Loss of appetite

[Jodis Dad]

Hi everyone, I joined this site in hope to learn what has worked for other patients that are on dialysis.  My father has been on dialysis for about 5+/- years.  Over the last six months or so he has said that food no longer taste good to him.  We have struggled to find foods that he will eat; therefore he has lost quite bit of weight which in turn has made him weak.  The first part of January he was hospitalized for a bad infection.  We had to make a very difficult decision and place him in a rehabilitation center that would have the staff to get him get stronger and be able to transport him to his treatments. 
I tried to do a little research and read that some patients that have been on dialysis for some time do loose their taste buds and often suffer from mal-nutrition.  Have any of you or your family a member experienced this and if so is there any advice you can give me.  I’m really worried that if we can get him to eat and build up his strength he will have to go into a nursing home and that just breaks my heart. 

[st789]

Hope you find a way to help your dad soon.  Take care.

[kellyt]

I personally don't have any answers or advice for you, as I was fortunate enough to bypass dialysis.  But I'm sure someone here will be able to help you.  This is a great site for support, both for the patient, as well as their family members/caregivers.   

[peleroja]

I've also been on dialysis 5 years.  Most of the time I have a good appetite, but occasionally I find that food just doesn't "taste right," but I force myself to eat anyway as I know it is good for me.  I wish I could say what it's related to, but I honestly don't know. 

[Jodis Dad]

I have heard that the loss of taste is a side effect of the dialysis.  Pleaes be careful in your future because this is how it started for my Dad.

[monrein]

I would ask the dietitian to recommend some renal friendly supplements like Boost or Supplena, something low in phosphorus and potassium but high in protein.  He really needs to be getting some nutrients and protein so his body doesn't cannibalize itself.  Malnutrition is not uncommon among us renal patients and is a real worry. 

[cris]

In Nanay's case, everytime she lost her appetite, there's always something wrong inside of her, more often is an infection somewhere or fluid build-up. Other times, it's either her potassium or blood iron are low. A complete blood work is necessary to pin down the problem. Also, having her on extra vitamin bath during her dialysis helps a lot.
kind thoughts for your Dad, hope he eats good soon.

love,
cris

[Jodis Dad]

The loss of appetite is part of the problem but the part that goes hand and hand is that he says everything has a very bitter taste to it.  Have any of you experienced this and if so are there certain foods that taste better than others?  We have tried all of the nutrition drinks and at first he would drink them but now he won't.  This is a man that at one point food was his life and he topped the scales at 320 lbs.  Now we are lucky if he weighs 175 lbs.

[jessup]

I would ask the dietitian to recommend some renal friendly supplements like Boost or Supplena, something low in phosphorus and potassium but high in protein.  He really needs to be getting some nutrients and protein so his body doesn't cannibalize itself.  Malnutrition is not uncommon among us renal patients and is a real worry. 

Spot on Monrein
 
That's exactly what we did when Dad had no appetite and food tasted "yuk"
Dad has suppliment drinks and bars (protein based) that the dialysis unit provide and also get delivered home too
Our dietician did all this - prescription, ordering etc
Also Dad no longer has very many food restrictions like he did when first on dialysis (NEPH AND DIETICIAN said so) because his blood work is okay and he doesn't eat enough and he was getting malnutrition.
We also keep a diary so Dad remembers what he has eaten and can reflect.  Instead of everyone saying "you need to eat" "you need to eat" "you need to eat" "you need to eat"
It was making him very bloody angry
Also some meds he was on (including some binders) affected his taste and desire to eat.Check when he takes his binders -
I found lots of info on this site doing a search - give it a go mate

[kitkatz]

Telling someone "They need to eat" tends to piss them off especially when they do NOT feel like eating!

[Lucinda]

Although this is laborious, you just need to keep trying out different foods.  I know with my Dad I just kept trying things until we found something he liked to eat.  Anything with artificial sweetner was repugnant to him so then we started on really bland and worked our way up.  At first he liked boiled rice with sweet and sour source and then we slowly added diced pork in small proportions and then some onion and then a little bit of pineapple and that became his favourite food.  We also bought about 20 different breakfast spreads and cut up toast into fingers and put all the different spreads on each finger until we found one he liked and he had that every morning on toast.  Water tasted metallic to him but when we added a touch of lemon juice it neutralised for him and he liked that.  It is all "suck it and see".  Try not to hassle your dad too much about what he is or isn't eating though.  I am really nauseated at the moment because I need to start dialysis and I am really only eating dry crackers and drinking ginger tea and it is really annoying when people try to force you to eat more.  Don't give your Dad a big plate of food and ask him to eat it.  One cracker on a large plate with a little bit of a spread on it will look far more appealing to him than a plate piled with food.  Keep it bland and simple to start and that's the best advice I can give. Good luck. xx

[Jodis Dad]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I have a meeting with the dietitian tomorrow and I will talk with her about these things to see if we can give them a try.

[paddbear0000]

I've only been on dialysis for 3 treatments so far, so I may not be much help. I have also noticed a bitter taste to some of my foods. I think we solved the problem though. They turned down the dialysate rate and that seems to have helped. It also helped with the massive headache I got too.