u/Only_Theoretically

*This is not medical advice. The BRAT diet is not sustainable, so these are just some ideas that have worked for me that may help inspire others to eat something. I see many people struggle to eat. I lost over 60 lbs, so I know how hard it is, but these foods have helped me stop losing weight.

One more note: Sometimes people have food sensitivities, but sometimes we are afraid to eat something because we ate it right before a flare. I personally have found that I don't react to specific foods. On the other hand, I rarely feel like eating and struggle with chronic nausea. Not eating can make nausea worse. Low blood sugar also mimics a lot of FD symptoms (shakiness, nausea, stomach pain, dizziness, etc).

The list of foods I eat when eating feels like punishment:

- A baked green apple (bake apple at 350 until soft, serve with nut butter like almond)

- Sourdough toast (plain or with a scrambled egg on top)

- Miso soup (boil broth or water, add miso paste, add seaweed or egg if desired)

- Tofu (serve in bone broth or just boiled)

- Garbanzo beans straight from the can

- A protein shake (I like the Koia ones)

- Warm alternative milk (warm some soy or oat milk; can add some cinnamon if desired)

- Quinoa (can add cinnamon or some baked apple or alternative milk)

- Homemade muffins (mostly to help get some veggies; I will make carrot or zucchini muffins with oat flour and maple syrup to sweeten)

- Zucchini or squash (just cut up and simmered in a little olive oil)

- Oatmeal (can be as plain or fancy as you like)

- Peas (just boiled frozen peas)

- Pasta (I like the Banza pasta with a little olive oil)

- Crackers

- Simple protein bars (Larabar or RXbar is usually a safe bet)

- Mashed potato (can be plain or however you like)

- Trail mix

- Dark chocolate

- Soba or rice noodles

- Baked tempeh

Please add on to this list if you have any foods that have been helpful.

A couple extra tips:

- When I was very malnourished, my Dr. recommended Ultra Replenish shakes from Metagenics, might be worth asking about if you are worried about malnutrition.

- Eat anything. There is no "unhealthy" food when your body is starving; it's just energy your body needs. Eating even a little still counts. The Internet loves to tell you what "not to eat" when you have stomach issues, but everyone is different, so there is no food that is good/bad for everyone.

- Find a habit that makes eating less stressful. I like to watch a comfort show while eating. Deep breathing or meditation before eating can help as well.

- Having a cup of peppermint or ginger tea with a meal can help yourself/ stomach relax.

- Eat small and frequent meals

- Keep seeking help, keep trying, and keep eating what you can when you can

I am currently on 15mg Mirtazapine and 5mg Buspirone 2x/day. My Dr. has basically given me a choice to either try going up in the Mirtazapine or going up in the Buspirone dose.

Does anyone have any experience that would make the decision easier?

My main symptoms are chronic low-grade nausea and occasional severe nausea. Also, general stomach pain, and I have trouble eating enough each day. I had hardly any side effects with the mirtazapine, but I'm afraid going up in dose would diminish the anti-nausea and the sleep effects. I had much worse nausea starting the buspirone, but it didn't last too long, and I am also not yet at a therapeutic dose to see if it can help.

Ideally, I don't really want to be on multiple medications... My other thought was weaning off both and trying Nortriptyline instead, but that would take a long time, and I am not looking forward to weaning side effects/ withdrawl.

Looking for good Martial Arts classes in Tally that are good for beginner and more advanced adults. Also an inclusive environment.

I'm only on 5mg Buspar 2x a day and I take it with food. I'm adding it on to Mirtazapine to try and help with my chronic nausea/ anxiety/ panic. I've only been on it for two weeks now. My nausea has been so much worse and I've developed acid reflux which I've never struggled with. Does it go away eventually? The Buspar has helped with my middle of night panic attacks so far, but I don't think its benefits have outweighed the nausea so far...

Medical school has been my dream since I was 5 years old. My undergraduate has been very unconventional and my GPA has suffered (3.4). I have gone to 4 different colleges with breaks in between due to finances, natural disaster, becoming a mom, and chronic illness.
I hope to make up for the undergraduate mess by doing a graduate program and gaining work experience (I haven't done any research or worked in a hospital yet). I graduate with my bachelors next year, as long as no more life changing events happen...
The earliest I can hope to even start medical school is 2030 which feels a little crazy. Sometimes I wonder if life is telling me to give up on this dream. I mean, my chronic illness gives me horrible nausea flares often, I can't imagine working 12+ hour shifts plus going to school while feeling like I have a never ending stomach bug. I wonder if this dream will kill me, but it's also one of my main reasons for living. I don't know if I could live with myself if I fail and end up missing out on my baby's whole childhood or making myself more sick and in debt and ending up with nothing to show for it. This is kind of a rant, but also advice or any other people's experiences would be stellar.

I will have an idea of what I want to paint, then over the next few days, I will sketch it out and prepare the canvas. Once it gets to the stage where most shading is blocked in, I take a step back, and realize I hate it. Then my motivation for finishing it tanks and I usually end up sanding it back down or wiping it off. I always think I have a good idea, but once I see it, it just looks like something an angsty middle school kid would doodle. I want to make meaningful art, but I don't want it to look cheesy or corny. This is kind of a rant, but I would also very much appreciate anyone else's experience in figuring out a painting concept that doesn't leave you cringing once you actually see it start to take shape. Or am I giving up too soon?
For example, I'll start with a figure in a tree... okay it's missing something... then I paint sticks going through the figure... and now it's corny and I start over. Maybe the idea is okay but it's being executed too literally? Is that a thing?

I usually have zero appetite, but I will occasionally get the munchies (since starting Mirtazapine) and tonight I ate more than I should have (still less than a normal person). Like a handful of nuts and a handful of crackers and a handful of coconut crisps and tea. I know stressing about it will make symptoms worse, but it's a stressful situation. The nausea is in manageable waves so far, so I'm just hoping it doesn't get worse.
I drank some peppermint tea... which honestly just made me feel more full...
Just wanted to vent here because I feel like y’all understand how stressful something normal like eating a snack can be.

As a buyer, if the pictures show the item well and it arrives as described, I'll leave a good review. Some orders I get though have a bunch of stuff, like stickers, tarot cards, Hallmark thank you cards, tissue wrapping. It's nice and thoughtful, but my first reaction is honestly, "Well, now I have to throw this extra stuff away" and it feels wasteful when part of reselling clothes is to have more sustainable fashion. Does anyone else feel this way or do people really like the included decorative stuff?
I bought a shirt for like $5 once and it came with at least $6 worth of packaging and "little extras."

Sometimes I see people (especially on social media) who travel, have fun, or go to the gym one week and then the next week, they are suffering through horrible flares, and then back at loving life the next week. I feel like the only thing I do in between flares is tip-toe around life, scared of any sign that a flare is coming (I have chronic nausea/ IBS/ FD and my flares come on out of no where like a stomach bug). Sometimes I wonder if there's actually something wrong with my brain chemistry, because my bad flares aren't super often(maybe once every other week), but I am having almost just as much trouble in the time between flares.

I'm on day 3 of Mirtazapine and I'm taking it for chronic anxiety related nausea(along with other stomach issues and insomnia) and weight loss. At day 3, this has been the most well tolerated drug I've ever tried which is great but I don't want to get too excited since it's only day 3.

One weird symptom I have though is that whenever I hear a loud noise or someone touches me, I feel as though I've been awaken from a deep sleep with a bucket of ice water to the face! Another way to describe it is that it's similar to that feeling when you wake up from a dream where you are falling. I don't feel super tired or out of it, but I just randomly feel jolted many times through the day.

I'm not terribly concerned about it, just thought I'd share. My biggest fear was nausea and so far I've only had mild nausea which was normal for me before taking the Mirtazapine.