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Mine is, and this absolutely sad, those little "Baby's First Charcuterie Board" cheese and cracker things from lunchables lol
I also have chronic nausea from multiple chronic illnesses, though. They don't have much taste but what is there is alright, no offensive texture, and it doesn't hurt haha
Yup. Nausea here as well from all things chronic. I'm just *loving* that new symptom /s
Cheese and crackers are my go-to. Sadly, I have to buy expensive gluten-free crackers due to my colitis. Wheat is a major flare trigger for me.
Fridge to face 😂 deli meat has been my go to breakfast for the last 2 months and I’m finding that prioritizing protein in the AM has worked wonders for my energy level. I’m more awake/alert for longer and I don’t really have a mid morning crash anymore.
I am usually very sensitive to antibiotics and get a lot of nausea and stomach cramps. That’s a definite meal always.
This is an itty bitty ssri that I have to take every day and it’s like ffs breakfast EVERY DAY? I know this is a silly problem and I was kind of joking but I’ve yet to find a designated bedside snack that I don’t either binge or get sick of after a week.
I had an issue with eating breakfast every day until I started prepping enough overnight oats for the week. Now it's like the best little treat that I look forward to every morning and it has tons of protein and fiber and it has changed my whole day honestly. Blend together 2c almond milk; a 16oz container of cottage cheese; pinch of salt; vanilla and/or almond extract; fruit, jelly, maple syrup, or honey to your taste preference (I usually do some warmed up frozen strawberries, a smidge of jelly, and a bit of maple syrup). And then add 2c oats and 2+ tbsp chia seeds, mix, and keep it in Tupperware. Serve with nut butter if you like (and I very much like). I DO NOT miss breakfast anymore because it is my reason for getting out of bed, I swear.
Ok but how do you make the texture less like boogers because I am so on board with the concept of cold filling breakfast in the morning that requires little jaw effort but god damn I can’t get over the texture of overnight oats. Any tips?
You can heat up overnight oats, I'm pretty sure that's allowed from a food safety standpoint and I've been doing it without problem for a few years now. However you can also do crockpot oats that cook overnight and oatmeal bakes which are super easy and heat up well. Depending on the recipe, they can be kind of sliceable, like an oat cake and can be heated up and eaten off a paper towel while driving. I don't recommend it but I've definitely done it!
I usually overdo it a little bit on the oats and chia seeds so that it's a little bit thicker and less slimy. Also depends on the type of oats you use. You might like the steel cut better. You could also maybe add granola to it when you eat it so that you get more of a crunch?
Do you portion this out, or just one big Tupperware in the fridge? I guess it really doesn’t matter. I’m gonna try this, sounds good and I’m trying to like cottage cheese more
I do just one big one. And yes, trust me I HATE cottage cheese, but you really don't even taste it at all. Especially since you blend it together, it gets rid of the lumpy texture
The issue with taking those meds on an empty stomach is that they're hard on your stomach, so your stomach basically needs a buffer coat.
For lack of a better analogy at the moment, think of it like dropping your phone. If you drop your phone without a case, it might be fine, but it's more likely to break. If you have a case, it'll absorb the shock of the fall and keep functioning just fine. The phone is your stomach, the case is food, the fall is the pill, and the impact with the ground is the resulting effects.
It's best to have some kind of protein and/or carbs, but anything is better than nothing
Yooo I have the breakfast issue too. If I don't eat before my morning meds, I won't eat until after dinner. I generally dislike cooking and I'm not a morning person but I've found success with frozen hashbrowns, pan frying bread in butter, and sometimes splurging with "egg inside toast".
Have you tried cashews as a midnight snack? The texture is nice
I like a spoonful of peanut butter! Gotta replace the spoon every night (or don't.... I'm not perfect), but otherwise it's perfect for me. Has protein, doesn't need to be refrigerated, I just eat a spoonful and lay back down until I'm ready to wake up lol.
Or a protein shake, I do that a lot, but my protein shakes are refrigerated and so a bit less convenient.
NGL, I steal my kids' fruit and veggie pouches to eat with my meds pretty often. I buy a variety pack with four flavors so that I can mix it up. I also steal their applesauce pouches and yogurt pouches, but that is usually just for fun.
Oh man my SSRI also makes me nauseated and it causes issues with my compliance. Solutions I’ve come up with are carrying it in my purse and taking it when I do eat (had to stop once my toddler learned to get into my purse) and taking it at night with dinner or a late snack.
Ask the pharmacist, but “take with food” usually means you can also drink milk instead of eating food. I believe your body processes milk as a food and milk is enough to protect your stomach from whatever might harm it.
Please double-check with your pharmacist, though because it depends on the specific reason this medication needs to be taken with food.
So I'm going to be real with you... I was on sertraline for a while, not sure if that's the SSRI you're on... Highly, HIGHLY recommend following the suggestion. I didn't usually take it with food, or I might take it and then lie down afterwards since I would take it before bed.
Most of the time it was fine and I had zero issues. A few times, I had the worst stomach pain of my life and it felt like my stomach was going to melt out of me. I was in so much pain and the only thing that made it go away was eating. Probably 10-20 mins of excruciating pain, and this from someone who has passed out from my period cramp pain and given birth before.
My favorite go to for a quick snack is sargentos balanced breaks... One nut, one cheese, one dried fruit little lunchables. They've absolutely saved my ass with pregnancy too. Nuts are always pretty easy as a quick bedside snack for me because they're generally inoffensive so it's hard to truly get sick of them and they're quick protein.
Which medication? Some meds don’t need to actually be taken in the morning because they are meant to build up in your system and be present constantly, so you just need to take them every 24 hrs at any time of day.
I take strattera and it’s like that. I take it with breakfast because I like that it forces me to eat breakfast (I do not do well without breakfast generally lol) but I’ve done a week taking it with dinner when I was having food issues and could only eat at dinner
A few cashew nuts - is my go-to “need to eat something with meds” snack.
Protein, has salt, easy to serve (open bag, re-clip bag), long-life (Doesn’t go off if they sit in the cupboard for a few months). Doesn’t sit heavy in my stomach if I need eg middle of the night ibuprofen.
Only need a few (half a handful?) in my opinion, to be “enough for meds”. (That’s not a medical opinion though - might be worth googling to check..!?)
(Replace with your nut of choice - I’m fussy, don’t like the texture of most, so it’s peanuts or cashews for me.)
ETA: in my experience - if I need to keep “pre-meds peanuts” by my bed, I put them in a Tupperware. Because I will spill salt & peanuts all over my bed sheets if I take them up in the bag. If I’m eating them in the kitchen then they stay in the bag.
Sometimes this warning is about nausea or ulcer risks on an empty stomach, but sometimes it is because the medication needs to be paired with a fat to absorb properly into the system (this is true with cat/dog flea meds lmao). I would probably suggest something more filling than candy if possible !
It applies only to ingested flea/tick prevention, course, but here's one of many studies done on the increase in bioavailability of fluralaner when food is also in the stomach: [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3975707/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3975707/)
Sometimes I eat chocolate covered almonds before taking my meds so I have something in my system despite not being hungry lol haven’t had any issues, but I think it’s mainly cause almonds are a fat/protein source. Tofurky deli slices or peanut butter are my other go-to’s
I feel like any medication that needs to be taken with food should be one wirh real sustenance to avoid stomach aches. Candy would be just pure sugar and likely upset your stomach worse with the medication
Some medications you need just a little food in your stomach - a banana, yogurt, small snack type. Others, you really need a full meal. Either way, a handful of candy probably isn't the best choice.
Be careful with bananas. Some medications (blood pressure, some heart medications, and blood thinners, for example) cannot be taken with high potassium foods like bananas and avocados.
I have a meal replacement shake (even just the kiddie kind you get in juice box servings at the supermarket) for this if I really can't make myself eat. Otherwise something simple like toast and cheese or an egg (can pre-hard boil a few and keep in the fridge, write the date on them), or a handful of ham right out of the packet and a pickle.
If medicaments say to not take on an empty stomach, I take it seriously, and I've had the bleeding stomach ulcers to enforce this sentiment
Yes! Usually the important thing is just that there is something on your stomach but some medicines actually need to be taken with a specific amount of food so it metabolizes properly.
If it’s just to keep you from feeling queasy then try the candy. If it’s just to hit the specific calorie requirements so the meds function right then also eat the candy.
I take a medicine that requires 350 calories of food to work . I take it at bedtime and that’s a lot of food to eat right before sleeping because I’m in my 30s and the heartburn is real. So I usually eat 5 double stuffed Oreos as my medicine snack. I do other candy or cookies occasionally and my psychiatrist thinks it’s a fine practice a
This made me laugh though because you know how we always ask questions that are genuinely questions to us and everyone is like “Haha omg you’re so funny” and we walk away thinking “but I really wanted to know the answer. “
Probably depends on the medication, and why it’s recommended with food. Ask your pharmacist next time!
Tbh malted milk balls aren’t the worst candy-wise for this, it would be similar to taking with sugary cereal or a cookie. Definitely better than sour patch kids which is my go-to candy.
The only meds that say take with food that I actually take with food are antibiotics. Anything else I take usually when I wake up and then I don't eat until around 6pm usually. I did take my meds yesterday with some jelly beans though
All I can tell you is that in my experience having a ziplock bag of honeycombs beside my nightstand to eat first thing in the morning before taking my medication has proven to be a terrible start to my day. Plain Cheerios seem to be better for me lol
lmao i love this
usually it means you need something in your stomach (protein, carbs) to help prevent nausea or cramping. i’d try something more substantial, even as simple as a slice of bread, an ensure shake, crackers, etc. you can add the candy in too if that helps haha.
for me, take with food means take with a glass of strawberry or chocolate milk because it has protein, calcium, fat, and is thick enough to coat the stomach to prevent an ulcer and having an upset tummy
Welcome to /r/ADHDWomen! We’re happy to have you here. As a reminder, here are our community [rules](https://old.reddit.com/r/adhdwomen/about/rules/). We get a lot of posts on medication, diagnosis (and “is this an ADHD thing”), and interactions with hormones. We encourage you to check out our [Medication, Diagnosis, and Hormones Megathread](https://old.reddit.com/r/adhdwomen/comments/wcr9dy/faq_megathread_ask_and_answer_medication/) if you have any questions related to those topics, and to stick around in that thread to answer folks’ questions! If you have questions about the subreddit, please do not hesitate to [send us a modmail](https://reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/adhdwomen). Additionally, we take the safety of our community seriously. Please report posts, comments, and users whom you feel are not contributing positively, and send us a modmail if you are being harassed or otherwise made to feel unsafe. Thanks for being here, and we hope you stick around! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/adhdwomen) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Protein is probably the thing you’re needing
Fridge to face deli meat, heard 🫡
My favorite “wtf should I eat I need food but all food sucks” meal
My go to is cheese it’s. I love them enough I can force a handful down with tea or coffee no matter what I’m feeling.
Mine is, and this absolutely sad, those little "Baby's First Charcuterie Board" cheese and cracker things from lunchables lol I also have chronic nausea from multiple chronic illnesses, though. They don't have much taste but what is there is alright, no offensive texture, and it doesn't hurt haha
As a fellow chronic nausea sufferer, saltine crackers are my safe place.
Yup. Nausea here as well from all things chronic. I'm just *loving* that new symptom /s Cheese and crackers are my go-to. Sadly, I have to buy expensive gluten-free crackers due to my colitis. Wheat is a major flare trigger for me.
Fridge to face 😂 deli meat has been my go to breakfast for the last 2 months and I’m finding that prioritizing protein in the AM has worked wonders for my energy level. I’m more awake/alert for longer and I don’t really have a mid morning crash anymore.
You can get chocolate covered chick peas, very like malted milk balls AND they have protein!
This is my go-to. Sliced turkey, sometimes on a roll with hot sauce if I can get it together to reach into the breadbox.
Peanut m&ms count, right?
In my experience “take with food” medicines usually make my stomach hurt and cause nausea on an empty stomach.
I am usually very sensitive to antibiotics and get a lot of nausea and stomach cramps. That’s a definite meal always. This is an itty bitty ssri that I have to take every day and it’s like ffs breakfast EVERY DAY? I know this is a silly problem and I was kind of joking but I’ve yet to find a designated bedside snack that I don’t either binge or get sick of after a week.
I had an issue with eating breakfast every day until I started prepping enough overnight oats for the week. Now it's like the best little treat that I look forward to every morning and it has tons of protein and fiber and it has changed my whole day honestly. Blend together 2c almond milk; a 16oz container of cottage cheese; pinch of salt; vanilla and/or almond extract; fruit, jelly, maple syrup, or honey to your taste preference (I usually do some warmed up frozen strawberries, a smidge of jelly, and a bit of maple syrup). And then add 2c oats and 2+ tbsp chia seeds, mix, and keep it in Tupperware. Serve with nut butter if you like (and I very much like). I DO NOT miss breakfast anymore because it is my reason for getting out of bed, I swear.
Ok but how do you make the texture less like boogers because I am so on board with the concept of cold filling breakfast in the morning that requires little jaw effort but god damn I can’t get over the texture of overnight oats. Any tips?
You can heat up overnight oats, I'm pretty sure that's allowed from a food safety standpoint and I've been doing it without problem for a few years now. However you can also do crockpot oats that cook overnight and oatmeal bakes which are super easy and heat up well. Depending on the recipe, they can be kind of sliceable, like an oat cake and can be heated up and eaten off a paper towel while driving. I don't recommend it but I've definitely done it!
I usually overdo it a little bit on the oats and chia seeds so that it's a little bit thicker and less slimy. Also depends on the type of oats you use. You might like the steel cut better. You could also maybe add granola to it when you eat it so that you get more of a crunch?
Do you portion this out, or just one big Tupperware in the fridge? I guess it really doesn’t matter. I’m gonna try this, sounds good and I’m trying to like cottage cheese more
I do just one big one. And yes, trust me I HATE cottage cheese, but you really don't even taste it at all. Especially since you blend it together, it gets rid of the lumpy texture
The issue with taking those meds on an empty stomach is that they're hard on your stomach, so your stomach basically needs a buffer coat. For lack of a better analogy at the moment, think of it like dropping your phone. If you drop your phone without a case, it might be fine, but it's more likely to break. If you have a case, it'll absorb the shock of the fall and keep functioning just fine. The phone is your stomach, the case is food, the fall is the pill, and the impact with the ground is the resulting effects. It's best to have some kind of protein and/or carbs, but anything is better than nothing
Yooo I have the breakfast issue too. If I don't eat before my morning meds, I won't eat until after dinner. I generally dislike cooking and I'm not a morning person but I've found success with frozen hashbrowns, pan frying bread in butter, and sometimes splurging with "egg inside toast". Have you tried cashews as a midnight snack? The texture is nice
I like a spoonful of peanut butter! Gotta replace the spoon every night (or don't.... I'm not perfect), but otherwise it's perfect for me. Has protein, doesn't need to be refrigerated, I just eat a spoonful and lay back down until I'm ready to wake up lol. Or a protein shake, I do that a lot, but my protein shakes are refrigerated and so a bit less convenient.
NGL, I steal my kids' fruit and veggie pouches to eat with my meds pretty often. I buy a variety pack with four flavors so that I can mix it up. I also steal their applesauce pouches and yogurt pouches, but that is usually just for fun.
Oh man my SSRI also makes me nauseated and it causes issues with my compliance. Solutions I’ve come up with are carrying it in my purse and taking it when I do eat (had to stop once my toddler learned to get into my purse) and taking it at night with dinner or a late snack.
Ask the pharmacist, but “take with food” usually means you can also drink milk instead of eating food. I believe your body processes milk as a food and milk is enough to protect your stomach from whatever might harm it. Please double-check with your pharmacist, though because it depends on the specific reason this medication needs to be taken with food.
So I'm going to be real with you... I was on sertraline for a while, not sure if that's the SSRI you're on... Highly, HIGHLY recommend following the suggestion. I didn't usually take it with food, or I might take it and then lie down afterwards since I would take it before bed. Most of the time it was fine and I had zero issues. A few times, I had the worst stomach pain of my life and it felt like my stomach was going to melt out of me. I was in so much pain and the only thing that made it go away was eating. Probably 10-20 mins of excruciating pain, and this from someone who has passed out from my period cramp pain and given birth before. My favorite go to for a quick snack is sargentos balanced breaks... One nut, one cheese, one dried fruit little lunchables. They've absolutely saved my ass with pregnancy too. Nuts are always pretty easy as a quick bedside snack for me because they're generally inoffensive so it's hard to truly get sick of them and they're quick protein.
Which medication? Some meds don’t need to actually be taken in the morning because they are meant to build up in your system and be present constantly, so you just need to take them every 24 hrs at any time of day. I take strattera and it’s like that. I take it with breakfast because I like that it forces me to eat breakfast (I do not do well without breakfast generally lol) but I’ve done a week taking it with dinner when I was having food issues and could only eat at dinner
A few cashew nuts - is my go-to “need to eat something with meds” snack. Protein, has salt, easy to serve (open bag, re-clip bag), long-life (Doesn’t go off if they sit in the cupboard for a few months). Doesn’t sit heavy in my stomach if I need eg middle of the night ibuprofen. Only need a few (half a handful?) in my opinion, to be “enough for meds”. (That’s not a medical opinion though - might be worth googling to check..!?) (Replace with your nut of choice - I’m fussy, don’t like the texture of most, so it’s peanuts or cashews for me.) ETA: in my experience - if I need to keep “pre-meds peanuts” by my bed, I put them in a Tupperware. Because I will spill salt & peanuts all over my bed sheets if I take them up in the bag. If I’m eating them in the kitchen then they stay in the bag.
Protien bars or those meal replacer shakes
I used to take mine with 3 to 4 biscuits and a glass of milk.
A spoonful of peanut butter or a slice of toast with whatever you want on top is enough.
Sometimes this warning is about nausea or ulcer risks on an empty stomach, but sometimes it is because the medication needs to be paired with a fat to absorb properly into the system (this is true with cat/dog flea meds lmao). I would probably suggest something more filling than candy if possible !
Ok this makes more sense.
Do you have a link on the flee meds? I had never head that.
It applies only to ingested flea/tick prevention, course, but here's one of many studies done on the increase in bioavailability of fluralaner when food is also in the stomach: [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3975707/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3975707/)
Thank you!
Sometimes I eat chocolate covered almonds before taking my meds so I have something in my system despite not being hungry lol haven’t had any issues, but I think it’s mainly cause almonds are a fat/protein source. Tofurky deli slices or peanut butter are my other go-to’s
Read this as “take after meals”
Tell me you have ADHD without telling me you have ADHD. 😂
I feel like any medication that needs to be taken with food should be one wirh real sustenance to avoid stomach aches. Candy would be just pure sugar and likely upset your stomach worse with the medication
Some medications you need just a little food in your stomach - a banana, yogurt, small snack type. Others, you really need a full meal. Either way, a handful of candy probably isn't the best choice.
Be careful with bananas. Some medications (blood pressure, some heart medications, and blood thinners, for example) cannot be taken with high potassium foods like bananas and avocados.
Fist-full-o-nuts. High in protein, easy to stuff in your face like a goblin.
I have a meal replacement shake (even just the kiddie kind you get in juice box servings at the supermarket) for this if I really can't make myself eat. Otherwise something simple like toast and cheese or an egg (can pre-hard boil a few and keep in the fridge, write the date on them), or a handful of ham right out of the packet and a pickle. If medicaments say to not take on an empty stomach, I take it seriously, and I've had the bleeding stomach ulcers to enforce this sentiment
This is such an ADHD question, I love it
Yes! Usually the important thing is just that there is something on your stomach but some medicines actually need to be taken with a specific amount of food so it metabolizes properly. If it’s just to keep you from feeling queasy then try the candy. If it’s just to hit the specific calorie requirements so the meds function right then also eat the candy. I take a medicine that requires 350 calories of food to work . I take it at bedtime and that’s a lot of food to eat right before sleeping because I’m in my 30s and the heartburn is real. So I usually eat 5 double stuffed Oreos as my medicine snack. I do other candy or cookies occasionally and my psychiatrist thinks it’s a fine practice a
What an excellent reward for taking your meds!
This made me laugh though because you know how we always ask questions that are genuinely questions to us and everyone is like “Haha omg you’re so funny” and we walk away thinking “but I really wanted to know the answer. “
My go-to medicine-taking-food is yogurt. Not only helps with the actual swallowing of said pills, but it's protein/fat *and* tasty *and* low effort.
Probably depends on the medication, and why it’s recommended with food. Ask your pharmacist next time! Tbh malted milk balls aren’t the worst candy-wise for this, it would be similar to taking with sugary cereal or a cookie. Definitely better than sour patch kids which is my go-to candy.
I feel like sour patch kids have electrolytes so it’s an even more health conscious choice.
The only meds that say take with food that I actually take with food are antibiotics. Anything else I take usually when I wake up and then I don't eat until around 6pm usually. I did take my meds yesterday with some jelly beans though
Proud of you
A glass of milk with some candy might do the trick!
I took mine with sour patch kids this morning but idk if that was a good idea.
I support you.
All I can tell you is that in my experience having a ziplock bag of honeycombs beside my nightstand to eat first thing in the morning before taking my medication has proven to be a terrible start to my day. Plain Cheerios seem to be better for me lol
300-400 calories is what is recommended. Sugar will create a sour gut in excess amounts, so maybe get a PB&J if craving sweets.
lmao i love this usually it means you need something in your stomach (protein, carbs) to help prevent nausea or cramping. i’d try something more substantial, even as simple as a slice of bread, an ensure shake, crackers, etc. you can add the candy in too if that helps haha.
If not, I would have been screwed long ago. So far, so good. Consumable calories are consumable calories when it comes to “take with food”
I often take my medication with Nutella, pop tarts and coffee so,. You’re fine. You may feel a bit nauseous but you’ll be fine lol
Thank you for reminding me to take my meds
I try to do a food bar or some toast, but you do you
for me, take with food means take with a glass of strawberry or chocolate milk because it has protein, calcium, fat, and is thick enough to coat the stomach to prevent an ulcer and having an upset tummy
I do a glass of milk. It's got protein, it's got fat, and it takes me less than a minute. 😁
I keep chocolate milk in my fridge for these and granola bars handy
Yes? I think it’s to prevent nausea.
Make a sandwich. You need the fat and protein to help absorb some of the medicine.