Delayed Gastric Emptying (Gastroparesis)

[Troy]

I've had problems with my digestion for over 10 years now but it was only recently in the past week that I began to experience gastropresis. Like every other symptoms of my Dysautonomia my body functions are always either too slow or too fast and this fluctuates from day to day. I had two tests for "Gastric Emptying Study" and the first one came back abnormally slow whilst the second time I had the test it was abnormally fast.

This week things took a turn for the worse and I found myself suddenly eperiencing severe gastroperesis where the food in your stomach begins to spoil and ferment becoming rather toxic and causing you to vomit and feel sick. That day I had a light breakfast consisting of eggs and toast and even that made me sick as I was unable to digest it, I didn't eat anything else for the rest of the day but even 10 hours later I was still vomiting chunks of undigested egg because my stomach would not empty the contents to the next stage.

Even my medication absorbtion was delayed and took up to 4 hours to take effect because of the gastroperesis. When I went to hospital I was treated horribly and kept waiting for 12 hours in the waiting room without any without food or medication and just vomiting stomach acid. Then eventually after 12 hours when I was seen they gave me intrevenious Stemetil (Prochlorperazine) which is an antipsychotic which helps relieve nausea but that gave me severe adverse reactions unlike anything I've experienced before and I found myself with symptoms of dystonia, my eyes were twicthing and unable to focus, severe restlessness and agitation, restless leg syndrome and dysphoria.

I coudnt sit still in the hospital bed and felt restless and suffacated. I ended up pulling off all the leads for the blood pressure and heart rate monitor off my arm and chest and jumped out of bed. When the heart rate monitor alarm went off the doctor rushed in and I tried explaining I had to go home quickly because I felt really weird, restless and detached from reality but even then he failed to realize teh way I felt was all because of the high dose of anti-pyschotic medication he gave me. Once I got home and checked the medication online I realised the adverse effects caused by the Prochlorperazine fit my symptoms exactly.

What do you guys suggest as a good well tolerated mediction to increase the delayed rate of my digestion when I expereince gastroperesis again?

[ramakentesh]

Have you talked to your doctor (our Doctor LOL) about this and how its connected to POTS?

[Dizzysillyak]

Natural calm, magnesium citrate, in warm water works everytime for me .. I just discovered how

well this works after getting h pylori. H pylori caused gastroparesis this time but celiac disease

caused it one other time.

A good probiotic or kefir or yogurt may help too. Fresh fermented cabbage would too.

I tried the meds for this but they made my stomach spasm so much that I had to stop them.

I was taking 1/4 tsp prior to each meal when this was at it's worse. I needed the water to be as

warm as I could stand it too. Now I only take this at night. This can cause diarhea so watch for that

and reduce your dose as needed.

Tc ..d

[Troy]

Have you talked to your doctor (our Doctor LOL) about this and how its connected to POTS?

I haven't spoken to our doctor about this yet as it just started this week but the thought of waiting several months to discuss it with him also deterred me from the idea. Instead I left a message with my Gastroentologist who I thought might be better suited to deal with this specific problem, but he hasn't returned my call and I am starting to doubt his going to get back to me

[Troy]

Natural calm, magnesium citrate, in warm water works everytime for me .. I just discovered how

well this works after getting h pylori. H pylori caused gastroparesis this time but celiac disease

caused it one other time.

A good probiotic or kefir or yogurt may help too. Fresh fermented cabbage would too.

Tc ..d

I am suprised you said "H pylori caused gastroparesis" because I didnt realise it could be triggered from other factors but now that you mention it, last week I got food poisoning and ended up in hospital, then the next day this gastroperesis started, I should have made the connection but I just didn't think it was possible to get one from the other.

Excellent advice on the probiotic, I used to buy some good sources of probiotics but I haven't bothered lately and didn't realise its benefits on gastroperesis, so thanks for your excellent suggestions.

What about medications that are used for increasing gastric emptying like Maxalon (Metoclopramide) or Motilium (Domperidone), any of those well tolerated for those of us with POTS ?

[mwise]

I have Gastroparesis and take Domperidone 20mg before meals and bedtime which works well for me along with Mestinon 60mg 3 times a day that is also supposed to help with motility. I feel the Domperidone works the best. I get it compounded in the US with a prescription. I have also gotten it from Canada too. It is very expensive and not covered by my insurance. A diet low in fat also helps for Gastroparesis. PM me if you want to more specifics.

[Dizzysillyak]

That's interesting that you connected your gastroparesis to bad bacteria too. I wonder how often

this happens. My digestion is still slow from the antibiotic treatment but I'm still working on rebuilding

my gut ecology. I've only been off these for a few days.

Fortunately, the natural calm is working great for this so I won't need any meds. Kow .. I can't remember the name of the med my gastroenterogist gave me for this. All I remember was that the muscle spasms were worse than

the gastroparesis.

Tc .. D

Ps. Are you gluten free ? There's a connection to dystonia in some people.

[Maiysa]

I started juicing and also vitamix..blending, but only in the afternoon since my blood sugar is too sensitive in the morning. I use spinach, quarter size of ginger, carrots, kale, half an apple and pear, also on occasion I add a few papaya seeds because they have enzymes that help me break down my food. I also have to do my own stomach massages a few days a week. I just rub along the path of the intestines for just a few minutes at night. All the above have helped me so much. I'm not completely cured, but my life in this area is much better. I also had to cut out gluten, that was so hard, but there are lots of good alternatives now days for breads. But you have to ask your doc about ginger since it can be a contraindication for certain medications. It can thin the blood. But the ginger has helped my inflammation also. I tried all the medications and I had reactions to them, so had no choice. Good luck.

[anna]

I was quite shocked when I found out that the Norvovirus was now being noted as one probable cause of idiopathic Gastropererisis. This virus is also known as winter/summer vomiting bug, it is the most common virus known in the food preparation industry, and causes most of the general "food poising" outbreaks, but it tends not to get reported that much as most people just think they have picked up a stomach flu. I must admit I do think this nasty little bug does have a lot to answer too.

[Dizzysillyak]

Thanks for posting about the norovirus. I need to look this up again. I live near a cruise line

port and at one point noroviruses were a common problem. We typically see cruise ship employees

and tourists in groups at the mall and walmart ...

[Elegiamore]

I take protonix or prevacid. Yeah, that doesn't move food through your stomach, but it keeps me from throwing up. The side effects found with motility drugs were big no-no's for me.

Gastroparesis in POTs just seems to me to be the effect of an adrenaline rush (or constant rush in many of our cases) - blood is pulled from the digestive system and our food just sits there. If this is the case (and the easiest explanation) then how would juicing help? For me, juice tears my stomach to pieces - glad it helps somebody.

I have found that in my case, the better the NE control, the less gastroparesis (have been tested and do have it).

[Troy]

I am considering reporting the hospital for making me wait for 12 hours without any food, medication or treatment. Do you guys think a 12 hour wait is a bit excessive and I should pursue this matter, I mean if I had not complained and demanded to speak witha doctor they would have made me wait even longer, who knows maybe 13, 14 , even 16 hours? Has anyone else waited 12 hours before? am i over reacting or is it as ridicilious as I think it is? Everyone else that was there before me got seen and then everyone who came in after me got seen, I was the only person left waiting for 12 hours, the longest any other person had to wait that day was appraently only 5 hours so i was singled out