Hi Wonderwoman,

It is so difficult to find suitable food for someone who barely has the energy to eat. My mother-in-law is in the same position. Initially we tried soft foods that weren’t too lumpy.  Eggs in any form and homemade soups were her mainstay, followed by various yoghurt based sweets.

She is now sleeping for 23 hours out of 24 and although we wake her at meal times, she often falls asleep half-way through and we have to waken her up and try again. There are a number of different build-up foods available. These have different tastes and calorie values. Some of them taste foul, whilst others are not too bad.

Initially we got an assorted pack of different manufacturers; products. We found that, in her case, Ensure was better than the others.  We got the dietician to come out to the house and tell us exactly how much of this was needed to keep her alive and we try to give her at least this much every day. At present this is done by dividing one drink into 3 portions, which she takes morning, noon and night. We supplement this with yoghurts and as much fluid as we can get her to take. This has lessened in the past week and, we may have to insert a drip as she is now very dehydrated.

Your doctor or dietician can arrange for these drinks to be delivered to you regularly and at no cost.

Many people have had this problem with loved ones. If you go to the blue banner at the top of this page and insert something about eating, appetite, etc, this will bring up previous posts on this topic. You may find some of these helpful.

Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you whenever you want to talk.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi Wonderwoman,

It is so difficult to find suitable food for someone who barely has the energy to eat. My mother-in-law is in the same position. Initially we tried soft foods that weren’t too lumpy.  Eggs in any form and homemade soups were her mainstay, followed by various yoghurt based sweets.

She is now sleeping for 23 hours out of 24 and although we wake her at meal times, she often falls asleep half-way through and we have to waken her up and try again. There are a number of different build-up foods available. These have different tastes and calorie values. Some of them taste foul, whilst others are not too bad.

Initially we got an assorted pack of different manufacturers; products. We found that, in her case, Ensure was better than the others.  We got the dietician to come out to the house and tell us exactly how much of this was needed to keep her alive and we try to give her at least this much every day. At present this is done by dividing one drink into 3 portions, which she takes morning, noon and night. We supplement this with yoghurts and as much fluid as we can get her to take. This has lessened in the past week and, we may have to insert a drip as she is now very dehydrated.

Your doctor or dietician can arrange for these drinks to be delivered to you regularly and at no cost.

Many people have had this problem with loved ones. If you go to the blue banner at the top of this page and insert something about eating, appetite, etc, this will bring up previous posts on this topic. You may find some of these helpful.

Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you whenever you want to talk.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx