What Next?

[s-pot]

Hi All

Ive been on a trail to rule things out to find whats causing my daily wretching/vomiting (two years and counting now!)

So far....my BP is stable (ttt last week) so my POTS is just that...tachycardia (I thought maybe i was vomiting/wretching when bp dropped)

Ive been taking my blood sugars regularly and so far no hypos...on fasting or 1-2 hrs after eating.

But after ruling these out, its cleared the woods as they say and im seeing a pattern. Im wretching/vomiting 10-15mins after eating but not after every meal.

Im now wondering if im allergic to something im eating/ingredients in food and its nothing to do with dysautonomia.

Any advice on Whats the best way to go about testing/finding out exactly what it is?? Theres so much stuff out there on allergy testing i dont know where id start!

[jangle]

I had the same problem when I was first struck with POTS. About 0-10 minutes after eating I would vomit. This lasted for about 3 years until it went away for whatever reason.

I don't think it has anything to do with allergies as in my case I would vomit to anything, even if I drank enough. I wish I could tell you what was going on, I assume it's some sort of autonomic nerve dysfunction that won't let you keep the food down.

Try eating fruits, they're a little easier to hold down. Also keep the portions small. Hopefully this will pass for you soon.

[janiedelite]

Have you done a GI motility study? Perhaps you have delayed gastric emptying?

[tinkerbella]

I took MILK out of my diet & was told to eat 8 times a day, "SMALL MEALS". I still get nausea, but it's worse when I eat more food.

This may sound weird , but I keep making a hiccuping sound. My doc said it was my body wanting to vomit. I don't like to do that

unless it really has to happen. Got a script for a new nausea med, as the last one was taken off the market, Hope my

insurance covers this one. Sometimes I'd just rather drink fluids like smoothies ~

[Dizzysillyak]

Have you tried eating bland foods for awhile ? Typically, this means bland baked chicken or fish, peas,

asparagus, applle sauce and pears.

How about eating homemade baby foods ? Or making smoothies ? Rice protein is typically easiest

to tolerate ..

Avoiding all wheat, gluten, corn, soy, dairy, chemicals and anything you already know bothers you

is also good place to start. This is what my doctor had me do when everything was going thru me.

It may not seem to help right away but should in time. Then you can add more foods back in..

Btw .. From what I've seen, the inability to handle any foods is related to celiac disease.

Tc .. D

[s-pot]

Thanks Everyone!

Thankful...I had a small bowel follow through last year and it showed nothing!

I'm going to try to start cutting out some foods and see where it gets me......but cant cut out everything so dont know where to start with it! I have a history of a pretty severe eating disorder which im fully recovered from now but any strict 'diet' stuff could send me astray...Ive been reluctant to deal with this by cutting foodstuffs out of my diet for this reason. Was hoping i could identify the problem another way!

But as they say...If Needs Must!!

Jangle! Thanks for your imput.....i have a feeling that I may not find out the answer to this either...im hoping it will stop soon thou, two years and counting now, its gettin frustrating! It doesnt seem to follow any pattern or particular foods.

Bella Mia : Large meals defo makes me worse too! im terrible with keeping a good routine, but small frequent snacks seems to be the way to go. What nausea med are you on? I never feel nauseous thou...i just dry wretch all of a sudden. starting to wonder if I went on some stomach antacid would it help ...oh my poor brain...lotsa wondering and never any answers!

[Dizzysillyak]

I've never had an eating disorder so I can't relate but I understand your concern.

I was accused of having one when gluten was causing me to lose weight.

Fwiw, I'm on the wahls diet, paleo (mostly veggies) + seaweed + fermented foods and I'm gaining

weight. For me, eating an avocado and small handful of raw nuts helps keep my weight up.

It's not so much about eliminating foods as it is about eating different foods. If you want processed gf

foods, most grocery stores carry these. Whole foods has a great selection.

Walmart has some now too tho ..

Depending on your current diet, substituting your gluten filled foods for gluten free foods may

be the easiest way to go. Or you could eliminate dairy first. Whichever food is easiest for you.

Tc .. D

[janiedelite]

It's good that you had the small bowel follow-through. I've had that as well when Mayo thought I may have an obstruction.

To clarify, a GI motility study is when you eat a radioactive meal (often an egg and bread), and they take pictures at timed intervals over a few hours or days to follow the meal through your GI tract. If your stomach (or like my case, small bowel) is slowed, this is the test that would detect it.

There are medications like domperidone or erythromycin that can help treat motility issues.

I'm certainly not saying that you need this testing, but that your symptoms did sound similar to the symptoms of someone with gastroparesis. Best wishes!