I'm HIV positive and I know it since 1998, I don't do any treatment yet. In 2002 I came for an art show and I met a guy who was HIV positive too, having his treatment. He has a drugs abuse history and his house was a dump. I as a guest was helping him cleaning his house. He had Ensure chocolate drink cans opened all over the house, with many other boxes of cans unopened. I was throwing all these half-drank cans to the trash because there were appearing some ugly rounded bugs or bacterias on the drips of the chocolate cans. So I cleaned big part of the house and when it was almost ready I started feeling sick, like if a flue was coming. I remember this guy was offering me to drink his Ensure cans and I said NO, but when I started feeling weak I took one of those cans and drunk. In about five minutes the sensation of sicknes was completely gone. Anyone has a similar story?

Hi,
I've never had any of the above. I have Cubitan. Vanilla or strawberry flavoured, high protien, high energy and designed to help with the healing of chronic wounds. They taste OK and no lasting after taste, I drink them at room temp though as anything too cold hurts my face like hell.
SusieR

Hi Joe.
I'm sure that the Ensure has plenty going for it, and is full of nutrition and essential vitamins but to feed from it day after day is a nauseating experience in itself. The taste is kind of medicinal I guess. As I couldn't eat solids for a long time I made it part of my staple diet for the simple reason that it was reccomended and prescribed for me. I am now far more aware of more "popular" options.
I'm sure it gave you a bit of a lift though Joe when you knocked one back as it is a high protein drink and would help if your diet has been poor or you were feeling a bit run down.
Hey....good luck with any treatment you may be considering in the near future and maybe some of the others on here can recommend more popular and tasty supplement drinks if you decide to include any in your diet.
Be lucky.

Hi Guys and Gals,

Maggie has asked me to buy her something to "feed" her in liquid form as she is now fed up of mushy Weetabix. Until she gets to the quack next week any recommendations for off the shelf fluid food supplements to give her energy and weight????????????????? Alan

Hi Alan,
I dont know if this is available there - its called ENDURA-MASS. You mix it with almost anything and it really ( and I mean really) it increases ones appetite making one eat well. Its tasty and if you are getting to be much much better - check it out.
Tons of love Alan,
Ananth

Hi Alan,
Complan is quite tolerable and nice compared to lots out there.
Also the weight watchers shakes are nutritionaly balanced.

When she does get to the dr - go for skandishake over fortisip etc - it's much nicer!

Hi there Alan, we used different flavours of Complan, Build up which has soups & Fortisp, which can be prescribed. The Fortisip chocolate can be heated & used as a soothing drink.
Thinking of you, Fran.

My meal of choice (the choice being basically eat something or starve) between the removal of my ng tube and the reintroduction of solid food (BIG mistake) was Boost and baby food.

Wow, I didn't know we all had some of the same problems. I have been on Ensure now for 7 months and am wondering why I have waited so long to change. The lightheadedness, constipation, and then diarehea. I know I am not putting enough in my tube. I only use 4 cans a day. The rest I try to get by mouth. I always felt that was the reason for the side effects, though I couldn't stomach more than that. I never knew there so many supplements available. Course I am in the US so that might make things different. But I know I am not getting enough nutrition and so on. Unfortunately my doctor has moved on to a Johns Hopkins and I am left here without her valuable input for a while. I speak with her constantly but never thought to put the ensure and the symptoms together.

So glad I read this.

Forgot to add something else. Does anyone else have a problem with not getting hungry and forgetting to eat until you suddenly realize I haven't eat since morning and it is like 5 in the afternoon.

To each his own.... I drank Ensure during the last cancer and had no difficulties whatsoever! Have a friend who is retired Air Force who just bought me two cases of it at the PX. Am glad to know that there's something I'll be able to tolerate as treatment progresses.

Hi! Guys,
I was on 2Cal-NH & Ensure for 125 days(I am sorry, some people are on it longer and some permenantly) during which I tried eating slippery foods to no avail, whilst on these Suppliments I was loosing wieght rapidly , Which I must admit I did like as I was a large lad and could lose some excess, BUT I was losing too much so I tried adding other types of liquid to my PEG and found that Sustagen, Up & Go, Malt Powder & Iced Coffee seemed to help stabalise my wieght. I had the PEG removed pre Xmas and that was a godsend as I had mastered eating a select type of foods (in my earlier posts) and have managed to add a little weight and am now worried that I am going to get FAT again as I am not able to go to the Gym yet as I get fatiuge very quickly and Debs on my back all the time to accept it and be patient, this is hard as I have always been doing things and enjoying the gym, OH WELL.
Hope this brings some help, Please keep in touch.
LOVE Trev