it or can't tolerate it GNC will take it back and refund your money. It comes in vanilla, chocolate or strawberry(my favorite).

Grandmax4 says:

calorie

I used a drink called Scandishake, bought it through Amazon. It's really good, can't remember the calorie and protein, I made it with crushed ice and milk in a blender, delicious

Drivingdaisy says:

Drinks

Only drank Orgain, organic and small amount of natural sugar. Decided no more chemicals in My body. I just poured it in My feeding tube. I still drink it but the plant based. Became lactose intolerant. Good stuff. I'm more of a naturalists but to each their own. Going on 4 yrs NED, so did something right.

Suzj says:

if you want to mix it up..

If you get the urge to mix it up, go with a high Protein Boost, mixed with a carnation instant breakfast, and a few scoops of Ice Cream - that'll up your calories

In Closing:

I too and most folks on here had trouble swallowing and getting some foods down but it will come just be patient but for now eat what goes down easiest with a high calorie count. You may have to add liquid as you eat whatever you prefer. Try donuts and coffee. Eat in small bites and be patient. With my 2 cancers and 2 radiations to this day, I am thankful I can still eat but it is just a slower process. but in your case, it will probably come back completely. get with your speech therapist and do your swallowing exercises. I assume you have had contact with a speech therapist on this journey because most of us have it is standard procedure in this Head & Neck cancer game. if not contact your doc and get one assigned to you.

Be patient and Eat, Eat, Eat.

I hope some of this rambling helps you in some way-Wishing You The Best-Take Care-God Bless-Russ

Larry Wishing You the Best

Take Care God Bless-Russ

Olive oil has 120 calories per Tbsp... I usually add 3-4 Tbsp, along with 1/2 an avocado or whole (depending on the cost at the store that week). 4 Tbsp of a high-quality olive oil is not only good for you... but, provides an additional 480 calories to whatever you serve with it. On average, one avocado has 250 calories. So, if you put both in your smoothie, that will add up to 730 additional calories from a healthy fat source (not sugar). Add 2 Tbsp peanut butter (@ 95 calories per Tbsp), maybe 2-3 Tbsp of pumpkin seeds (@ 56 calories per Tbsp)... you are well over 1,000 calories - and that is in addition to any calories in your soy milk (I prefer almond milk) and protein powder. When I was on shakes only.. I could have two of these a day, and get around 3,000, mostly-healthy calories.

I use a nutribullet blender.. the smaller size works just fine. It blends up the olive oil and almond milk just fine:

• almond milk (1/3 to 1/2 full) - cheaper to buy in bulk at Sams Club
• 4 Tbsp olive oil - Sams Club/Costco best buys on Extra Virgin Olive Oil first pressed. Only the good stuff
• 1/2 or 1 whole avocado - depending on what I have on hand, and price at store
• 2-3 Tbsp peanut butter
• 1-2 scoops of Orgain or some vegan protein powder (organic if possible) - Costco/Sams Club/Amazon
• 3 Tbsp roasted pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup of frozen berries (blueberries, strawberries, etc. mixed)-Costco/Sams Club best deals
• plus, whatever else sounds good... as long as it is no or low sugar

Blend it up good.. if too thick to blend, just add water until it is thin enough to let the blender do its thing. I usually have mine thick enough to eat with a spoon because I can't chuck it without some going up and out my nose sometimes. If I am going to have two in the same day, I'll keep the protein powder to just one scoop per shake.

Note: If I am near a Costco, I always pick up a few boxes of their coconut milk in the tall cartons.

I typically use whatever I can find in bulk for the cheapest price. I recently purchased a big bag of macadamia nuts at Costco that are yummy.. and full of fat. I don't pay too much attention to roasted or raw when it comes to pumpkin seeds. I have read somewhere that roasting seeds makes them more bioavailable and easier to digest? I also read somewhere else that raw seeds contain phytic acids that are reduced when soaking/roasting. I don't know. The thought with roasted, cooked, fermented, etc. foods is that our digestive system to too short to fully be able to digest and fully extract nutrients of raw plants/vegetables/nuts before we expel plant foods out the other end. If you are going to pulverize them in a nutribullet, it should matter.