[pct-l] Remedies for loss of appetite

[Clint Kaul]

Hello Ellen,

Thank you for your comments/questions.  I have received several
emails off-list which I plan on summarizing for the list relatively soon.

On Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 7:54 PM, Ellen Shopes <igellen at comcast.net> wrote:
> A couple of things you weren't mentioning:     Did you feel nauseous
> all/most of the time?  Were you taking regular Ibuprofen (or other
> non-steroidal anti-inflammatory)?
>
> Ibuprofen, etc, is very irritating to the gastric lining.  My husband has
> problems if he uses it chronically.  One solution is to take a
> histamine-blocker (like Zantac/Ranitidine) or a proton-pump inhibitor (like
> Omeprazole/Prilosec).  You could also try using Tylenol instead of some or
> all of the Ibuprofen doses to minimize gastric irritation.

I would say the only time I felt nauseous was right after eating breakfast,
especially if it had been milk/cereal; granola bars/pop tarts didn't make me
throw-up as much.  Also when I tried to eat too much dinner I would feel
nauseous but at least I kept the food in.  When I was dry-heaving/retching
along the trail, I wouldn't say I was nauseous.  I figured it was my stomach
saying "feed me stupid".  I would rest a minute, drink some and eat a little
then hike on.

In terms of ibuprofen, I rarely felt sore; I think I took it twice.  I normally
use Tylenol for headaches; I think I took that only once.  I carried lots of
both, but fortunately never needed it.  [As an aside, I'm not convinced
ibuprofen does anything for me.  It certainly doesn't stop my headaches.
I'm not about to run a controlled experiment on myself to verify that
suspicion though.]

> It is not uncommon to experience a loss of appetite when hiking in a warmer
> desert environment.  Most commonly, high fat foods look really disgusting.
> Although it's hard to pack in as many calories without fats, some people
> find the carbs are easier to handle.

Several others also mentioned eating more carbs because they are easier
to digest.

> Finally, hyponatremia is a cause of nausea/vomiting.  Make sure you are
> getting enough sodium/salt in your diet.  If you are using an 'electrolyte
> replacement', make sure it's heavy on sodium, not potassium.

Interesting idea and certainly possible.  Many others suggested drinking
more electrolytes as well.  There were a couple of days where just drinking
water never seemed to satisfy me.  On those days I took electrolyte
replacement tablets, but they are sodium free (Heat-Aid, Electrol).  Hard
to say whether they helped or not.  Normally I only drank one liter of half-
strength gatorade per day.  I figured I would get enough sodium through
the foods I ate (GORP, peanut butter, cheese primarily).  In hindsight
perhaps not enough because I sweat a lot and thus lose a lot.

Thank you for your questions/suggestions,
clint