#49- What is Gastroparesis? What causes it? What are the symptoms, challenges and possible surgeries for this disease? How do I get tested?

Everything you've ever wanted to know about Gastroparesis. What causes it? What are the symptoms? Are there surgeries to help with this disease? How can I get tested for it?

I am not a licensed health care provider. If you suspect you or someone you know may have this digestive issue, please make an appointment with your medical doctor.

Resources for this episode: WebMD

Transcript

 Hello. Hello my friends. I am Jenny Lynn and this is my show. I am a wife and mom of two crazy kiddos. I have struggled many years with chronic illness and pain. I have a passion to find out as much as I can while navigating through life, not always feeling 100%. I have realized that having a positive mindset is a must in today's crazy.

You deserve to live this life showing up as your best self, and I can help you get there. If you've been feeling lost after becoming a mom, you're not alone. I know that incredible woman is still in there just begging to be found. I am here to create a safe, non-judgmental space for like-minded women.

Let's empower each other. I am so happy you're here. Now let's jump into the 1 23 Mom Squad podcast with. Jenny Lynn.



Hello everybody. And welcome back. I'm so glad you're here. With B and I appreciate you taking the time to listen to my show. I really hope that you are getting some good information about some specific health and wellness. , Diseases illnesses, how you can, , have a better lifestyle and all the things related to our health and daily nutrition and our goals. So today I kind of wanted to talk to you about a condition that I learned that I have. 

Back in 2021, I was diagnosed with a condition called gastroparesis.



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So for the longest time, I was really struggling with my. Belly and everything that has to go along with it. I have had many digestive issues. And for quite a long time, most of them started after I had my gallbladder taken out. And then after I had my gallbladder taken out, I started to realize quickly what foods I had to avoid. And most of the time, My biggest concern was that I was feeling so bloated after eating. 

That I didn't know what to do or why. I had all of a sudden, all this, you know, distension. In my belly. Um, and anything that I ate really caused this, there was no reason, or there was no rhyme or reason as to what I ate or what I didn't eat that caused this problem. I was getting some heartburn, some indigestion, but I had a lot of abdominal cramping as well. 

So I reached out to my  doctor and started going through, you know, tons and tons of tests from ultrasounds to barium. X-rays. Um, Just F you know, everything under the sun CBO test that's first small intestinal, bacterial overgrowth tests, breath tests for H pylori for any type of bacteria of anything that's going on in the gut lactose testing. 

You name it? Any digestive tests that was out there.  I did it. I even at one point swallowed a mini camera that went through all of my digestive system to see what was kind of going on. Unfortunately it came back in cook. Inconclusive, because in order for me to swallow a pill, I kind of have to put it in some food and trick my mind and then swallow it. 

Plus the size of this pill, because it has a small camera in it and a big capsule was not the smallest. So I kind of gagged a couple of times. So the only thing that the facility had was red jello. And unfortunately. Because it was red. It looked like blood. On the camera when the test came back. So, and the insurance wouldn't pay for me to have it done. 

Again, of course. So that was kind of a waste of time,  

which stunk just because I had to wear a, um, uh, like a monitor for 24 hours. And it was just an uncomfortable thing. And so I was a little upset that  that didn't work or show anything or that I couldn't make any use of that test. So this was probably within, oh my goodness. I'm going to say, let's see. 2015 I believe is when I had my gallbladder taken out and then I didn't get diagnosed till summer of 2021. 

. So that's five years that went by in between and in between then I also had two other abdominal surgeries. Between the time that my gallbladder was taken out, no, actually three, three. Abdominal surgeries. After the gallbladder was taken out. To the time that I was diagnosed with gastro-paresis. 

Now at the time, I did not know what gastro-paresis was. And so the minute that I learned that I had it, I started going, I started doing a lot of research. My go-to website is web M D because it, I know that it is. Factual. And there are reviews and resources and 

document everything on that site. 

 So there are a few different ways that the doctor can test to see if you have this problem. If you suspect that you do,  I would suggest that you see your GI doctor about it. And they will go ahead and do some of the needed tests. 

, in my area, what I had done was a gastro emptying test. He gave me some radio active eggs, like scrambled eggs. And it's a four-hour test. So they, you eat. You go in the morning and you eat these radioactive scrambled eggs with toast and jelly. 

And then you get on the table and all you do is just lay there. And then every once in a while, I don't know if it was like every 20 minutes. I don't remember. They would slide you. It looked like a CT machine or an MRI machine. So you would slide from the table into the machine and then they would take the necessary scans. And then they did that for the whole four hours. And then they would see this way. 

Where the food was.  If more than 10% of the food was still in your stomach after the four hours after your eating. They said that you had gastro-paresis. So I believe with mine, I honestly don't remember. Exactly the numbers, but I believe mine was 30%. I had 30% of my food still in my stomach after the four hours. 

But there are other tests that they can also do. There are some blood tests, but these are more to see if you are dehydrated or you have any infections or any type of blood sugar problems. They can do a barium. X-ray where the barium is a nasty, nasty, that thick liquid that you drink. And it coats your esophagus and your stomach and your small intestine. And then it shows up on the x-ray. 



It's, this is also known as an upper GI series or a barium swallow. That was very painful afterwards. It got me extremely constipated. I think I have mentioned that before, but that is a test that I will honestly never have again. I will avoid it. Like the plague. So there's also gastric emptying breath tests that they can do. This is a non-radioactive test that measures how fast your stomach empties after you eat the meal that has a chemical element. 

Called 13 C isotope added to it. So that might be something that your area your doctor might recommend. I don't know if they do different tests, maybe depending on different symptoms that, you know, differ from people to. Perfect differ from person to person. There is also a gastric. I don't know how to say this. Gastric Manoa. 

Mitri. M a N O M E T R I T R Y. Your doctor would pass a thin tube through your mouth and into your stomach. And it checks for electrical and muscular activity. And then that will figure out how fast you are digesting your food. There's also electro gastro grafi electro gastro. Graffie this measures electrical activity in your stomach using electrodes on your skin. 

Now all of these that I've mentioned, I've never I've these I've never had the only one that was suggested to me when they thought that this could be an issue, was the emptying, the gastric emptying study. So I've never heard of these. And then there is a smart pill. And I think this actually sounds like what I was talking about earlier with the camera. 

It says you swallow a tiny electronic device. And then that sends information about how fast it's traveling as it moves through your digestive system. Now. When I had mentioned that I had that done probably in about 2016. If that was right. I could have known that my stomach, that I had this problem. 

Four years earlier. So it kind of really makes me upset that I had to suffer and struggle. The that many years with these problems and pains and being uncomfortable. And really, you know, my quality of life was definitely not there at that time. And, um, so that definitely makes me a little upset. They can also do an upper endoscopy, but I'm not quite sure they, that just looks at the lining of your stomach. That's not going to tell you how fast you would. 

You know, Consume your food or how fast it's going through your digestive tract that would maybe look for. Any type of bacteria or all servers or anything like that. 

Maybe heartburn. 

So for those of you who actually don't know what gastro-paresis is, I probably should have said this first, but gastroparesis is considered a condition in which your food stays in your stomach for longer than it should. So you could also hear your doctor call it delayed gastric emptying. And for me. 

For me when my doctor explained it to me, it. Paresis means like paralyzed. So your stomach isn't working as well as it should to help. Create those movements, those spasms of your intestines and everything to kind of move that food along through an inside of your intestines to get. Out of your stomach and into your intestines and through everything and in and out of your body. 

That's how my doctor kind of explained it to me. 

So I'm just going to give you some symptoms. That you could be experiencing if you could, if you have gastro-paresis you could be having heartburn. Or reflux. Upset stomach. You could be throwing up any undigested food. 

You could be feeling full quickly. When you eat. This is something that was definitely a symptom of mine. Is every little I would be so, so hungry. And then I go and eat. And then I'd be halfway through my meal. And I didn't think that I could put one more bite in my mouth. There was no way that I was going to eat. 

And then bloating bloating is , unfortunately like this, , huge symptom for just about every GI. Disease out there. So I'm not quite sure that that is specific to gastro-paresis, but bloating. Lack of appetite and weight loss. This would, uh, I would imagine a lack of appetite and weight less would be because , when you feel full quickly, or when you eat, you feel nauseous. And if you feel nauseous, you're going to throw up. And then when you throw up, obviously you're going to lose weight. So I would imagine that that's how they get lack of appetite and weight loss in there, because I felt nauseous a lot. 

And trouble controlling your blood sugar or any type of abdominal cramping, pain. Any type of belly pain that you may have. So. What are the risk factors and what actually causes gastroparesis. So it actually tends to affect women more than men, but doctors don't actually know what brings on this problem. 

Diabetes is the most common known for gastroparesis because it can damage nerves, including the Vegas nerve. And if you don't know, the Vegas nerve is like the biggest nerve in our body that runs right from our head to our anus. And it w it just regulates our digestive system. And certain cells in our belly. And it is like the big daddy of everything that regulates in our body and  our nervous system and everything. 

Now I had mentioned a lot of, you know, that I've had many surgeries. I've had six abdominal surgeries. And there was a time that when I was doing a lot of research for myself, that I thought that I'm like, I wonder if during one of these surgeries. Something happened where my Vegas nerve was damaged. 

And I had brought that up to one of my doctors. I don't even remember which one. And this is where kind of like the whole medical gaslighting comes in. But I had mentioned this to one of the doctors and he looked at me and he actually laughed. He laughed at me when I said that. You know, is that possible? And he goes, no, no, no. 

And he goes, no, dear. The Vegas nerve is so deep within our system, within our body, that all of the surgeries you have are more superficial and are nowhere near the Vegas nerve. However. That is not the case. The Vegas nerve can absolutely be damaged from surgery. Now, I don't know, specific to the surgeries that I've actually had. If an, I mean, I not a surgeon, so I have no idea. 

Where this nerve like actually physically is in accordance to where my surgeries were performed. So, I don't know. But the way that he made me feel. I was like gum on the bottom of my shoe. It was horrible. So I really hope that. For anybody that is feeling like that, that you're, you're getting the right information. 

And that if you are being gaslit by any of your medical team to go somewhere else, because it's not fun to feel like that. And especially when you're doing research about your own body and you're, you know, you're trying to be proactive about everything. Don't let them push you around. Okay. You go ahead and stick up for yourself, please. Don't be afraid to open your mouth and say something or just never return. 

So other causes other than injury to the vagus nerve from your surgery could be a lack of thyroid hormone. Hypothyroidism. You could have gastroenteritis wishes, the viral stomach infections. So if you have constant inflammation within your stomach, that can cause. That can cause gastro-paresis, 

it's like when you have diverticulosis and then that can cause diverticulitis over and over again. So when these parts of our body get inflamed continuously, then it can cause a deeper issue. It can also be caused by some medications that are narcotics or even some antidepressants. Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis. 

 Also a connective tissue disorder that affects your skin, blood vessels, skeletal muscles, and internal organs. So, , if you struggle . I would definitely mention this to your GI the next time that you see them. 

And just say, Hey, listen, this is, this is what I know. . Can you please, at least think of this as an option. And if you don't mind giving me this test, the, the thing of it is, is that. 

That are a lot of our insurance coverage. Won't cover a lot of these tests until prior tests have been. Already completed. And then they go ahead and will. Approve of these other tests that are maybe. You know, more complicated. And more pricey for them.

So what are some complications that gastro-paresis can cause. Well, there is a. There's a really big scale when it comes to the, the severity of gastro-paresis. I don't consider mine severe at all at this point, but can and will at some point when I, when I age or, you know, when I get older, It can progress to a more severe issue. 

Which is really concerning for me, because a lot of, a lot of the ways, the only ways to kind of fix this, this issue is with a feeding tube. And I'll get into that in just a little bit. But some of the problems you might have is you can keep your fluids down and then you can become dehydrated. And we all know when we become dehydrated that causes a whole nother mess of problems. 

Um, your body can't get the nutrients it needs. So then you become malnourished. If the food stays in your stomach too long, it's going to ferment. And then when food ferments into your gut, you can get. Bacterial overgrowth. You can get the small intestinal, bacterial overgrowth known as CBO. You can get. 

H pylori, you can get all sorts of other issues when you're not eliminating from your body. When food hardens into a solid lump This can block the food from passing into your small intestine. And then you've got, you know, you could possibly have some sort of an emergency surgery when you have a blockage like that. 

If you have diabetes, your blood sugar levels may rise. When food finally leaves your stomach and enters the small intestine. Gastro-paresis makes it harder to control your blood sugar. So those are some complications. 

 The treatment for gastro-paresis is going to be. It can be chronic depending on the cause. So it's going to last a long time. And there are steps that you can take to manage and control it. Most of it revolves around what it is that you're going to put in your body and how it is that you're going to change how you eat, what you eat and when you eat. Because a lot of times, if you eat a full meal, all you're doing is dumping. 

You know, Large quantities of food. Into your stomach on all at once and your stomach. Is like overloaded. It has no idea what to do. And so it's going to take that much longer. For your food to move through your stomach and then into your small intestines. And then that's what can cause you know, all this bacteria in there and then you've got another whole host of problems. 

So they, it is recommended that you eat three to four small meals a day when you have gastro-paresis. , they say a small meal consists of about one to one and a half cups of food.  When I first learned about how to eat. They tell you not to eat anything that's raw or uncooked like raw vegetables. And I used to love to just eat carrots and green peppers and celery and every, you know, 

Anything like when you go somewhere and they have a veggie tray, right? No, stay away from the veggie tray because it takes a lot more of. It takes a lot more from your stomach. To digest a hard vegetable. And so they say, if you're going to have vegetables to cook them, If you're going to have fruit, make sure that you eat fruit without peels. 

So I started peeling my apples or just eating applesauce. So, you know, when you used to go apple picking and that's what I used to do, I'd take an apple off the tree and I would eat it. So I don't do that anymore. I mean sometimes. You know, if I really want to feel. Nasty and I want to not feel so great then. 

I'll go ahead and just say, screw it. I'm just going to eat the apple anyways, but then I pay for it. So unfortunately you really have to watch what you eat and how you eat. So you  you can try eating the smaller meals.  

You're going to just want to try and have more liquids and low residue foods, such as applesauce. Like I mentioned, instead of the whole apples. Drink, plenty of water and fluids. Like low-fat broths, soups, juices, and sports drinks. 

Um, I don't know if I agree with the juices and sports drinks, you really do have to watch how much of that you consume because of the sugar and sodium in there. But avoid your high fatty foods, which can slow the digestion and high fiber foods, which are also harder to digest. So, this is really, this is where it's like, I don't know what to eat anymore, so I would just eat whatever I want. Right. They tell you to avoid the high fiber foods yet get enough fiber in your body so you can poop. Right? 

I get so confused and so aggravated. And when everything is just super duper hard to figure out. What it is and how it is that you're supposed to live. But the thing of it is that I've learned with a lot of these issues that I've had is really just understanding your body and how your body reacts to certain foods. 

How you eat them and when you eat them, Now I used to love bananas. And strawberries in the morning. Like, that's just what I used to eat, but I noticed that after I eat a banana. I get stomach cramps right away. And it's so strange. So, you know, I Googled like why do some people. Get stomach cramps after they eat a banana. 

. So a lot of people can't eat bananas, as I just figured out that are that's me. Because they're high in fructose sorbitol and soluble fiber. And that can be a trigger for people that already have existing gastrointestinal issues. So if your body is not already used to eating a high fiber diet, then you would gradually have to increase the fiber intake in your body. Drink more water. 

And just help your body kind of pass through that fiber. But. If, if you're just like throwing fiber into your body and you notice yourself getting stomach cramps. That is why. So if you want to increase your fiber intake, do so. Like gradually. All right. 

Make sure you're getting enough of the right nutrition for your body as well. We all want to make sure we're putting the right things in our body.  And that we are. getting the nutrition that we need. So when every, so when my doctors were telling me what to avoid. I kind of looked at them cross-eyed because I'm like, well, what is it. 

What do I eat then? Like, how do I keep myself nourished? Right. You know, they tell me to try and stay away from a lot of animal protein. I have high cholesterol. So now I have to watch what I eat with that. Because of my megillah. Larry sponge kidney. I have to watch my sodium intake, so I don't really eat red meat anymore. It's really, really rare that I do. 

Um, I don't really crave it. Like I used to in the summer. It's a little harder because I do in, I do miss having like a good steak on the grill. But. You know, Your body pays for it. And if you want to feel better, It's a really about avoiding the things. That trigger these problems. So it's really up to you, whether or not you want to feel better. You're the one who has to do the healing. 

But I can tell you that if you give your body just like a month, That's not long enough, your body has gone through so many years of, of damage that you now have to try and fix and heal and healing. The gut takes the longest because we really have to, we really have to be patient. While healing the gut. 

, when you do feel better making small changes. You understand that oh my gosh i don't really need to eat I don't know say a banana i can i can have something else in its place i love watermelon watermelon Doesn't have doesn't have skin either so i can just cut up a watermelon for myself and it's got so much hydration in it it is so good for you it is so cleansing to the liver. It is just yummy And that's a better option for me than having a banana So finding the right things for you. you just have to be aware of these triggers and i know that you've probably at this point already heard but starting a food journal is a must especially if you're having gi issues because you really have to know What it is that you putting in your body that is making you feel like crap In essay You know it could be Uh, 20 minutes it could be instantly or it could be four hours later And documenting the time that you eat it and then what Actually the time during the day because if you even drink  a cup of coffee in the morning It's going to bother you more than if you have a decaf say in the afternoon some people just can't tolerate caffeine after a certain time and some people can't tolerate caffeine at all caffeine Itself is super duper hard on your stomach And we also have to be careful with coffee grounds because coffee grounds contain a high amount of mold And if you're one that struggles with abdominal problems You should probably stay away from coffee or at least high quantities of coffee Maybe try some Nice Levin balm tea instead i know it's hard switch But again do you want to feel better you have to make these adjustments And you don't have to do it all at once because that's just too much and then you'll burn yourself out and i've tried to do that before and then i'm like i can't do this you have to do it little by little one thing at a time even making one thing different every week will. Amount to really big changes and how you're going to feel and function and how your gut is going to function There are a couple of medications that you can take for gastroparesis Um reglan you take that drug before you eat so it causes your stomach muscles to contract and help move the food along through your digestive system It also can help with upset stomach and vomiting unfortunately a lot of people that have the severe gastro-paresis throw up a lot And we all know that that is just horrible But some side effects of reglan could be diarrhea drowsiness anxiety and rarely a serious neurological disorder You just kind of love these symptoms right that come along with or not symptoms but side effects that come along with these medications that you take And then you need other medications to help with the side effects of the original medication and then before you know it i'm on five different medications Another run is a re throw Mycenae. Listen you guys are probably familiar with this one because it is an antibiotic And that can help with your stomach contract to help move the food out side effects with the My son we know include diarrhea and the growth of resistant bacteria if you are on it for a long time So i'm not quite sure why they actually want to give you An antibiotic i guess maybe just to help Just to help at that point if you're really having like a flare but a lot of us know that antibiotics Really disrupt our gut microbiome and to begin with so I am really really trying really hard to stay away from any type of antibiotics nowadays And then anti ma metrics it's a drug that helps control nausea like zofran if you are unfortunately Having a lot of vomiting So what are other treatments if you have gastroparesis first if you have diabetes you have to control your blood sugar levels And then you know we don't want to have serious problems. Your doctor might need to give you a feeding tube they put it through your belly and into your small intestine to feed yourself you would put the nutrients into the tube and they'll go directly into your small intestine this way it skips your stomach completely angles right into your bloodstream faster So you're kind of you know, taking out one whole. One whole oregon to get your food through which helps  your doctor could also use botox into your pylorus it's the valve from your stomach into your small intestine And that relaxes that valve so it keeps it open for longer so your stomach can empty There's also electrical stimulation That uses electrodes that attaches to your stomach wall Uh, To help trigger stomach contractions now that's putting something foreign in your body which i you know i would try and stay away from but if it becomes really bad it's definitely something to consider In a procedure called   pre oral pylorus myo tommy or pop Your doctor would use an endoscope to cut your pylorus valve so that it's easy easier for your stomach to empty. I've read about that one a lot and that seems to be a fairly common surgery for gastroparesis for those that struggles more on a more severe basis Although surgery can sometimes cause gastroparesis patients who have obesity and diabetes might have gastric bypass surgery Your doctor creates a small pouch from the top part of your stomach and then we'll attach it to the lower end of your small intestine and then this can limit how much food you can eat This will cause you to  not overeat which causes your food to back up into your stomach and will sit there causing the bloating and your food from fermenting and all of that If your case is severe you might also need intravenous nutrition In which these nutrients this way can go straight into your bloodstream through a catheter in your vein in your chest doctors tend to use this for only a short time well that sounds absolutely horrible So i hope this kind of gives you an overall better view on what gastro-paresis is so if you are someone who struggles with any type of gi issues Um like i mentioned the symptoms and everything This way you know a little bit more about it.

   If you think this was informational i would love for you to spread this news along to anybody that you might think this information could help we all want to know as much as we possibly can about anything that's going on in our bodies and listening to as many podcasts in this health and wellness arena definitely helps And i appreciate any type of review share you know it's just me myself and i so i absolutely love what i hear from you guys what's been your favorite episode Um next week coming up Is going to be a wonderful woman named monica who is going to give us a whole bunch of information on gluten-free and celiac she was struggling for many years and so i can't wait to get her on next week too. Um share with you guys all about celiac and everything gluten-free because all of a sudden it's become this you know, big epidemic out there and we all need again as much information as we can to help share with our loved ones who might struggle from these issues And with that i am going to end this episode so i hope you guys have an amazing rest of your day stay safe stay healthy and we'll talk to you soon.

 Thank you all for being here. I am so glad we found each other. See you next time. Have an incredible day. My beautiful friends.