Hi All,
I have just newly been diagnosed with having Gastroparesis. Just needing some insight or some feedback with people who may also suffer with this complication. I appreciate all the feedback 
Thanks,
Bre
hello Bre, hey sorry to hear about your complication, the news of complications that are new or worsening always makes me depressed and I just wanted you to know someone is reading your post and hoping you are okay.
I don’t have gastroparesis, but I think it’s kind of like nerve damage (neuropathy) to your GI. they sometimes prescribe neuropathy drugs, they sometimes just want your control to be “more better” and I am pretty sure that the most common form “delayed stomach emptying” can be a challenge especially if you are using shots. anyway if you have specific questions the folks with more experience here are sometimes quicker to answer. good luck and take care!
Hi Bre I have a problem sporadically with it. Endo says there are meds for it but had side effects. He said it was a difficult diagnosis in my case don’t remember what the blood marker was for it. I have tough time not overtreating when it strikes. I have a diabetic alert dog or I’m sure it would be more difficult
Hi Bre,
I’ve had gastroparesis for the past 2 years. I tried Reglan but suffered from negative side effects. I notice that the better my control, the less I feel sick. My gastroenterologist put me on a pill that is only sold outside of the US because of FDA. I’ve been using it successfully for about a year and feel so much better when I’m having trouble with my stomach.
Hi Bre,
I have had Gastroparesis for about 14 years. My Gastric Emptying results grade my Gastroparesis as severe. The severity of my symptoms however vary, and I’ve had times where it’s been very bad and other times where I’ve felt relatively well for long periods of time. What’s interesting to note is that the severity of your symptoms and the severity of your gastric retention rate do not always correlate. This has been the case for me.
As far as treatment, I started on Reglan, but later (after several years) developed a reaction to it (Tardive dyskinesia), and am no longer on it. I was placed with a gastric stimulator in 2002, which greatly helps to control my nausea and vomiting. It has also reduced the number of times I end up in the ER for GP episodes. I later had my gastric stimulator replaced in 2012 due to the battery running out. It last approximately 10 years, depending on how high you have the setting. I also take Zofran and some other medications which help out.
Diet and insulin changes are also important. What you can eat/tolerate varies for each person, but generally a low fiber, low fat, low carb diet. Seeing a nutritionist/diabetes educator helped me a lot with this. Also, they will likely have you take your insulin doses differently to better match up to your digestion. For example, some meals I split my insulin dose 50/50 over an hour. It will be different for each person though.
Hi all,
Thank you so much for the support and feed back. I can’t explain to tell you how much I appreciate it! I just went to my new GI doctor today that my primary referred me to and loved him! Not only was he very thorough, he was very well up to date on all the different types of treatments that work best for Gastroparesis with diabetes. I also liked that he wasn’t the type of doctor to just right away assume that I am having this complication because I don’t take care of myself. Normally with my past and luck, the doctor assumes I’m not keeping myself well under control because I don’t do what I’m suppose to, but that is far from the truth. He is starting me off by also taking a medication that is only sold out of the U.S. because it is not FDA approved out here. If that doesn’t help then I can try an antibiotic that is suppose to help the vagus nerve function. He didn’t want to jump right to that right away because of all the side affects that antibiotics may cause. Lastly, but not least he said he knows a great surgeon who can do the gastric stimulator. Overall, I feel I am in great hands
Hi Bre ! I’m happy to hear you found a great doc and I’m hopeful this is the key to everything we’ve talked about! Hooray!
Nancy
My experience has been a little different. I’ve had Type 1 for a long time (46 years) and the severity really varies, but I find that large amounts of fiber and probiotics really helps. Without the fiber, I have periods of constipation followed by periods of diarrhea. The delayed emptying has made me take my insulin after my meals and sometimes the food lasts longer than the Humalog, so I have to take a second shot.
I think I have it also. The doctor gave me some medicine that will supposedly take care of it. For myself I have found that exercise about 25 minutes of riding my bicycle really cleans up that problem. Unfortunately for the past month I have notbeen riding my bike so I get horribly constipated and then followed that with diarrhea. Not a lot of fun. At this point I always make sure that I can have a couple of fleet enemas in the bathroom. Something else is that since my latest accident( hit by a car or three years ago) I’ve had to take morphine for the pain in my back and legs. I tried using another kind of painkiller and it made my ears ring so bad I had to stop, so it’s back to the fun of refined heroin.
Curious as to what medication y’all are taking that is not FDA approved. I’ve delt with gastroparesis for years. I’ve taken reglan but it has so many side affects and I’m not one to really take a lot of medicine. But I have really bad episodes and most of time end up in hospital and lately I’ve been trying more natural things to help. I would love something to help waking up all hours of the night sick because my food has set on belly way too long it’s awful!!!
Has anyone diagnosed with gastroparesis shown up in the ER with elevated white cell counts? Stomach emptying test was normal after throwing up and being nauseous for over 4 days. But the white blood cell count was elevated. 4 months later the same thing happened. Ended up in the ER due to throwing up and being unable to keep liquids or food down. Again, white cell count elevated. Discharge papers stated stomach viral infection with gastroparesis.
Confused.
Old discussion from the dates, but it hits close to home. Initially diagnosed as a type 2, I took metformin in large amounts (2000mg daily) and went to the ER probably 20 times with uncontrollable vomiting over 5 years. Once I was diagnosed as type 1 and stopped taking metformin, it went away for the most part ( i still dont feel that great some mornings but not puking)
Review your meds and what you are putting in you. It could be a lot different, but I almost accepted a stomach stimulator when a med change did it for me. And I have shown the high white cell count, which is apparently normal for type 1 (one of the ways they tell)
1 Like