Summary Saturday: Early Satiety
This Symptom of the Week Blog Post focuses on Early Satiety with a summary of everything I talked about this week 📝 I thought it would be helpful to have all of that information in one place so it's easier to look for when you need it, I hope it helps! 🩵
Symptom Sunday: The POTS Symptom I highlighted this week was Early Satiety ⏰🚫😋🍽️
Early Satiety is getting full quickly, often before you can eat a full meal 🍽️ Early Satiety can happen in POTS patients for many different reasons including decreased blood flow to the digestive tract, gastroparesis, changes in intestinal motility, dysfunction in autonomic nerves in the GI tract, constipation, nausea and a lot more! Early satiety can be a difficult symptom to manage because it can be difficult to get enough calories and nutrition if you can't eat very much at once! 😬
Monday's Myth: You need to eat everything on your plate. FACT: You can stop eat when you are full!
I know there are a lot of cultural expectations about eating everything on your plate or getting second or third helpings of foods and it's important to acknowledge that! That being said, you are not under the obligation to make yourself sick! You can stop eating when you are full and it is okay if you cannot finish everything! You can explain that you have health problems that make eating a normal amount of food difficult, or you can just compliment the chef and explain that you are full and cannot eat anymore 👨🏽🍳 It can be difficult when your health challenges make social things difficult 😕 But it's also important to take care of yourself 🩵
Tuesday's Tip: Be as Descriptive as Possible When Describing Abdominal Pain
I have already recommended having smaller meals more frequently throughout the day and setting reminders or alarms to remind yourself to eat and those are helpful tips for early satiety as well! ⏲️ Something my Dietitian recently recommended was drinking more between meals than during a meal 🥤 She said that 4 Liters of fluid is a lot and that liquid fills up your stomach pretty quickly and doesn't leave a lot of room for food! But it is important to stay hydrated too! 😅 So I have noticed that my early satiety is not as bad when I drink more between meals! That way I stay hydrated but still have enough room in my stomach for food too:)
Wednesday's Word: Gastrointestinal (GI) Motility: The way the body moves food through the digestive tract
Gastrointestinal Motility or Intestinal Motility is a phrase that you will hear a lot in the GI world! It refers to the way the body moves food through the digestive tract: from the mouth, then throat & esophagus, stomach, small intestines, large intestines, rectum and then out of the body. Organs like the liver, gallbladder and pancreas help with digestion but food does not move through them. When we are discussing motility we are often referring to the efficiency/ease and speed of digestion ⏱️ Some POTS patients have decreased or slower motility and some POTS patients have increased or faster motility! Early satiety can occur with slower motility ⏰🚫😋🍽️
Thursday's Thing: Nutritional Drinks or Shakes
The Thing I am sharing today is related to the Symptom of the Week: Early Satiety ⏰🚫😋🍽️ Eating smaller meals or a big snack every 2-3 hours is really important for POTS & Early Satiety! It can be really hard to get enough calories if you only eat 3 meals a day but don't have a full meal's worth of food 😬 So, one of the things that has helped me a lot lately is nutritional shakes or drinks 🥤There are a lot of different kinds that are great! Some have more protein which can be helpful, but higher protein also makes me a lot more nauseous 🤢 There are also several flavor options, and my favorite is chocolate 🍫 Here are some thinks will a few that I have using a lot lately 🔗
Feature Friday: Navigating POTS Appointments for Early Satiety
The Navigating POTS Product I am highlighting is my Early Satiety related Appointments
⏰🚫😋🍽️📆 The Consultation appointments are 30 minutes and the Coaching are 60 minutes and involve a write-up related to the Appointment 📝 You can email me if you have any concerns about pricing or scheduling and we can work something out that is better for your price range 📧 Here is the Calendly link so you can book an appointment 🔗 Below are some examples of questions we can discuss in these appointments:
Navigating POTS Appointment Topics Related to Early Satiety:
Consultation Appointments: These are 30 minute appointments focused on individualized education or help with specific concerns. Here is a list of possible questions that we could discuss in a consultation appointment:
-I feel like understanding why I am experiencing early satiety could help me, can you teach me more about digestive problems in POTS patients?
-What are some specific ways I can manage early satiety? Can we go over tips to help and things to avoid?
-What are some specific ways to help reduce the emotional or mental load of eating with early satiety?
-What are some specific ways to help address the social implications of early satiety?
-We are going out to eat later this week at a specific restaurant and I am overwhelmed thinking about what to order when I know I won't be able to eat very much, can we go through the menu together and come up with a plan so I can be prepared?
-I am going to a specific event that I am worried about. Can we talk about strategies to manage my early satiety while I am there and how to best communicate with people about it?
-I need help coming up with a few ideas for meals or snacks while I am at work, school or not at home, can you help me?
-I would like to talk to you about some of the emotions I have around early satiety, especially the stress that comes with uncertainty and random symptoms. Can we discuss this together?
-I feel so overwhelmed that I don't even know what to ask, but I want to talk to somebody who understands.
* Any other specific questions that you have!
Coaching Appointments: These appointments are 60 minute appointments that involve specific hands-on help with various problems. These appointments are more in depth and often involve notes or a write up of some kind. 📆 Here is a list of possible things we could address, which type of appointment it would be and what I would create for you in those appointments:
-Food Help or Symptom Tracking Appointment: Can you help me create a way to track my digestive symptoms so I can notice patterns and trends? This would involve going over the free "Symptom Tracker" chart together and creating a "Food Diary" form for you to use
-Appointment Prep Appointment: My early satiety is severe enough that I want to talk about them at my next doctor's appointment, can you help me put my thoughts together and prepare for that appointment? This would involve me typing up a history for these symptoms and filling out a template to use while you explain your symptoms.
-Food Help Appointment: Trying to plan meals is exhausting, can you help me create a plan for specific meals? This would involve me creating a menu with you and can also include a shopping list and other specific plans.
-Food Help Appointment: I have not been good at eating consistently and I want to get better, can we set some goals about how often to eat and come up with a good schedule for eating that would work with my early satiety? This would involve me typing up your goals and the plan we discuss together.
Emotional Discussion Appointment: I am experiencing a lot of emotions around food and my early satiety and am feeling overwhelmed. Can we talk about some of my emotions and then come up with a plan to move forward? This would involve me typing up a summary of what we discussed and a plan for moving forward
Other Appointment: This is an opportunity to discuss anything you want and then request what you would like to have typed up or created for you, hopefully it can be a helpful resource for you! 🩵
*Just a reminder that appointments are still 1/2 off, so $25 for a consultation and $50 for a coaching appointment! If you have any specific concerns about scheduling or prices please email navigatingpots@gmail.com
