My GI wound up referring me outside for more tests. Which is why I spent the entire afternoon today sitting in one waiting room or another over at my region's teaching hospital. But at the end of it, progress was made!
I think we may finally be getting somewhere. The doctor ordered a series of blood tests, including gastrin level and to rule out things like celiac disease. That I already did. He also wants a gastric emptying study, because he suspects I have a motility disorder. This would actually explain the chronic gastritis as well as the reflux.
In a few weeks, he'll put in a pH monitor, to see if I actually am having acid reflux. Unfortunately, I have to go off of Prilosec to get the pH study, but I'll survive.
If I have gastroparesis, (slow stomach movement) he said we could try domperidone, certain types of biofeedback, or possibly implanting an electrical device called a stomach pacemaker to speed up muscle contractions in my stomach. If I have normal stomach emptying but reflux, then I'll probably be talking to a surgeon about Nissen soon.
Trying not to be TOO optimistic until I know for sure, but I do feel that progress is being made.
Questions:
Has anyone out there ever had some form of training or biofeedback for upper GI problems? I haven't found much info on that. Or gotten a stomach pacemaker? That's VERY new, and there are currently only a few hospitals in the country doing it.
Hi
I have Gastroparesis. I am having a Gastric Pacemaker fitted on the 19th July. Have you had any results back from your studies? As GP is so rare its very difficult to find people who even know what it is never mind know how to tread it. Hope you don't mind me asking but what symptoms do you suffer from. Do you get sickness, bloating and pain. There are so many different gastric problems its sometimes very hard even for a GI Dr to diagnose. Hope you are feeling better. Feel free to get in touch if you need to talk or just have a moan. We all need to now and then.
My symptoms originally started 5 years ago with burning pain in my stomach, worsened with certain dietary triggers, helped by eating bland foods. I got scoped, and I have chronic inflammation in the stomach, for no clear reason. I went to a doctor a few times, but he didn't have much to offer, so I decided to live with it and not pursue more treatment.
In May of last year, I abruptly developed allergic asthma, and my digestive issues got a lot worse, and now the reflux and the asthma symptoms trigger each other, which is just awesome. I get sore throat, acid taste in the mouth, chest pain and pressure, and sometimes nausea, in addition to the abdominal pain. I avoid coffee, alcohol, spicy, greasy or acidic foods, as well as certain medicines. I take Prilosec twice a day and Zantac 2-4 times per day, but still have a lot of symptoms. I have a hard time gaining weight and keeping it on. I'm still 7 pounds below last year.
I've had my gastric emptying study done, and some bloodwork, but I haven't heard the results yet.
Originally, I was supposed to get my pH monitor put in on Monday the 11th, but last Thursday I learned it had been put off until the 18th, which means I have to spend three weeks off all GI meds, rather than two. Actually 23 days, because the test takes 2 days. I do NOT do well with quitting Prilosec cold-turkey, so I'm living on white bread, skim milk and Gaviscon. I'd trade my laptop for bowl of cherries.
Still, I might finally get some answers here. I have to stop the reflux, or I'm never going to get lasting asthma control. I have to stop the gastritis, because it could eventually cause other problems. I don't want to be on high-dose PPIs all my life.
We'll see what happens.
Last edited by janewhite1; 07-09-2011 at 09:05 PM.
Reason: html fail
The following user gives a hug of support to janewhite1: MountainReader (07-10-2011)
My symptoms originally started 5 years ago with burning pain in my stomach, worsened with certain dietary triggers, helped by eating bland foods. I got scoped, and I have chronic inflammation in the stomach, for no clear reason. I went to a doctor a few times, but he didn't have much to offer, so I decided to live with it and not pursue more treatment.
In May of last year, I abruptly developed allergic asthma, and my digestive issues got a lot worse, and now the reflux and the asthma symptoms trigger each other, which is just awesome. I get sore throat, acid taste in the mouth, chest pain and pressure, and sometimes nausea, in addition to the abdominal pain. I avoid coffee, alcohol, spicy, greasy or acidic foods, as well as certain medicines. I take Prilosec twice a day and Zantac 2-4 times per day, but still have a lot of symptoms. I have a hard time gaining weight and keeping it on. I'm still 7 pounds below last year.
I've had my gastric emptying study done, and some bloodwork, but I haven't heard the results yet.
Originally, I was supposed to get my pH monitor put in on Monday the 11th, but last Thursday I learned it had been put off until the 18th, which means I have to spend three weeks off all GI meds, rather than two. Actually 23 days, because the test takes 2 days. I do NOT do well with quitting Prilosec cold-turkey, so I'm living on white bread, skim milk and Gaviscon. I'd trade my laptop for bowl of cherries.
Still, I might finally get some answers here. I have to stop the reflux, or I'm never going to get lasting asthma control. I have to stop the gastritis, because it could eventually cause other problems. I don't want to be on high-dose PPIs all my life.
We'll see what happens.
Thats nasty. Why do they do these things to us.I have some of the same sort of pains but some aren't. I hope they finally sort something out for you.
Hope you are doing Ok
Sue xx
The following user gives a hug of support to sue97: janewhite1 (07-10-2011)
Well, it's official. According to the gastric emptying study, I have gastroparesis.
I'm actually sort of relieved to have an answer. I'm certainly not surprised. Bloodwork came back normal except for elevated gastrin, and elevated gastric is normal in someone on PPIs.
I still have to have my pH monitoring done, and that's a whole situation, because it keeps getting delayed due to the hospital not having the monitoring device in stock. The doctor did call in some Carafate for me when I told him the rebound was killing me, and it is letting me eat a bit more.
The repeated delays are really frustrating, not just due rebound sickness but also due to the scheduling inconvenience. I'll be sedated lightly, so the hospital requires that I be dropped off and picked up by a competent adult, not a cab. I can't even take a cab or bus there and be picked up afterwards, which means that not only do I lose a day to the procedure, but someone else pretty much has to miss an entire day of work to chauffeur me around.
I'm thinking I'll actually finish the rebound period (with plenty of Zantac) and stay off the Prilosec. When I first took Prilosec, I thought it was great, but after the first couple weeks, it didn't seem to do anything for me, and the rebound is absolute torment. I think I just acclimate to Prilosec too quickly for it to be useful. My asthma is good right now, and even two weeks of rebound have only aggravated it a little, so I think it should be safe to quit.
Despite the fact that the doctors keep telling me otherwise, I think my other medicine nortriptyline (which I take for chronic pain) may be a contributing factor to the gastroparesis. Certainly every source I've read says it may be related. In about a week, I think I'll try to taper off nortriptyline, and see if I can stay off. I'm not totally sure how I'll deal with the pain without it, but I need to know one way or the other.
One thing I'd really like to know about the nortriptyline is How Long. How long do I have to be off it before I know if it's affecting my stomach?
But at the end of it, progress was made!
Actually 23 days, because the test takes 2 days. I do NOT do well with quitting Prilosec cold-turkey, so I'm living on white bread, skim milk and Gaviscon. I'd trade my laptop for bowl of cherries.
