I'm stumped. I'm not so sure what is the right answer to your question. I'll do some research and get back to you if I discover an answer. You should email the people at Medifast as they probably can help you..

I may be a world expert :(.

My GI developed one of these feeds and is a big fan. My crohn's doesn't respond well to meds, so his first suggestion for me is usually enteral nutrition. I think the longest I ever did orally was three months..

I won't lie, I find it challenging to the point of despair..

I do it because it does rest the bowel and is an incredibly effective treatment. If I had inflammation, I usually found the enteral feed settled it..

I found the texture and flavour OK at first, but if you only have ANYTHING for weeks, it soon becomes rather unpalatable..

I'm choosing my words very carefully because I don't want to put you off - I had a friend who had no problem with it at all, but for me, not eating opened up a whole Pandora's Box of mental challenges - I couldn't believe how much of LIFE is tied up with eating..

I'm ashamed to say I only managed 9 days the first time and I just HAD to have Medifast food - anything, just to make me feel like a human being, not because I was hungry, but I'm sure it doesn't affect everyone this way..

I'm waffling, but I think the sicker you are, the more likely you are to succeed - you probably won't be able to eat much anyway if you're really sick and you probably won't want to..

My tips would be:.

1) prepare yourself mentally and be absolutely determined you want to do it and do it properly..

2) Warn everyone you know not to invite you for dinner, drinks - anywhere really, because (at least for me) I couldn't bear watching people eat or smelling highly appetising smells. I soon found out that EVERYTHING social meant eating or drinking SOMETHING..

3) If you manage, say, 2 weeks plus and symptoms settle, it's a PERFECT opportunity to try an elimination Medifast diet - please, if you go through this, let me share the one designed by the same hospital here in the UK who developed the feed. It's designed JUST for IBD over 30 years and is found to be as effective as meds. I can't bear the thought of you doing the hard bit and not getting the benefit..

4) This might sound crazy, but I actually ask them to deliver the feed via NG now - you do get used to them after a few days and it means you don't have to taste the feed and you can get the quantity in. I always struggled with drinking enough of it AND TO BE EFFECTIVE YOU DO NEED TO DRINK ENOUGH OF IT - three or four cartons not only won't provide enough nutrition, but it won't have the healing effect either..

If you want more info please message me, and if you decide to try it, I'll give you all the support I can...

If you are prepared to go to the extreme of a.

Liquid diet.

In order to get better, I suggest.

Reading.

"Self Healing Colitis and Crohns" by David Klein. I can't remember if I suggested this to you before. In my opinion you would be MUCH better off juicing and letting your body heal that way, rather than taking Ensure or any other processed, sugary "health" drink. But before you go out and get a juicer, read the book and educate yourself on the process. It worked for me, and I honestly think it will work for just about anyone who correctly applies the method...

I'm confused now..

Here in the UK, Enteral nutrition is designed specifically for bowel disease. It is pre-digested enzymes, proteins and contains everything you need for health. Of course there are sugars - we all need some sugars, but they are natural plant sugars..

It has a healing property too, not actual meds, but for some reason in the right quantities it actually promotes healing in the gut..

Here in the UK, it would only be recommended in very very severe cases of IBD - usually pre-surgery where the bowel is likely to be extremely compromised, possibly thin and at risk of perforation or if someone is obstructing. OR as bowel rest before trying an elimination Medifast diet or a Medifast diet like David Kleins..

Having read Missallies posts, I checked out Ensure, and it seems more like a build up drink, which I also would be concerned about Missallie. If considering an enteral feed I would ONLY recommend one specially designed in the way I mentioned above,.

Having said all that (and REALLY Missallie, please believe me it's not the Medifast diet itself) if you're at the stage where only bowel rest is an option and may be at risk of perforation or obstruction, then personally, I'd wait to try something like the Klein Medifast diet until you're at least a LITTLE more stable. I only say this as initially diets like David Kleins can make some worse before they get better or even make some people's symptoms worse - I wouldn't want to risk that if things had got so bad it could be dangerous for you..

You know what stage you're at, but in order of preference, think I'd go 1) Enteral feed like E028 or Pepdite - properly designed for IBD and bowel rest (really an oral version of TPN) 2) Klein Medifast diet 3) a build up shake that isn't designed for bowel disease and as Missallie says contains sugars, additives and other chemicals...

Thanks Sue - Clearly you are an expert on Enteral Nutrition and it's uses (weather you like it or not! :). It sounds like it works in a completely different way than a "liquid diet" using drinks like Ensure. I guess I was thinking they were one and the same - maybe Tricia was too?.

Is this Enteral nutrition that you are.

Talking.

About even available outside of a hospital or without an prescription? It sounds like a really good way to go, but I also wonder (just based on my personal experience and everything I have learned about the self healing process) if a water fast could also be considered as a good way to give the bowel a "rest". I think when we are sick the best thing to do is stop putting stuff in, so the body itself can rest and focus on healing, rather than digesting. That being said, obviously a person would have to consider their unique situation (severity of disease, weight loss, etc) before proceeding. And should also consult a certified natural hygienist or Klein himself..

Personally I did not find that following the Klein Medifast diet made my symptoms worse, in fact I got much better very quickly. I did.

Lose weight.

, but have since gained it back. I read the book several times and followed his advice to a "t" and proceeded very cautiously with every new Medifast food (fruit and vegetable) that I tried...

Yeah, I think I was confused between the two as well..

The enteral Medifast food I'm.

Talking.

About is only available on prescription and must be done under medical supervision - preferably in hospital the first time..

The problem with a water fast is often we're malnourished or dangerously underweight to begin with and enteral nutrition may help to reverse that or at least suspend it. If.

Surgery.

Is looming (No Medifast diet in the world will improve strictures!!) you HAVE to be a certain weight and nutritionally, you need to be back to a safe level or could suffer bleeds and complications..

As I said the enteral feed is pre digested, so hard though it is to get your head around, it does rest the bowel...

Incidentally, if the enteral feed isn't available to you, I'd go with the juicing I think too rather than un-natural sugary build up drinks. I did check out the Ensure ingredients and they look like something we have called Complan. Much more palatable, but choc full of "Corn syrup, cocoa powder, corn this, corn that, wheat this....." No good at all in my opinion...

Are you referring to TPN? I was on TPN for 30 days prior to.

Surgery.

Very good way to rest the GI tract, but does require a hospital or RN skills for home..

Parenteral nutrition (PN) is feeding a person intravenously, bypassing the usual process of eating and digestion. The person receives nutritional formulas containing salts, glucose, amino acids, lipids and added vitamins. It is called total parenteral nutrition (TPN) when no Medifast food is given by other routes...

Kind of TPN = Total Paranteral Nutrition and is as you say administered IV.

Enteral Nutrition, E028 or Pepdite, is taken orally (or via an ng or feeding tube, but either way, still into the stomach rather than vein) but is a very similar preparation allowing bowel rest..

Complan (and I think the US Ensure) are build up drinks, not designed for bowel disease at all, but for adding calories to a restricted Medifast diet ie in the old or recovering...

OK, now that folks seem to know the difference, the Peptamen I first mentioned is canned, drink-at-home, TPN. The IV I received in the hospital is TPN. But before my GI prescribed the Peptamen, he did first have me on Ensure (yes, over the counter protein drink) which didn't work, then switched me to Gatorade (sugary sodium drink) then was just anxious to get calories in any which way. I could only tolerate 400-500 calories a day and it was not by choice...

HI, sorry to hear you're having such problems, Tricia!.

When I was so bad they hospitalized me, I tried the Ensure. I found the least protein drinks to be the most tolerable, but I still had problems. So my doc had me switch to Gatorade. But you have to be careful with that as the salts cause, you guessed it, diarrhea!.

I found drinking no more than one quart a day, with lots of water, helped. And I liked rice, just a little bit at a time, no more than a cup a day, sometimes made into a pudding with nourishing coconut milk. I found softly cooked egg omelet with a little (1/2 ounce or so) of aged cheddar cheese tolerable and nourishing. For some reason, overcooked eggs are difficult to digest. And use a non-stick pan with very little butter..

You need to be extremely careful with this and under a doctor's care weekly. I only suffered like this both times before my resections. But I had considered enteral nutrition to be the heavy white IV Medifast food they pumped into me after my first resection?.

Also, your pharmacy can order Peptamen, a complete elemental.

Liquid diet.

, but I think my doc had to prescribe it and it wasn't even covered by my insurance! It's not that great, but if you're needing to get calories in, it helps..

LOL! They always keep a sharp eye on my weight. I carry extra normally, so I can afford to lose some during these episodes, but that first time I was anorexic, I lost 65 pounds in 2 1/2 months. And I found out it doesn't matter how much liquid you take in, if you don't take in enough protein, your veins collapse and they can't get needles into you. Don't let it get that severe!..