Hep C Discussion Forum

zuzusfam · Veteran Member

RE: 20 grams of fat

Fajah · Member

Does not get easier, for the morning I just swallowed a tablespoon of mayonaise....sounds gross, but it got the job done without having to eat at 6am......I always did it in front of my wife so I could watch her gag....lol

-- Edited by Fajah on Tuesday 11th of December 2012 04:19:06 PM

Bouba · Senior Member

You will find samples of food containing 20 gr fat in th following work book:

http://www.hepatitis.va.gov/pdf/telaprevir-workbook.pdf

In short, its a nuisance. Even if you try hard to alternate, it seems your system gets saturated pretty quickly and is not happy to take more.

I have to shove it down, but it is what it is and its only 12 weeks after all. Beware of mixing fat and carbos!!! I have put on 5 kilos in the first 6 weeks, eventhough I have no appetite at all and eat quite little.

If you are about to start yr tx with Incivek (I have already said that in an earlier post) ask your doctor again about 8 or 12 hours protocol. Apparently they are equally effective but the 12 hours one will save you a burden

of one fat serving a day and allow to sleep through the night. Its worth checking out but do not make this decision yourself without your doctor approval.

-- Edited by Bouba on Tuesday 4th of December 2012 09:28:11 AM

joe oil · Veteran Member

CHEESE, along with sum veggies, was the one thing I could always bleh get down . Casadillia, grilled cheese, cheese omlete...

marktrux · Senior Member

I'm sorry to say that it really dosen't get easier. But we do learn to be more creative on how we get to 20gm. I took a lot of olive oil as a booster, and drank glasses of milk enriched with whipping cream and flavored syrup. The milk was not only tasty but it helped me get to sleep at nite and helped with nausea.

zuzusfam · Veteran Member

Dragonfly586 wrote:
I am on my second week of treatment, and I am having a hard time with eating the 20 grams of fats. Does it get any easier?

Can you give us some examples of what you ARE eating? When I don't feel like actually eating anything, I eat 1/4 C of whole pecans. It's not much but has the fat grams I need. I also drink whole milk with stuff in it (Swirl from Sprouts Farmers Market or Whole Foods). I try to change up my food choices so I do not get tired of any one food. The part I hate the most is being told I HAVE to eat at a specific time, not when I want to eat. That is the hard part for me. smile

P.S. I just started week 9 today!! Incivek is almost history.

Dragonfly586 · Member

I am on my second week of treatment, and I am having a hard time with eating the 20 grams of fats. Does it get any easier?

Shaun · Senior Member

The 20 grams with olive oil became utilitarian for me. It was more a ritual than a meal. Towards the end of my treatment ingesting nutrition period became utilitarian. Survived off of boost supplement and protein drinks for a couple months at the end. I ingested nutrition like it was a job and did it by clock schedule. I did eat 'real' food when and what I could and always made a point of getting something solid in my stomach at least once a day. This strategy helped me keep most of my weight on through tx.

I am about eight months post tx, have achieved SVR and enjoy olive oil once again. The treatment is just a bad memory now. My advise on eating and side effects is to make adjustments, then keep plowing forward. You develop strategies for dealing with issues as they pop up. I had the mindset of, "I'm not going to let 'it' win".

Adamos40 · Veteran Member

Yeah I read JoAnnes post about the olive oil. It works. I use it (30ml or 2 x tbs) which is about 26g fat (my nurse recommended up to 30g fat), mixed in with about 125 ml or half a pint of fruit smoothie. Have been using it for about a week. Have done the chocolate, cream mixed with full fat greek yoghurt, cubes of cheese, full fat soft cheese & salami......will probably get sick of the olive oil & smoothies at some point like everything else, just got to keep trying different things cry

Bouba · Senior Member

Am still navigating between different fats. They feed you up pretty fast even if you alternate. For a 5:30am one ( we have the same schedule), I have been taking a small glass of a full cream (abt 35 pct fat content). Its thick but smooth. Dunno how much longer I will be liking it cry Then will have to find something else...

zuzusfam · Veteran Member

I am in week 8 of TX. I take my meds about 5:30 a.m.and have NEVER been a "get out of bed and eat something" person. What is working for me is a product called Swirl that I get at Sprouts. (I'm sure Whole Foods and Traders Joes has it) It comes in different flavors (strawberry-banana, lemon, orange, blackberry, pina colada, mango peach...). In the mornings, I mix 2 heaping tablespoons intio 8 oz of of whole milk for my 20 grams. It also blends well with whole fat yogurt. You can also eat it right from the spoon. There are two kinds: flax seed oil and fish oil. Either one is a healthy oil and for me a way to get the fat without thinking about it or cooking anything. Plus the variety is nice.

Bouba · Senior Member

JoAnne recommended the other day an olive oil (20+gr) in a glass of milk. I tried and, must say, it went in eazzzzyyyy! Oil does not blend in while milk wraps it up and you dont taste that lovely fat at all.....

woogiecooper · Newbie

Hi Guys,

I am new to this forum but I have some info which might help with the 20gs of fat thing. My husband is undergoing treatment at the moment. A friend suggested we try a health food shop for body builders formulas. We went and asked and the lady in the shop said all of those type of products are low fat but she suggested we try the omega oil blend. Its £13.50 a bottle where we buy it for 500ml. It has all the fats you would need and all you have to do is take 2 tablespoons for your 20gs of fat. We have shown this to my husbands Hep nurse who is now recommending it to all other patients.

Hope this can help other people. Its made a huge difference to my husband as he was struggling injesting the fat.

iggle · Senior Member

i started off eating chocolate bars, but that got sickening fast. then i went to donuts, cakes, pizza, but it seemed too hard to get the 20 down. i wish i knew earlier, but somebody here mentioned boost plus for fat. it has 14 grams of fat in an 8 ounce bottle. i would drink that with an english muffin and cream cheese. that was so much easier than what i was doing at first.

-- Edited by iggle on Friday 31st of August 2012 09:01:50 PM

Nesspetal · Newbie

I have had thee worst 7 weeks of my life so far. I had reconstruction surgery to make me a new stomach. I had GIST. I cannot eat sugar and high fat content leaves me ill for hours. I've tried everything and settled on whipping cream mostly. It's getting hard for me now also. Going to start making smoothies this weekend. Dr. Oz has an energy drink on his web site I'm going to try and add coconut milk or canola oil to it. We can all use some extra energy on this triple OMG I have to eat what when diet!

news · Guru

And never forget Keebler's Pecan Sandies cookies. 5 grams apiece, I think, and ridiculously good, particularly with a glass of whole milk, for a total of 23 grams. Yummy. After I finished Incivek I still kept a package of them around. Just finished one off last week. Alan

LC · Senior Member

At Aldi's store, I noticed they have these 85 % dark chocolate bars, brand name Moser Roth, 5 bars to a package for $1.99. Each bar has 13 gms of fat, add a 8 oz glass of whole milk and you have your other 7 gms - How Much Fat Is in Whole Milk? - wiseGEEK

May God have mercy on my poor, wretched soul if I am ever too sick to consume chocolate. biggrin I love milk too. Each bar is 165 calories, and these would be a pretty easy portable 20 grams too.

The high cocoa content is good for your heart, and chocolate is a mood booster too. It sounds like most in treatment sure need that. cry I bet I have at least one of these a day once I start treatment. Heck, I eat these now...

urespa2 · Member

Fajah,

I will start my treatment in two weeks and was concerned about taking in 20 grams of fat. But after reading your solution with the mayo. I think I'll do the same. I like mayo and as you said, it goes down easy.

Nothing yucky about this...thanks

iggle · Senior Member

alan that is exactly how it has been for me. i was doing ok, until the past 3-4 weeks, and several times i thought about quiting. i'm starting to feel the same excitement of almost being done incivik. i really can't wait.

news · Guru

Iggle, I don't know what it is about weeks 9, 10 and 11 on the Incivek triple, but I wanted to die during that time. My bloods were way off, I was so sick, and almost gave up a couple of times. But at week 11 I began to get strength from the fact that I was almost done with the purple horse pills and all that goes with them. Once I finished the last Incivek, and the last 20g of fat, and the last three-doses-a-day day, the itching began to fade, my backside started to heal, and the schedule became so much more friendly. You have a lot to look forward to. And so close! Alan

iggle · Senior Member

that is good to know, because i am so sick of eating 20 grams of fat. glad to hear your feeling better, because i am hoping for some relief. about a week ago, i hit a real low point.

reglenn58 · Veteran Member

Iggle, no we take the 20 grams of fat just for the Incivick. I finshed my 12 weeks about a month ago. Feel much better. smile

iggle · Senior Member

i finish incivik in 1 week. do we still have to eat 20 grams of fat for riba?

peanutbutter · Senior Member

90% of the time I used peanutbutter with toast. On the rough mornings I took shots of olive oil. Very unenjoyable, but if you literally take it like a shot, it's not so bad you eventually sort of stop tasting it.

flamingo · Newbie

check out my website www.twentygramsoffat.com

Fajah · Member

this is gross and I am sure there is nothing redeeming about my 20grms first thing in the morning......Mayonnaise, 2 tbs is 20grms....no carbs, no sugars, and it slips right down. I cannot eat right out of bed at 6 am so that is what I do right before my coffee. On one jar I blended in a banana, that was ok to.

Sabroso · Newbie

hey everyone out there I just want too tell u on the 19 was my last day on telapravir !!!!!!! I cant belief how much better I feel!!!!!I still got 36 weeks left on ribavirin??? SO lets see what happens

Shaun · Senior Member

medinacrose wrote:
Hi Everyone,
My husband just started treatment. I have spent much time trying to find the right foods for him to eat. I am excited to report that I found a nutritional supliment drink that contains 14g of fat!! It is called Boost Plus. It is a small bottle so it is easy for him to drink. That with a handful of nuts is just what he needs for one of his doses. I have tried so hard to find variety for him. Sometimes it is really hard to stop what you are doing and try to figure out how to consume 20g of fat, minimum. I love this message board and I wish you all and your families all the best!!

I drank boost continually the last two months of my treatment. Indeed it goes down easy, wish I knew this when I was still on the Incivek! No matter, it sure helped me maintain weight after the Incivek part was over.

You can drink a bottle of boost in about three gulps. Very quick and very nutrient dense.

Isiscat2011 · Guru

medinacrose wrote:
Hi Everyone,
My husband just started treatment. I have spent much time trying to find the right foods for him to eat. I am excited to report that I found a nutritional supliment drink that contains 14g of fat!! It is called Boost Plus. It is a small bottle so it is easy for him to drink. That with a handful of nuts is just what he needs for one of his doses. I have tried so hard to find variety for him. Sometimes it is really hard to stop what you are doing and try to figure out how to consume 20g of fat, minimum. I love this message board and I wish you all and your families all the best!!

Excellent tip! The Boost Plus goes down easy especially when you don't feel like eating. I liked the chocolate flavor and still have a few left in my fridge.

Welcome and Kudos to you for being the kind supporter of your husband. confuse

medinacrose · Newbie

Hi Everyone,

My husband just started treatment. I have spent much time trying to find the right foods for him to eat. I am excited to report that I found a nutritional supliment drink that contains 14g of fat!! It is called Boost Plus. It is a small bottle so it is easy for him to drink. That with a handful of nuts is just what he needs for one of his doses. I have tried so hard to find variety for him. Sometimes it is really hard to stop what you are doing and try to figure out how to consume 20g of fat, minimum. I love this message board and I wish you all and your families all the best!!

Sailboatbend · Member

I am not worried about healthy fat at this time. I eat Liberte Yogurt with every dose. It coats my stomach and really helps with the nausea. If I don't eat with meds I feel it all day. Two week results non detectable. 30 years with Hep C Cirrhosis of liver grade 3 stage 4 geno 1a 6.5 mil viral. 3rd time on tratment.

Shaun · Senior Member

My nurse told me take two tablespoons of OLIVE OIL if you have trouble eating the 20 grams of fat. One tablespoon of olive oil has 14 grams of fat.

I keep a bottle of OLIVE OIL in my car and one in the house. When I get up at 6 am, I take two tablespoons of the oil, drink a glass of water then take my telaprevir, then go back to bed. Takes all of 3 or 4 minutes.

OLIVE OIL is good fat and healthy, benefitial to your heart, AND EASY and CHEAP.

I do prefer to eat at least some food with my meds, but I cant always handle food, especially at 6 am.

If I can handle it, I drink a small protein drink with the olive oil in the morning.

TazKat · Senior Member

i have wrestled so bad with this 20 grams.. honey buns are pretty easy with some milk & the ice cream drumstick with nuts on it too... i almost killed myself with cream cheese the other day.. lol no more of that for a long while.. good luck to all of us trying to beat this crap.. been living with the knowledge of it for 11 yrs now..

Jon_P · Newbie

I had a lot of difficulty with the fat thing at first. Even foods I had previously liked, like peanut butter, made me gag. I had to switch around and try a lot of different things. Did smoothies with coconut oil for a while. For breakfast, I settled on a yogurt cup w/ 14g fat. Half & half in your coffee can be another couple grams. My doctor gave me permission to be somewhat flexible with fat content and not worry about getting a full 20g as long as meal/snack had a reasonable amount. I eat lunch late and will have something like a tuna fish sandwich (fat content from the mayo). For night snack I still switch frequently to try and keep things palatable.

beautiful_wrath · Veteran Member

Thanks! Will go to that site. That sure sounds a lot easier than trying to choke down 20gs of food at 6am. I could just put it in juice and drink and done.

Thank you, ~wrath

koan4u · Member

http://www.chefdepot.net/oliveoilfacts.htm

Fresh Virgin Olive oil.. 14 grams of fat per tablespoon. Good way to go.. expecially if you don't feel like eating.. You can mix it with juice or take it in a shot glass.

Caution.. Fresh virgin Olive oil.. not easy to find.. You won't find it at the grocery store where most if not all of the olive oil has expired its recommended shelf life of two years. You cannot sell olive oil in Italy if it is more than 2 years old.

Probably the most easily acquired fresh virgin olive oil is from California.. Get California Olive Council certified
Here is the web site

http://cooc.com/producers_certified.html

If you have never tasted fresh virgin olive oil its actually quite a treat

You can buy it on line (use the web site)

PM

-- Edited by koan4u on Thursday 1st of September 2011 10:28:51 PM

beautiful_wrath · Veteran Member

Thanks Derek. I'll look that up. Had never heard of it. Good luck with your upcoming treatment. You're in the right place to get educated on it all before you get started.

Peace, ~wrath

Derekrex · Veteran Member

I was just Diagnosed a month or so ago, and will start treatment in 5 weeks. I wanted to thank everyone on here for all the information. I know it will help me a lot and is helping me get ready for everything.

My girlfriend's mom is a huge believer in "pressed" Coconut Oil. It's very fatty and very healthy for you. One spoonful has 14 grams of fat, helps your body keep lean muscle and is much healthier then most things with the same fat content. Hope this can help someone. :D

-Derek

beautiful_wrath · Veteran Member

Thanks Deidre, that's what I was needing. I used to have a fat/calories book but lost it.

Becca, When I was on tx back in 90 which was just the interferon and riba, I would get the thrush in my mouth constantly from my good bacteria being depleted by the drugs. I finally had to carry around a bottle of nystatin liquid that I just constantly was swishing. Nowdays they have the probiotics which I think will help. I'd ask first though. I'm very susceptible to that and expect it to present itself in the next couple of weeks. Good luck, I know mouth sores can be a real nuisance. I'm worried about the exercise too because I'm finding that I'm really heat intolerant and it's daily 105 here. I was used to walking two times a day for 20 minutes and am barely even getting to do it once a day now. Bums me out. Thanks for giving examples of what ya'll are eating. It helps get me out of my food rut.

for me today: 2 pieces toast with butter spread and some marmalade 6am
2 pieces toast with just butter spread 2pm

a little leftover spaghetti in between.

I'm getting some of those ice cream sandwiches though! mmmm

Take care, ~wrath

BeccaJune · Senior Member

Breakfast: Greek yogurt 14 grams fat, and a toaster strudel 7 grams. yumm.

2pm - choco-taco ice cream sandwich and some nuts

10pm snack: pepperoni slices folded around dobs of cream cheese

I got some ginger tea to help with nausea.

I started getting a sore in my mouth, so am dilligently brushing teeth and got some Biotine (spell) mouth wash and spray to keep the enzymes balanced.

I have gained a couple of pounds, but maintaining the weight in general. Lack of exercise is starting to concern me, but I am still making it to work every day for now.

Deidre · Senior Member

i RIGINALLY LOOKED THINGS UP HERE

http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-ritz-crackers-i18621

JUST TYPE IN THE FOOD YOU ARE THINKING OF.

beautiful_wrath · Veteran Member

Hi everyone. Hoping to find everyone in good spirits. I'm doing pretty good. My first week of treatment is almost over! Ended up calling in on the 24 hour nurse line that Incivek offers to ask if whole milk could count as my 20g of fat if I drank two cups. She researched it and said "fat is fat, as long as I'm getting it in me 30 minutes prior." On some doses, milk is all I can get down. Have lost 8 pounds this week but I just mark that up to stress and being on strong meds. It won't be the norm once I get used to this. I'm liking the sounds of Deidre's cheesecake! I'll look up SeaBands for my nausea. Thanks! Never heard of that. See, that's why this site is so good...we can discuss this with people who have already been down the same road and get their advice. That's good as gold to me. Thanks for all of the tips. Deidre, you take care girl! And as you say....peace out, girlscout!

~wrath

CanadaHep · Member

I agree sea bands are good, my mother used to wear them for nausea, as did I on occasion.

bob26 · Member

For nausea, try Sea Bands. Just go on Amazon and type Sea Bands. My wife used to wear them for 9 mo while she was pregnant and thought they were the life savers. I wear them non-stop, and it helps with nausea

Deidre · Senior Member

every morning before my pills, I take an anti-nausea pill (which I take 3x per day 45 mins before Incivek and Ribba) I also take 1 zyertec pill. So far this has helped alot with nausea, which I've only gotten a few times. and no rash yet thanks to the zertex, or however you spell it.

Twice I have taken an Imodium..have notice that if I get nausea, that's when I stand the best chance of getting dihareha. They seem to go hand in hand, control thr nausea, andwon't have to big a problem with the other end. Although I do have perscription for anal problems if it gets to bad down there, so far I have not had to use it.

What I do use though after ( hopefully before) pooping or if anal itch is bay desitine for diaper rash. Put on but hole, and put pantyliner in underware( which would also be helpful if I used the perscription stuff) I told my husband just the other day that I wondered if I got on here and suggested desitine and pantyliners, how many guys would refuse to use a pantyliner. It's got to be better than having stuff all over your underware.I got my Incivek from the manufacturer, and they very much stressed the importance of 20 g of fat 30 min before pills. They said it gives the meds better absorbtion. So in the morning I choke down 2 string cheeses.

Lunch pills after a peice of cheese-cake 17oz equals 21 grams fat.

deppending on whats for dinner depends on if I have to have a nutragouse kingsize candy bar, which had the 20 gr

or I'll choose bagel/cream cheese. went to costco bought a big box of the cream cheese in the tubes ( individual serving size) 2equal 20grams.

I started treatment on the 6th, and last Friday did 3rd shot. So far this system has worked for me. Of course I'm not working like some of you.

I did just the peg/ribba in 03 and was just as sick as now, on the 3 drug combo.

I just didn't eat fat 3x per day. I did become anemic then, and had thyriod stop, so fully expect those things to happen this time. Was unable to get 2 week labs, as my doc was gone, and none of the others, would bother ordering them. I called everyday for 5 days. Have appointment on the 26th. Still never saw the results of pretreatment blood tests done on the 3rd.

beautiful_wrath · Veteran Member

HI there everyone. Hoping your weekend was enjoyable and that you had time to relax some. This is day three for me on treatment and I'm finding that the 20g of fat thing is going to be difficult. I've done cheese, peanuts, 1cup potato salad, milk. My problem is that I'm nauseated and it's not going down real good. My sweetie fried some bacon and I put it in a baggie thinking it's high in fat and maybe easier to eat at 6am. Does milk or chocolate milk count as one of our fats? I saw Bob counted it and I also like his idea of cheese toast. That actually sounds good. When I read the sardines though....I think I gagged a little! hahaha Pj's right, you can only eat what you can stand to look at and I totally understand that statement now. Anyway, thank you for the tips. Going to get an avocado and some of the Greek yogie. Ya'll take care and remember, we can do this!

Peace, ~wrath

BeccaJune · Senior Member

I got the ok from doc to take Imodium for the diarrhea. Gave my butt a little break! They said if the nausea continues to call them back. Someone left some hard candies at work, and I found that sucking on one of those every once in a while gets that bad taste out of my mouth.

My girlfriend came over yesterday at shot time and stayed overnight in case I felt bad after my shot. I'm glad her family could spare her. She helped me do my dishes, cleaned the cat box and took out my trash. What a sweetie. We watched movies, talked, and I had pizza with my 10pm meds. It tasted pretty good. The indigestion was worth it!

I ate one of those fried apple pies in the package for breakfast 20 grams of fat, not bad (not great either). I took special notice this morning that I have some very odd food items in my pantry and frige now!!

PJ · Senior Member

I know that we should be eating nutritious foods, etc., but sometimes you can only eat what you can stand to look at, in my case that was a lot of carbs, cheese and eggs for protein.

I lost my taste for ice cream, and my sweet tooth has not really come back yet, though early on in my treatment I ate ice cream quite a bit. It's odd how it totally changes your tastes and the nausea is no fun either.

Becca, the Tela is much worse coming out than going in!!! I will say that it got better as I continued though, so maybe we adjust.

CaptBixley · Member

I had a tough week with energy and nuasea. 2 hours after I take the Incivek I feel nauseaus - not too bad but definitely there. In the AM I have been having oatmeal with 1.7 tablespoon butter (20g fat) - mid day I have almonds or almond butter - almonds are 1 gram fat per almond and it is all good fat. At night I have been having my 20 gram Hagen Daaz ice cream bar.

After I get up in the morning I usually go to the recliner for a nap - particularly this past week. Just feel exhausted. Telaprevir almost 1/3 done. In 2004 when just did the Peg and Copeg - I fared much better. Good luck every one!!!

BeccaJune · Senior Member

It's good to see that all that fat isn't a deal breaker. My instructions from the doctor included the 20 grams, and they even gave me a little pamplet of some fast food that would do the trick. Probably not that hard, but getting nutrition with your fries is the trick!

I think my problem yesterday was just nausea in general. It made me want to gag just thinking about eating most anything. Last night all I could do was eat a spoon of peanut butter and wash it down with water and my pills.

This morning was better. I ate one of those microwaved breakfast bowls with potatoes, eggs, gravy. Quite good. I think I had starved yesterday. (hell of a day)

got 2 giant Florida avacados at the grocer.

Fried fruit pies - 20 grams.

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