I am a 21 year old living in Maine, U.S. I suddenly got sick in February, 2019, and then in June of that year found out I had Gastroparesis. Having this disease started my interest in digestive health and nutrition. I soon realized talking with many other people who have gp or digestive health concerns, really do not know what to do about it and end up taking the wrong approach to the disease.
In this blog I will be sharing my health journey with you, including tips that have helped me get to eating (fairly) normal, and more on how I'm able to go through the day with less pain, anxiety and worry.
What is Gastroparesis?
Gastroparesis (GP) is a digestive disorder that affects the motility of the stomach muscles, meaning your stomach is not being told when it needs to empty food. The nerve that tells your stomach to empty is called the vagus nerve. I have Idiopathic GP, which means the doctors don't know what caused it. The other type of GP is diabetic gastroparesis, where people with diabetes will get the same symptoms as idiopathic patients, but their blood glucose levels will be hard to stabilize.
Doctors do not know most of the time what causes one's GP, but there are a few other diseases that may cause it or make it worse, including: viral infections, acid reflux disease, smooth muscle disorders, Parkinson's disease, chronic pancreatitis, cystic fibrosis, kidney disease, and Turner's syndrome. For many GP patients though, the cause is unknown.
When my GP began, I went from being perfectly fine one day to intense stomach pain the next. I would also be full after one bite of food, have bowel troubles, occasional nausea, and lack of appetite which left me losing up to 30 pounds in 3 1/2 months.
You can be tested for gastroparesis in a few different ways: a gastric emptying breath test, a gastric emptying scan (or gastric emptying scintigraphy), or by use of a motility capsule/smart pill. The most common is the gastric emptying scan: this is where they give you a bland meal, usually scrambled eggs with a slice of toast, or oatmeal, and then scan your abdomen at 1, 2 and 4 hours after you eat it. The eggs are coated in a clear radioactive dye so they are able to see the progress and movement of the food throughout your body as it digests.
For me, after 4 hours I had only digested 60% of my food...ouch. I was miserable taking the test as the scrambled eggs were soggy and you had to eat with a pair of gloves on to protect your skin from the dye. Although I was really upset to find out I had gastroparesis, it was nice to finally get some answers. This is where I began studying, talking to a lot of people about digestion, reading many books, and talking to holistic practitioners, educating myself so I could heal without medication.
I would love to hear your GP or digestive health story. Feel free to drop a comment or message me directly.
- Loreal
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