I suffer from Bipolar disorder and while I generally have a good grasp on it, there are days where I will not get out of bed or just stay in the shower all day. I see a counselor and we sometimes tweak my medications, but regardless I end up crashing eventually. It's lasted a bit over a week at most.

I am not worried about missing doses of any medications, as I've always been able to continue taking them every day, but I am not always able to feed myself. Sometimes I'll just sleep through hunger pains, or I will not feel them for a day or two.

A friend of mine checked up on me during one of these episodes. I had energy but every part of my body felt sore. I had no desire to eat, no appetite, it seemed just too troublesome to pour cereal or scramble some eggs. They brought over a big box of Ensure and left it in the fridge for me.

I have been drinking these and trying to get myself up every now and then and the soreness went away after a few days. Sometimes I can eat a bowl of cereal, but I never finish the whole thing. I've started eating burgers again though, yogurt sometimes, and drinking 2% milk instead of the 1/2% I used to drink. In short, I'm starting to get back out of this.

Before I became positive, while I knew this wasn't healthy, it didn't seem to effect me the way it does now. I am taking Atripla and have responded very well to it, but am aware that I need to take better care of myself, including my diet. Are there any simple and healthy things I can keep around to eat should this happen again?

Afterthought: I owe my friend about $40. That Ensure turns out to be expensive!

Ensure is full of corn syrup and sugar. I hate the stuff unless that is all you can consume.

I am very lazy most of the time when it comes to making meals. These are a few tips for people who do not have energy to cook:

- Boil eggs and keep them in the fridge for quick snacks - Buy tuna canned in olive oil. You can eat it out of the can. - Buy peanut butter and 12 grain bread. Make yourself a fast and easy sandwich. -Buy a large container of whey protein that mixes easily with milk. I love Isopure since it is so light. Buy frozen fruit in large bags at the grocery store and make shakes with fruit and whey. Add ground flaxseed for fiber. -Low fat cheese with multigrain crakers will give you good calories and calcium -Buy lean ground turkey and lightly cook it with olive oil, spices and add a container of tomato spagetty sauce. Freeze it in small containers for later consumption. - Make oatmeal with milk, whey protein, almonds, and honey. Freeze it in small containers so that you can have it ready for quick breakfasts. - I love unsweetened low fat yogurt (the ones made by Greek companies are always goo). I add nuts, honey, and fruit to it. - I make large pots of wild rice and mix it with lean ground beef (or the turkey I mentioned before). Believe it or not, rice mixed with tuna is also great, fast, tasty and full of protein and fiber. - I have mixed nuts in my office, car, and by the bed if I get hungry.

Etc, etc...

I hope this helps

Nelson