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How long can a person survive without eating?
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I have nothing constructive to contribute, but can say that I (barely) survived on nothing by mouth (no food or drink, hydration and sugar by vein) till Kingdom Come for about a week while we were correcting pancreatitis/partial bowel obstruction.2
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singingflutelady wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »singingflutelady wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »Athena98501 wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »Being in ketosis is not harmful, and I doubt they'd even monitor it for that specifically.
Not having nutrition for that long while pregnant is, and I don't think any hospital would do that -- they have too many concerns about liability, as well as it just making no sense at all.
I mean, after four months, wouldn't she have died from some sort of nutritional deficiency if nothing else?Athena98501 wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »and if in ketosis for that long couldnt a person end up with ketoacidosis even without having diabetes?
If she had an elevated cortisol level, probably. Not before she died from the electrolyte imbalance, though.
For the record (other posters), I wasn't implying that ketosis is harmful, merely that it would is have been an effect of the treatment she described, and she'd failed to mention it.
ketosis isnt harmful for the most part no but from what ive read when in ketosis from starvation it can lead to ketoacidososis which is NOT a good thing even if you arent diabetic.
True. People with ketosis from starvation, however, aren't being infused with sodium alone, which would greatly accelerate the electrolyte imbalance. The sorts of medical professionals who would subject a patient to such a treatment are straight out of the Nurses Who Kill tv show.
I AGREE and those people should lose their license to practice medicine. I know anytime I ended up in the hospital due to dehydration(from flu or pneumonia) they always gave me glucose as well as saline.I wasnt pregnant either.
For me in the er they run saline or ringer right away and after blood work add whatever they need to fix deficiencies (ie electrolytes)
yeah but for me usually when I get dehydrated I end up needing glucose even though I dont have insulin issues(could be due to the dehydration) but I am not in the ER when this is done. Im usually admitted because my flu or pneumonia is so bad. but havent had either one since 2003/2004 thankfully
I go to the er just for dehydration because I have an ileostomy (fluid is absorbed in the colon which I don't have so fluid balance is difficult. Have to drink more as I lose more. High output days I can lose 2+ liters from my stoma) and haven't been admitted yet for it thankfully. Just pump me up with fluids and go home.
ahh ok well I can see why for you the er works. makes sense0 -
wackyfunster wrote: »In case no one has posted this yet: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495396/pdf/postmedj00315-0056.pdf
TL;DR: 382 days with no food for morbidly obese man under medical supervision. As long as you get electrolytes, you can survive without food until you reach essential levels of body fat (2-4% for men, 10-12% for women).
Yeah, I asked OP in about the fifth post or so if she was morbidly obese. She would still need to be supplemented.
Saline drip wouldn't do it alone.
Regardless, she mad and hasn't been back.8 -
MinuitMinuet wrote: »@TavistockToad@RuNaRoUnDaFiEld 40678514 wrote:MinuitMinuet wrote: »Had the same issue with my first pregnancy but wasn't hospitalized. I went from a 160 to 128 in a couple of months. Couldn't keep anything down. The doctor told me I was going to kill my baby if I didn't eat and gave me nausea medication (which I never took.) I forced my self to nibble food and fight the urge to run to the bathroom. It didn't end till second semester. I was so thin by then that strangers on the street thought I was homeless and would offer me food...which only made me gag and run to a trash can at just the suggestion. Sucked. An ultra sound at a specialist revealed my son would be born only 4 pounds. He was 8.6 pounds.
As for how long you can go without food? I think it would depend on your body size. Jesus went 40 days. I went nearly 2 months while pregnant. I starved myself to lose weight after my second baby was born. That was about 2 months also but I was over 200pounds then. But 3 weeks I think would be average.
Why on earth would you do that?
Seriously, they told you you could KILL your unborn child yet you didn't take the medication. I can't wrap my head around a parent doing that.
Focused on where you didn't take the doctors advice is more like it. Really sounds like a bad idea regardless.
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MinuitMinuet wrote: »@TavistockToad@RuNaRoUnDaFiEld 40678514 wrote:MinuitMinuet wrote: »Had the same issue with my first pregnancy but wasn't hospitalized. I went from a 160 to 128 in a couple of months. Couldn't keep anything down. The doctor told me I was going to kill my baby if I didn't eat and gave me nausea medication (which I never took.) I forced my self to nibble food and fight the urge to run to the bathroom. It didn't end till second semester. I was so thin by then that strangers on the street thought I was homeless and would offer me food...which only made me gag and run to a trash can at just the suggestion. Sucked. An ultra sound at a specialist revealed my son would be born only 4 pounds. He was 8.6 pounds.
As for how long you can go without food? I think it would depend on your body size. Jesus went 40 days. I went nearly 2 months while pregnant. I starved myself to lose weight after my second baby was born. That was about 2 months also but I was over 200pounds then. But 3 weeks I think would be average.
Why on earth would you do that?
Seriously, they told you you could KILL your unborn child yet you didn't take the medication. I can't wrap my head around a parent doing that.
Forcing your self to eat doesn't in most cases stop hyperemesis gravidarum. It just gives you something to throw up.
As a parent, no way would I not have taken the medication to give my child the best chance.19 -
MinuitMinuet wrote: »@TavistockToad@RuNaRoUnDaFiEld 40678514 wrote:MinuitMinuet wrote: »Had the same issue with my first pregnancy but wasn't hospitalized. I went from a 160 to 128 in a couple of months. Couldn't keep anything down. The doctor told me I was going to kill my baby if I didn't eat and gave me nausea medication (which I never took.) I forced my self to nibble food and fight the urge to run to the bathroom. It didn't end till second semester. I was so thin by then that strangers on the street thought I was homeless and would offer me food...which only made me gag and run to a trash can at just the suggestion. Sucked. An ultra sound at a specialist revealed my son would be born only 4 pounds. He was 8.6 pounds.
As for how long you can go without food? I think it would depend on your body size. Jesus went 40 days. I went nearly 2 months while pregnant. I starved myself to lose weight after my second baby was born. That was about 2 months also but I was over 200pounds then. But 3 weeks I think would be average.
Why on earth would you do that?
Seriously, they told you you could KILL your unborn child yet you didn't take the medication. I can't wrap my head around a parent doing that.
@MinuitMinuet why did you tag me in that?0 -
@TavistockToad c-40678487 wrote:RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »Sorry but this is BS
No-one in their right mind is just going to lie there for 4 months letting a hospital risk their unborn childs life. You would have to be extremely sick in the head to allow that to happen.
there was a second poster who refused to take the anti nausea medication they were given when pregnant and lost an unhealthy amount of weight....
there's nowt as queer as folk.
To kill two birds with one stone.15 -
RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »MinuitMinuet wrote: »@TavistockToad@RuNaRoUnDaFiEld 40678514 wrote:MinuitMinuet wrote: »Had the same issue with my first pregnancy but wasn't hospitalized. I went from a 160 to 128 in a couple of months. Couldn't keep anything down. The doctor told me I was going to kill my baby if I didn't eat and gave me nausea medication (which I never took.) I forced my self to nibble food and fight the urge to run to the bathroom. It didn't end till second semester. I was so thin by then that strangers on the street thought I was homeless and would offer me food...which only made me gag and run to a trash can at just the suggestion. Sucked. An ultra sound at a specialist revealed my son would be born only 4 pounds. He was 8.6 pounds.
As for how long you can go without food? I think it would depend on your body size. Jesus went 40 days. I went nearly 2 months while pregnant. I starved myself to lose weight after my second baby was born. That was about 2 months also but I was over 200pounds then. But 3 weeks I think would be average.
Why on earth would you do that?
Seriously, they told you you could KILL your unborn child yet you didn't take the medication. I can't wrap my head around a parent doing that.
Forcing your self to eat doesn't in most cases stop hyperemesis gravidarum. It just gives you something to throw up.
As a parent, no way would I not have taken the medication to give my child the best chance.
And the part where I forced myself not to run to the bathroom and throw up..
What does anti-nausea medication do? Stops the nausea so you can eat.
What does eating do? Nourish your body.
I don't like medication. But I'm also a good mother so I compromised.. I ate regardless of the discomfort it caused me.. thus resulting in a healthy 8 pound bouncing baby boy (who is now 18 and in college).. So don't presume to know me and judge what kind of a person I am. Leave judging to God.
I had zero issues with my second pregnancy and did everything "right." Result? A beautiful LOUD 6 pound baby girl born on her due date but needed oxygen her entire first year of life, had a heart murmur, acid reflux, anemia, and apparently an issue with her thermostat..(hypothalamus).. Guess doing everything right and messing up the first time doesn't guarantee nothing.26 -
MinuitMinuet wrote: »@TavistockToad c-40678487 wrote:RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »Sorry but this is BS
No-one in their right mind is just going to lie there for 4 months letting a hospital risk their unborn childs life. You would have to be extremely sick in the head to allow that to happen.
there was a second poster who refused to take the anti nausea medication they were given when pregnant and lost an unhealthy amount of weight....
there's nowt as queer as folk.
To kill two birds with one stone.
Learning how to quote would be useful...11 -
TavistockToad wrote: »MinuitMinuet wrote: »@TavistockToad c-40678487 wrote:RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »Sorry but this is BS
No-one in their right mind is just going to lie there for 4 months letting a hospital risk their unborn childs life. You would have to be extremely sick in the head to allow that to happen.
there was a second poster who refused to take the anti nausea medication they were given when pregnant and lost an unhealthy amount of weight....
there's nowt as queer as folk.
To kill two birds with one stone.
Learning how to quote would be useful...
As would deductive reasoning.18 -
wackyfunster wrote: »In case no one has posted this yet: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495396/pdf/postmedj00315-0056.pdf
TL;DR: 382 days with no food for morbidly obese man under medical supervision. As long as you get electrolytes, you can survive without food until you reach essential levels of body fat (2-4% for men, 10-12% for women).
Would that also support the growth of another human being inside her? I certainly wouldn't think so. Not sure if the OP was morbidly obese either.2 -
I have fasted from food for religious reasons. I went 16 days on ONLY water during one fast. On another fast I went 14 days on only water follow by 12 more days on 4-8oz of either orange or grape juice a day.4
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cwolfman13 wrote: »wackyfunster wrote: »In case no one has posted this yet: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495396/pdf/postmedj00315-0056.pdf
TL;DR: 382 days with no food for morbidly obese man under medical supervision. As long as you get electrolytes, you can survive without food until you reach essential levels of body fat (2-4% for men, 10-12% for women).
Would that also support the growth of another human being inside her? I certainly wouldn't think so. Not sure if the OP was morbidly obese either.
She looks it in her picture, but you are correct. Not only would it not support the growth of an unborn baby, but not supplementing a fair number of nutrients would cause birth defects, and so would not be done by medical professionals. There is a good reason that women are strongly encouraged to take a multivitamin formulated specifically for pregnancy throughout said pregnancy.6 -
My son has a grey line that runs through his teeth because I took antibiotics at one phase of my pregnancy. One teeny, tiny deficiency.2
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Athena98501 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »wackyfunster wrote: »In case no one has posted this yet: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495396/pdf/postmedj00315-0056.pdf
TL;DR: 382 days with no food for morbidly obese man under medical supervision. As long as you get electrolytes, you can survive without food until you reach essential levels of body fat (2-4% for men, 10-12% for women).
Would that also support the growth of another human being inside her? I certainly wouldn't think so. Not sure if the OP was morbidly obese either.
She looks it in her picture, but you are correct. Not only would it not support the growth of an unborn baby, but not supplementing a fair number of nutrients would cause birth defects, and so would not be done by medical professionals. There is a good reason that women are strongly encouraged to take a multivitamin formulated specifically for pregnancy throughout said pregnancy.
Multi-vitamins with folic acid are what health care professionals encourage women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant to take to help prevent birth defects to the brain and spinal cord. Many women have severe morning (all day for many) sickness. I did through the first trimester into the beginning of the second tri. I was overweight, but not obese and lost weight during that time. It really is not that unusual, and I gained about 17 pounds after that.
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Regardless, she mad and hasn't been back.[/quote]
I think she's not back cause two medical professionals called her out on the facts of her "story."11 -
missysippy930 wrote: »Athena98501 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »wackyfunster wrote: »In case no one has posted this yet: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495396/pdf/postmedj00315-0056.pdf
TL;DR: 382 days with no food for morbidly obese man under medical supervision. As long as you get electrolytes, you can survive without food until you reach essential levels of body fat (2-4% for men, 10-12% for women).
Would that also support the growth of another human being inside her? I certainly wouldn't think so. Not sure if the OP was morbidly obese either.
She looks it in her picture, but you are correct. Not only would it not support the growth of an unborn baby, but not supplementing a fair number of nutrients would cause birth defects, and so would not be done by medical professionals. There is a good reason that women are strongly encouraged to take a multivitamin formulated specifically for pregnancy throughout said pregnancy.
Multi-vitamins with folic acid are what health care professionals encourage women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant to take to help prevent birth defects to the brain and spinal cord. Many women have severe morning (all day for many) sickness. I did through the first trimester into the beginning of the second tri. I was overweight, but not obese and lost weight during that time. It really is not that unusual, and I gained about 17 pounds after that.
Folic acid was the only one I knew of specifically as well, but a lack of almost any specific nutrient can cause various birth defects (some fatal). A lack of protein can too, and dietary fat is well known to be very detrimental to brain development from the get-go, and up through the years.
https://healthrow.net/top-birth-defects-due-to-pregnancy-diet/3 -
Lol. I was unusually tired when I wrote that last one. In my last statement, I meant to say *an inadequate amount* of dietary fat. Wow. Oops.1
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missysippy930 wrote: »Athena98501 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »wackyfunster wrote: »In case no one has posted this yet: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495396/pdf/postmedj00315-0056.pdf
TL;DR: 382 days with no food for morbidly obese man under medical supervision. As long as you get electrolytes, you can survive without food until you reach essential levels of body fat (2-4% for men, 10-12% for women).
Would that also support the growth of another human being inside her? I certainly wouldn't think so. Not sure if the OP was morbidly obese either.
She looks it in her picture, but you are correct. Not only would it not support the growth of an unborn baby, but not supplementing a fair number of nutrients would cause birth defects, and so would not be done by medical professionals. There is a good reason that women are strongly encouraged to take a multivitamin formulated specifically for pregnancy throughout said pregnancy.
Multi-vitamins with folic acid are what health care professionals encourage women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant to take to help prevent birth defects to the brain and spinal cord. Many women have severe morning (all day for many) sickness. I did through the first trimester into the beginning of the second tri. I was overweight, but not obese and lost weight during that time. It really is not that unusual, and I gained about 17 pounds after that.
Severe morning sickness is a world apart from eating not a single solitary item nor any drip/line fed nutrition for 4 whole months. Throw in pregnancy and, uh, no.4 -
RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »MinuitMinuet wrote: »Had the same issue with my first pregnancy but wasn't hospitalized. I went from a 160 to 128 in a couple of months. Couldn't keep anything down. The doctor told me I was going to kill my baby if I didn't eat and gave me nausea medication (which I never took.) I forced my self to nibble food and fight the urge to run to the bathroom. It didn't end till second semester. I was so thin by then that strangers on the street thought I was homeless and would offer me food...which only made me gag and run to a trash can at just the suggestion. Sucked. An ultra sound at a specialist revealed my son would be born only 4 pounds. He was 8.6 pounds.
As for how long you can go without food? I think it would depend on your body size. Jesus went 40 days. I went nearly 2 months while pregnant. I starved myself to lose weight after my second baby was born. That was about 2 months also but I was over 200pounds then. But 3 weeks I think would be average.
Why on earth would you do that?
Seriously, they told you you could KILL your unborn child yet you didn't take the medication. I can't wrap my head around a parent doing that.
Thalidomide. It used to be prescribed for nausea and had devastating effects on the unborn child. I know it is not prescribed during pregnancy anymore but the physiological effect of the past still continues.
It is unethical to test drugs on pregnant women so we still do not know for sure the effects of drugs on the unborn child until later. Some people will take a risk and some won't, sometimes the risk is very, very small and changes depending on the trimester but it is for the parents to weigh up those risks for themselves.11
This discussion has been closed.
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