Gastroparesis/Vagus nerve dysfunction

[CathyA]

I have a major doctor/test phobia, so I'm really trying to work this out on my own.
I know many of you will think "Just go to the damn doctor".......but that won't help me at all right now.

I think I have an eating disorder/or some kind of biochemistry that makes me constantly hungry. Always have been. There have been times in my life when it all went away and I was happy and healthy. But the bad stuff always returns. I think I have worn out my GI tract. I'm trying to be kind to myself and not beat myself up for overeating for so many years. At least I haven't gained any weight in many years, but am still overweight.

I've had alot of strange problems throughout my life, but they really worsened after severe influenza and pneumonia in l995, after which time I went through perimenopause, which just added to the fun.

I developed GERD and IBS during that time. But in the past 5 years, I have been doing really well, with calcium controlling both the IBS and the GERD.

I don't eat horrible things. I eat tons of veggies. But I eat constantly, never giving my GI tract any down time. Plus, I'm a sugar addict. I mean that seriously.

Last Saturday we went to a chinese buffet (go almost every saturday). Of course, I overate, and I ate tons of broccoli, thinking that was good for me.
After that, I seemed to go into a gastroparesis episode. I blew up like a blimp and burped constantly. I believe my GI tract just plain stopped. It still feels bloated a week later.
In restrospect, I've had this happen occasionally since I was in my 20's.

Of course, I've backed off alot of food, especially carbs. I've added slippery elm and aloe vera juice. I'm doing more abdomen-strengthening exercises.

I've read that most Vagus nerve injuries are caused by diabetes or being cut during stomach surgery. I have neither. But again in retrospect, I have alot of injured-Vagus symptoms............speeding heartrate (now controlled with a beta blocker), irregular heartbeats, and the GI motility problems.

Several years ago I spent 7 months sleeping upright in a chair because of what now I know was gastroparesis. I also know that my female hormones irritate my GI tract too.

If this continues, I will go to the GI doc. But for now, I'm trying to help myself out. I do believe I have diverticula that are getting irritated. You're supposed to eat lots of fiber for those...........but definitely not for gastroparesis. So I'm sort of between a rock and another rock.

I'm eating alot less during the day and alot less during meals.
I know several of you have GI problems. Anyone with Gastroparesis?
Anyone with a damaged Vagus nerve? I've heard both sides......that it is possible to slowly heal the Vagus nerve, and also its impossible to heal it.

Its bad enough to feel this bad, but then to add a doctor/test phobia onto it, well, its just no fun at all. :(

[Kestra]

I don't know too much about the specific issues you mention, since I've never been formerly diagnosed with anything but I've had GI issues since childhood which were worsening in the last few months. My symptoms included bloating, burping, heartburn, pain after eating, indigestion, constant mild nausea and/or constant hunger, and also a short stay in the emergency room for lower abdominal pain where they couldn't find anything wrong at all. Around August I was pretty much at desperation level and complained to my doctor that I just felt SICK, all the time - tired, flu-like symptoms as well as the GI stuff. She suggested a mono test (negative I'm sure) and a referred me for a stomach x-ray (done today). Most doctors aren't much help here as they just want to do one test at a time and they never wanted to talk about diet, investigate thoroughly or really get to the heart of the issue. So frustrated by my doctors lack of care and scared from my first time hospitalized and being on IV morphine, I decided to determine if I had any food intolerances that could be causing or aggravating my symptoms. I researched what foods are most commonly known to cause trouble. Then I went on a pretty strict elimination diet for about 4 weeks to start, including writing down everything I ate and what symptoms I had. I eliminated wheat, soy, dairy, nuts, citrus, potato, tomato, peppers, corn, white sugar, caffeine, vinegar, yeast, alcohol and additives as much as I possibly could. I ended up having to add onions and garlic to that list as those appear to be my main triggers of symptoms. After this diet ALL my GI symptoms went away. No more constant nausea. No more having to lie down after eating on some days or try to sleep sitting up on other days. No more pain after eating. Prior to this, I can't remember when I last could eat without the potential for pain. I used to think it was anxiety and now I suspect it was garlic or onions primarily. Now it's been almost two months and I have added some of those list items back in small or moderate amounts still don't eat others at all. Not eating wheat and sugar (other than fruit sugars) I'm also not hungry all the time. I used to snack at work every hour. I still need to eat every 3 hours or so but no more gnawing hunger pain. I went for my stomach x-ray today because getting a referral is so hard, but I feel I didn't need it at all.

That's my suggestion - look to your diet - even things that aren't usual allergy triggers. Onions/garlic aren't generally thought to be big on the food intolerance lists but if I have even a little bit, such as in soup or broth or salad (even if I pick out the onions) major symptoms occur and it takes several days for my GI tract to go back to normal. I suspect this is an induced intolerance, by eating too much of these as I love onions/garlic. Keeping a food diary is pretty useful as long as you write down every single thing you eat and analyze it once it's been several weeks so patterns might start to develop.

Of course chances are you have things completely unrelated to food as well, but if you can decrease the symptoms from diet it's worth trying.

[Mrs. Hermit]

I have a vagus-nerve defect. It effects my heart (need meds to keep the heart rate steady), my kidneys, my blood volume, and sporadically my digestion. My stomach just sometimes seems to quit digesting anything. When this happens, I drink a daily cup of decaf coffee for a few days, and don't eat much. That seems to give it enough of a kick to solve the problem. Sometimes I get GERD, which feels like the opposite problem! I take one of the over-the-counter acid reducers when that is a problem. I have to be careful not to eat too much at any one time, not to eat too frequently, and to be careful with amounts of beans/cabbage/broccoli/tomatoes. Too much of those can cause problems. I also try to eat yogurt frequently, and I try to use whole grain foods. The problems seem to come and go in severity, and may be linked to other health issues. For example, during a fibromyalgia flair, I can expect stomach problems. Mostly I just try to listen to my body, and deal with whatever comes along.

[fidgiegirl]

Not fun. I have mystery gut stuff and have yet to find the answer other than avoiding my problem foods (apples, citrus, broccoli, all dark leafy greens, anything with too much insoluble fiber). When I have focused on reducing wheat I have had some success but never managed to eliminate it completely. I was going to see an integrative health doc but never got around to it. I almost wonder if it's not the foods itself that irritate me but some other food allergy and then my gut just can't handle those tougher foods.

No solutions for you, but plenty of sympathy. Most of the time it just feels like any docs I've seen have just been taking a stab in the dark as far as gut stuff, despite lots of tests. No one ever recommended an elimination diet, but I think I'd like to still do one.

[Rosemary]

An anti-inflammatory diet has cleared up many of my formerly mysterious aches & pains. It began with an allergy elimination diet as described by Kestra, above. I found some foods that caused problems in small quantities, and some foods that just generally make me feel bad. My GERD is much improved. The biggest class of foods that I avoid is grains, particularly anything made with flour, as well as processed sugars. It has been a big change in the way our family eats but to be honest, no one has commented on the lack of baked goods, as they have been replaced by other items.

[Aqua Blue]

No answers, but I have similar problems. I think grains are an issue for me also.

[CathyA]

Thanks everyone.

I'm wondering if some of us who think we might have a variation of celiac disease actually have gastroparesis. Carbs are the worst for hanging around in the stomach and fermenting. I've noticed that when I cut back on carbs in general, I feel better. Probably mostly due to having less fermentation going on.

I googled "gastroparesis" alot and found a doc who gave some suggestions for externally helping with digestion. The one that seems to help me is the stomach-pulsing thing that you do after you eat. You just contract your abdominal muscles in and out, in and out, many times after you eat, and it seems to help the stomach empty.
He also suggested using a vibrator over your stomach, but I think I'll wait on that one.
This has sure helped me to cut back on my eating. As was mentioned, it feels just like lap band surgery must feel.

I'm curious......for those of you who have this problem, do you often get irregular heartbeats from it? I always feel like when my esophagus gets irritated, I get irregular beats. Then I found out the Vagus nerve runs alongside the esophagus.

And another thing.........I'm always hungry (at least I was before this). Makes me wonder....with food laying around in my stomach and taking hours to leave, maybe my brain never gets the signal that its eaten. I know diabetics have major blood sugar control problems if they have gastroparesis, because as long as the food is in their stomachs, their blood sugar plummets. Then when it finally does come out, their blood sugar gets too high.

Even if I get this cleared up on my own, I think I will need to visit the GI doc, as I think my diverticula are acting up too. As Rosanne Rosannadana used to say "There's always somethin'!"

[Rosemary]

CathyA, I've had irregular heartbeats off and on for a number of years. I know that caffeine is a trigger, but I experienced them even when off caffeine (which I've been for about 10 years). However - interestingly enough! - when I went on the allergy elimination diet, they completely disappeared.

[steve s]

I do not discuss my "organ recital".

I will say the treatments for GP are not without serious life-changing consequences. Being diagnosed with GP does not foretell a quick cure.

The test for GP is a pain and you'll need to go to Nuclear Medicine/GI testing specialist who does this test a lot. It can take as long as 6 hours.
You fast,then you are fed an egg scrambled with radiactive pellets. They take xrays every 15 minutes to estimate the time it takes for 1/2 of what you eat to pass out of the stomach.

[steve s]

I forgot to add:

Go here for good information:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/gastroparesis/