Feeling extremely full and bloated after a big meal is normal, with symptoms going away within an hour or two. However, if you find yourself full, bloated, and experiencing frequent stomach pain or heartburn after a small amount of food, you may have an uncommon stomach disorder called gastroparesis.
Gastroparesis, also known as delayed gastric emptying, is when the passage of food from the stomach to the small intestine is slowed. Food remains in the stomach longer than normal, leading to nausea, vomiting, bloating, stomach pain, and other digestive problems. While gastroparesis can affect people of any age, it’s more common in females, and among people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Living with gastroparesis doesn’t have to prohibit you from doing and eating things you enjoy; fortunately, several treatments and lifestyle practices are available to help reduce symptoms and improve your quality of life.
Nova Vita Solutions
Long-term chronic stomach issues shouldn’t take over your life. At Nova Vita, we offer a range of services to support your health and well-being. Our lab panels provide detailed insights into your overall health, including the ability to monitor blood sugar level stability, which is crucial for managing gastroparesis. Our personalized weight management program offers tailored guidance and support, including nutritional counseling and customized plans that align with your body’s unique needs. Additionally, our infusions are designed to provide essential nutrients that may be difficult to absorb due to gastroparesis. These infusions can help you stay nourished, hydrated, and energized, alleviating some of the common symptoms associated with the condition. Take control of your gastroparesis and improve your quality of life by booking an appointment with us today.
What is Gastroparesis?
In most cases, gastroparesis is a long-term, chronic stomach disorder when your stomach takes too long to empty food. If food stays in your stomach for too long, the food can harden into solid masses called bezoars. These can severely upset your stomach, make you vomit, and create a blockage in your stomach. This can be dangerous if it stops food from passing into your small intestine. For most people (without stomach disorders), food enters the stomach, and enzymes and acids break down and digest the food. Your stomach muscles contract to break down the food and pass it through your small intestine where nutrients are absorbed into the body. For people with gastroparesis, the muscles in your stomach work slower and can’t effectively move food to the small intestine promptly. This causes symptoms such as bloating, nausea, vomiting, and more, and can cause your body not properly to absorb nutrients and medications.
Symptoms of Gastroparesis
The symptoms of gastroparesis may vary for each person and may look like other health problems. Consult your doctor to rule out any other health concerns and confirm you have gastroparesis. Symptoms of gastroparesis may include:
- Upset stomach and nausea
- Vomiting
- Weight loss
- Feeling overly full too soon after you start eating
- Abdominal bloating or pain
- Heartburn or GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease)
- Lack of appetite
What Causes Gastroparesis?
Gastroparesis is caused when your vagus nerve is damaged or stops working. This nerve plays an important role in controlling the stomach muscles that help move food through your digestive tract. When this nerve doesn’t work well, food moves too slowly and isn’t digested properly.
Causes of gastroparesis may include:
- Eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia
- Type 1 or type 2 diabetes
- Surgery on your stomach or vagus nerve
- Certain medications that slow the movement of food through the stomach, such as calcium channel blockers, opiates, and progesterone.
- Neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis
- Metabolic disorders such as having too little of the thyroid hormone (hypothyroidism)
- Autoimmune gastrointestinal dysmotility (AGID), is a condition in which the nerves that control muscles in the stomach are damaged, reducing their ability to move food through the stomach
How is Gastroparesis Diagnosed?
Your healthcare provider will review your medical history, perform a physical exam, and order one or more diagnostic tests to diagnose gastroparesis. Your doctor will ask about your symptoms, examine your abdomen, and look for signs of malnutrition and dehydration. Common tests your doctor will use to confirm diagnosis may include the following:
- Blood tests to check your blood counts and measure your chemical and electrolyte levels.
- Imaging tests, including a nuclear medicine gastric emptying tube or an upper GI series.
- Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy is a test in which a thin tube equipped with a camera and light travels into the mouth, down the esophagus, stomach, and upper part of the small intestine to examine the inside of the upper gastrointestinal tract.
- Gastric emptying scintigraphy (GES), is a test where the patient eats a small meal containing a small amount of a radioactive substance. A radiologist then uses a scanner to track the passage of this substance through the stomach.
- Wireless motility capsule (WMC) is when a patient swallows a small capsule with electronics that allow doctors to track its passage through the stomach and other parts of the GI tract.
How is Gastroparesis Treated?
While for most cases, gastroparesis is a long-term incurable chronic health problem, there are ways to manage the disease. If you have diabetes and gastroparesis, you need to control your blood sugar levels. Your treatment and care plan will depend on your symptoms, age, severity of the condition, and your general health. Treatment plans may include:
- Changing your diet. Eating soft, well-cooked foods that are low in fat and fiber is easier for your body to digest. Your doctor may suggest eating 6 small meals a day instead of 3 large ones. Drinking plenty of fluids and avoiding carbonated drinks, alcohol, and tobacco can also help manage your symptoms.
- Taking certain medications. Talk to your healthcare provider about taking medications to manage your symptoms. Your doctor may prescribe prokinetics (that stimulates muscles in the stomach to propel food forward), antiemetics (that reduces symptoms of nausea and vomiting), or neuromodulators (that modify the amounts of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine to relieve nausea, vomiting, and stomach pain).
- Gastric peroral endoscopic myotomy (G-POEM). An endoscope enters the patient’s mouth and travels into the stomach. The surgeon creates a small cut in the pylorus to improve stomach emptying.
- Gastric electrical stimulation (GES). A mechanical device is implanted in the abdominal wall and sends electrical signals to the stomach muscles, stimulating the muscles to contract and push food from the stomach to the small intestine.
Living With Gastroparesis
While the consequences of gastroparesis are alarming, such as malnutrition, unhealthy weight loss, and a range of digestive issues, proactive treatment plans and medication can provide relief from the symptoms. Because gastroparesis is often a chronic, long-term condition, patients will typically need a long-term treatment plan, or in other words, a long-term lifestyle change. To get started with regaining control of your health and feeling and looking better from the inside out, schedule an appointment with Nova Vita!
