Delayed Gastric Emptying Questions

[LastUnicornLady]

Hello POTSies with gastric motility issues! I know that delayed gastric emptying is common with POTS, and have been a bit confused... Does this affect the rest of your digestive system, or just the stomach? Is constipation involved at all? Because I'm thinking I actually may have issues with this, but I don't have constipation... Hopefully this isn't too weird for anyone. I'm just desperate for some answers!

[LastUnicornLady]

And also, any tips for dealing with/controlling this would be much appreciated. I've lost several pounds due to lack of appetite and nausea after meals, and I don't really have any weight to spare.

[Libby]

Not too weird! There's not really such a thing as TMI around here.

Gastroparesis nausea can be one of the worst symptoms, imo. There was a stretch of time where I would have nausea after every single meal I ate. Sometimes it wasn't too bad and I was able to ignore it, but sometimes I felt so awful I was curled up and crying. About 2 hours after I started feeling nauseous, I would feel my stomach suddenly start to churn again and within minutes I would feel fine. About twice a month, I would end up vomiting before my stomach started digesting again. Which meant (sorry for the grossness!) that it wasn't really hard to tell exactly what I had for dinner.

Personally, I did have other GI symptoms. I had diarrhea for a solid 2 weeks before the onset of the GP, and then off and on from there. Everyone's different though. I don't believe that you have to have constipation or diarrhea to have GP. It's just something that can happen along with it.

I went to see a gastroenterologist and he told me that there's not a lot to be done for GP, unfortunately. Diet modifications are a large part of the treatment. If you google gastroparesis diet, you'll find a more detailed explanation, but in general carbs are your friend and raw fruits and veggies are to be avoided. The fiber makes them too hard to digest and they end up sitting in your stomach for an absurd amount of time. Making them into smoothies can sometimes help, making them easier to digest. For me, fruit smoothies were great and I digested those fine. If I stuck any veggies in the smoothie though, I was in for a world of pain. Juicing on the other hand I could stomach fine, fruit or veggie, it didn't matter.

Meat is another food that seems to aggravate the condition. That I avoided whenever I was symptomatic.

Ginger beer (non alcoholic - like ginger ale, but slightly different brew process. delicious!) became my constant companion. I like Reed's. Has to have real ginger. Also, I bought a 6 pound bag of Chymes ginger chews off of Amazon. They were also in the organic section of my local grocery store. Two of those when I'm feeling nauseous work wonders. My mom is on chemo and she loves them too. They really work.

I didn't bother with any medications, but there are a few - only one that's legal in the US, I think, and another one or two that you can get from Canada. I almost took a prescription from my gastroenterologist for Reglan - which was supposed to stimulate the stomach to churn - but after I read the list of potential side effects, I decided that I'd rather stick with ginger and suffer than risk a potential, permanent facial tic.

My GP symptoms did get better, after about a year and a half of dealing with them. Up until a month ago, I hadn't had any nausea in nearly 7 months. I've had a few GI issues recently, annoyingly, but I'm going through a mild POTS flare so that's not too surprising. But it can get better for POTS patients, unlike for a lot of other GP patients, which is a bit of a silver lining.

I hope you feel better!

[MomWithPots]

I can't offer an answer, but I can relate. I get extreme nausea at least 4 days a week and I only "go" every 4-5 days...sorry Tmi. I just always thought it was part of pots. Sometimes I swear there is a new symptom everyday. Just discuss it with ur doc and hang in there Feel better soon!

Libby - Thanks for the info! I have been meaning to buy something with ginger in it. I hate the taste if ginger ale for some reason. I also found that lemon drops ( hard candy) works well for me with the nausea.

[gofl1]

I was diagnosed with gastroparesis and biliary dyskinesia which is basically gastroparesis of the gall bladder. While it was really bad when I first was diagnosed, it has been getting better and better along with my overall health. Even when my stomach was at its worst I have thankfully had pretty much zero lower gi issues (constipation etc). My big symptoms were/are bloating, belching (number one issues), and reflux. If you eventually need to go on meds domperidone is really the safest, but not all doctors will prescribe it because it needs to be ordered from outside of the US. There are a few trials which have shown acupuncture to decrease stomach emptying times and it made a big difference for me. I also had some success with the herbal product Iberogast. My new doctor wants me to take curcumin, and herb, which has been shown to increase motility of both the gallbladder and stomach.