Wife serious injury and not eating

[Worriedhubby123]

Hi all

I’m not a mum, but hoping you mums can give some advice?

my wife had a car accident 3 weeks ago and has 2 compression fractures in her spine as well as whiplash. Was in hospital for a night but now home (she has a spinal brace but didn’t need surgery) and in a lot of pain and on large amounts of pain medication. (If it matters Co-codamol, gabapentin, diazepam, naproxen, omazeprole and tramadol on a rotating schedule.) she also is taking vitamin supplements.

obviously heavily encouraging her to do as little as possible other than her physio exercises and she’s signed off work for 12 weeks. We have a child but he is not tiny (year 5) , and I do laundry etc and have a cleaner that comes in 2x a week to encourage her to rest as much as possible.

The problem is she’s not eating. I will make breakfast for me, her and our son before leaving for work/taking him to school and I notice when I return it’s not been eaten. Her mum made her loads of frozen ready to eat microwave meals which remain untouched, and I keep loads of her favourite snacks beside her which she doesn’t really seem interested in. We have dinner together but she will pick at it and usually only be able to eat 1/3 of a portion.

I’ve voiced my concerns and she says that the medications are making her very tired and she has completely lost her appetite. She’s visibly losing weight rapidly and I’m concerned, but don’t really know if I should be nagging her about this or will it just pass in time? I’m also worried that the strong meds will be doing damage if she’s not eating enough.

would appreciate advice from anyone who has been through a serious injury like this?
Thank you

Most of those meds cause nausea. That may be one reason why she's not eating much.

She may also still be suffering from shock.

As long as she is drinking plenty I wouldn't worry.

What did she weigh before?

Yeah those meds will do that.

Would she be tempted by smoothies and fresh soups?

i have don’t know her weight but she was around a size 12 if that helps?
she’s drinking lots of water and flat lemonade for some reason. I did wonder about shock too. Thank you.

That sounds very hard - her body will be in a state of shock on many levels also psychological and all of those medication that she’s taking will continue to have a profound impact on her body . Nutritional drinks can be helpful - kept cold and then sipped. They are usually sweet which is body’s preference and contain enough calories to sustain healing. I think you might need to sit with her and help her drink.

you may be able to get some advice from the discharge service? What about care post Op? Is anyone helping?

She will occasionally have something like a clementine for lunch and a lot of the frozen things her mum made were soups. But she just says she’s not hungry. Hopefully as she heals then her appetite will come back a bit. Thank you.

Will she drink hot chocolate or coffee made with hot milk?

You can try to tempt her with very small, regular meals.

Flat lemonade is good when you feel sick, it's probably that.

Can you ask for post-op care from whoever discharged her? It's likely quite normal on those medications and they'll know how best to advise.

I would suggest protein milkshake type things but they might not suit her if she's feeling delicate.

She didn’t have an operation in the end as they were stable fractures, so there’s not been any support offered. Should I ask about this?
i will look into nutritional drinks - thank you.

Drinks like these are more easily digested and contain extra calories if feeling too sick to eat https://www.nutridrinks.co.uk/ensure-plus-assorted-flavours-6-bottles

The juice ones are sometimes easier to tolerate than the shakes, depending on her other medication.

The GP prescribed them for me, but you can also buy them.

The meds absolutely suppress appetite AND cause constipation. So does lack of exercise. I wouldn’t worry too much about it if she isn’t very active atm. She is having vitamins and minimal food. I would maybe try giving her some simple soup instead. (Tinned is fine). Small cups, warm, not too hot. Switch up the flavours. I’d try some chicken or beef for some protein if she likes it.

Sorry, I assumed she had an op too. She must have a discharge letter with contract details? If not definitely contact her GP.

The meds she's on cause nausea and appetite loss.

Plus prescribing co-codamol and tramadol together is not good practice.

Needs a review of her pain relief by a doctor, there may not be a good answer but the current situation of too drowsy/out of it to eat can't go on.

Adequate nutrition is really important for healing. If her appetite is reduced you need to be maximising the 'value' of the small portions she is able to eat.
https://www.ghc.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/CHST-Food-First-booklet.pdf

Boosting the calories/ protein of 'real' food is preferable to using drinks/ shakes but if those are used they should be as a drink to sip between meals and not used to replace a meal.

I had the same injury and was in a brace for 3 months. She sounds similar to me, but she does need to eat, eating is healing said my consultant. I found it quite difficult to eat with the brace though. Maybe try and get her to try some flavoursome soups or a light meal once a day at least. It was the worst 3 months of my life I have to say..intense pain...I lived on zapain for months. I wish her well, she will get through this.

I’m not sure exactly why this was done but I think the tramadol was just in the beginning for nights when the pain was at its worst. It was definitely a very structured medication schedule, but it was because she was just in so much pain at the time it happened.

I’ll take her to the doctor to discuss this.

Sorry I meant post care OP, not that she had had an operation :-)

those ensure drinks are great - get some and try very chilled.

Thank you and I hope you are feeling a bit better now. It’s awful to see her in this much pain.

I've recently had a kidney stone 😬 agony but that's a story for another day!
I was on some of the painkillers you mention and was constantly nauseous, I was prescribed anti nausea medication, I didn't want to eat either due to the nausea and shock of the suddenness of the pain and the hospital stay.
I ate clear soup, packets of knorr chicken noodle.
Tbh, the accident, hospital, shock and the pain will all add to her lack of appetite but I'd ask for anti nausea medication from the GP and raise the issue of her not eating, it won't hurt to ask.
I'd run it by her first though.

She probably just feels absolutely rubbish. I would just try to be relaxed as possible about the food, don't push it, make sure she has things that she likes/are easy to eat available and hopefully she'll feel a bit better soon.

Agree with one of the posters above - she needs to have a doctor review. The fact she is drowsy could mean doses need adjusting. As well as this, if she isn’t eating/drinking enough then she will be at risk of kidney damage (especially on that concoction of drugs).
GP appointment Monday morning. 111 over the weekend if you’re worried her fluid intake is too low/she isn’t passing much urine or is becoming more drowsy.

Think about what she's liked to eat in the past, and pick out things from that list which are easy to eat, tempting and high in nutrition - including calories. Hot chocolate made with full fat milk is a good call. Peanut butter toast and bananas are good options. I personally would slather almost everything with sriracha sauce and mayonnaise to make it yummier, but that's just me.

I imagine she's in pain and very uncomfortable, iced lollies, maybe sorbet too, just to kick start her appetite. Little and often. It's probably quite uncomfortable chewing and swallowing. She'll also be tired as it takes a lot of energy for the body to heal after injury, so again small portions.
Hope she makes a good recovery, it's still early days so try not to worry

Flat lemonade is something I go for when I'm trying to settle my stomach.

Maybe make available some of the kinds of foods women with morning sickness tend to eat.

Plain crackers or ritz salted ones
Ginger biscuits
Rice with a light ginger based sauce

You sound like a fantastic husband. She is lucky to have you.

I'm one of those weird people where opioid pain meds make me really hungry! It can obviously have the opposite effect.
Could you get her some ensure compact? They're only 125mls, and have 300 calories. If they are kept in the fridge they're actually quite pleasant. If she can just back three of those a day, while you still encourage her to eat regular food, that will help her nutrition uptake a lot.
Has she ever suffered from ED in the past? If so you need to extra cautious, and she may need a referral to the ED team. But don't bombard her or accuse her or anything like that. Just gently encourage her. I hope she gets better soon.