Colitis stable, but now may have Gastroparesis. . .

[adoptbc4]

Hi everyone,

Happy to report that my Colitis is stable, no diarrhea and I have even been off the Colestid for a week now without problems.
Unfortunately, my slow but steady weight loss continues and my persistent nausea, although better during the day, continues to keep me up at night. I'm lucky if I get 2 hours of sleep a night and that's rare. Taking the Magnesium and Vit D that Wayne suggested.
Returned to my GI, who scheduled me for a Gastric Emptying test this Thursday.
They'll give me a meal of Eggbeaters and toast with some radioactive iodine and then measure at 1, 2, and 4 hours to see how much of the food is emptied from my stomach.
If I retain too much food, that means I have Gastroparesis. I have read quite a bit about this and it would certainly explain why I'm so uncomfortable at night, why I have to eat early and such a small dinner, etc. No matter what changes I've made to my diet and schedule, the insomnia and nighttime nausea are unbearable.

Wondering if anyone else has any experience with this? The diet for GP is also low fat, low fiber, low residue and they recommend no raw veggies or fruits, only cooked--trying to figure out what I can eat that won't make me sick and maintain my weight is driving me nuts

Thanks for listening to me vent,

Robin

[tex]

Hi Robin,

I'm sorry that you're having such a persistent gastroparesis problem. I certainly understand how debilitating it can be, because I had that problem from time to time while I was recovering. Fortunately it faded away as my digestive system healed. I have a theory about why gastroparesis occurs, but unfortunately I don't have a cure, except to say that it almost always disappears after we get our intestinal inflammation under control. Here's my opinion of why gastroparesis occurs:

Because there doesn't appear to be any other logical explanation for why gastroparesis develops (at least I haven't seen any theories described by anyone in the medical field), it seems to me that delayed gastric emptying/gastroparesis probably occurs because the enteric nervous system has not received a "ready" signal from the pancreas, informing it that the pancreas can supply enough bicarbonate to at least meet certain minimal digestive system "safety" requirements for neutralizing the acidity of the stomach contents.

Bicarbonate is a critical ingredient in the digestive process. It's used to raise the pH of chyme (partially digested food) released from the stomach, to prevent the stomach acid from digesting the lining of the duodenum and possibly the rest of the small intestine. Surely the enteric nervous system would not allow the pyloric sphincter to release the chyme from the stomach if the pH of the chyme were at a level of 2 or 3 (or less), for example, and not enough bicarbonate were available to at least neutralize most of the acidity.

Such a mistake would destroy the lining of the duodenum in a very short period of time (if at least a certain minimal amount of bicarbonate were not immediately available to neutralize the acidity of the chyme). IOW, I believe that gastroparesis is just a feature of the enteric nervous system designed to protect the integrity of the small intestine from accidental "digestion" by stomach acid. Or it may represent a malfunction of that system. The fact that gastroparesis is associated with diabetes and MC (though the members of this discussion board are probably the only people in the world who recognize that gastroparesis is associated with MC) is no conincidence, IMO, because both issues are associated with (or can cause) pancreatic malfunction.

Celiac disease has been associated with diabetes, and there is some evidence to suggest that untreated gluten sensitivity is a cause of gastroparesis. I'm not aware of any official medical research studies done on this topic (the association of gastroparesis with gluten sensitivity), but many people who were suffering from gastroparesis have claimed to have found relief by adopting a GF diet.

Please let me know how well this works if you try it, because this is one of the topics that will be discussed in a book I'm writing.

Tex

[adoptbc4]

Wayne, you are so knowledgeable about gastric issues, I appreciate your thoughts--thank you :)

I have adopted a GF, soy free, wheat free, dairy free diet consistently for the past 10 weeks.
Although my gastric lymphoma is in remission and my H pylori is finally gone, I have atrophic gastritis
(No GERD). In short, my stomach's been a hot mess for quite some time.

Hoping that as I continue the diet and supplements that my gut starts to heal and I can get some sleep someday!

Robin

[Gabes-Apg]

for now, calm the mind about the weight situation...

the body will do the weight gain once things are 'in balance'
it is important not to stress and give the body time to heal.

my stomach was a hot mess for over 20 years... it takes many months and even years for some to heal the gut.
be patient, it can take 6 months for the gluten anitbodies to leave the body. Stick with the low inflammation, bland, gut healing eating plan

on the nausea side of things, it can be indicator of deficiency of B3, Ginger, histidine, molybedenum.

molybdednum works really well for me,
maybe some grated ginger in hot water sip this slowly
others here have used accupuncture to resolve nausea symptoms
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewt ... cupuncture

[tex]

Robin,

There is a good chance that you just need more healing time. Most people (including medical professionals) believe that the digestive system heals very quickly, because of the claim that the cells in the lining of the stomach are typically replaced on a 4-day schedule (at least that's claimed to be true for "normal" stomachs). And the cells in the lining of the duodenum (the first third of the small intestine) are thought to be replaced on approximately a 2-week schedule.

But unfortunately that doesn't mean that healing occurs that quickly, because that replacement schedule applies only to the epithelial cells that make up the single-cell thickness of the surface layer of the mucosa. IOW, only the layer of cells that actually contact food moving through the digestive system are replaced on that expedited schedule. As we have found by experience, it typically takes years for complete healing to occur. Fortunately though, enough healing usually occurs early on during the recover process to allow normal digestive functioning within approximately 6 months to a year. Some see remission much sooner, and some require more time, but the point is, damaged digestive systems don't heal nearly as quickly as we would expect.

You seem to be making good progress. And as Gabes has pointed out, time, and attention to the details of our diet will heal what ails us.

You're very welcome,
Wayne