Hi everyone! I am new here seeking help with some complications I have recently had. I was given the prognosis of gastroparesis a few years back and it’s been progressively getting worse. It seems as though anything I eat can potentially make me sick. My stomach has issues emptying, i guess. I dont know much about this chronic issue other than information i have found online. Doctors aren’t much help. After several ER visits i was finally put on a pill called Reginal (sp?). I take it 4 times a day and still have these attacks. I have tried a strict diet of smaller meals and only foods recommended (which dont seem healthy) i have to cut most veggies from my diet, including spinach and asparagus, cut all berries, all whole grains and am told to only eat bleached flour products like white bread and even white rice. These suggestions yield little progress and this is interferring my work life, school life and even life as a mommy.
Does anyone with experience with this have any tips?
Dr. Bernstein has a whole bunch of information in his book “Diabetes Solution.” He has generously made much of it available to read it online. I would encourage you to also work to normalize your blood sugar, in the long-term that holds the promise of halting and perhaps reversing your gastroparesis. Dr. B’s recommendation to keep to a low carb diet can also help the vicious variability your get with gastroparesis. Hope that helps.
You cannot thrive and have your body resist the effects of diabetes with a diet of white things. generally the naturopathic community says to avoid anything white or processed. I think that part of the problem may be with another hormone rarely if ever discussed called amylin. you need to eat as many vegetables as possible. perhaps green smoothies could be the answer. more on amylin:
How it works
As most people with diabetes already know, insulin helps transfer glucose out of the bloodstream and into the body’s cells. It is produced by a group of cells in the pancreas called beta cells. But beta cells secrete more than just insulin; they also secrete amylin. People with Type 1 diabetes, whose beta cells have been destroyed by the body’s immune system, secrete no amylin at all. And people with Type 2 diabetes who have progressed to the point of needing insulin injections (or infusions from a pump) have limited beta cell capacity and thus produce insufficient amylin.
So why all the fuss about amylin? Those of us with diabetes have survived for years without it. But the goal, of course, is more than just survival. It is to manage blood glucose levels effectively so that we feel good, can perform our daily routines, and live long, healthy, productive lives. The natural hormone amylin, as well as its synthetic equivalent, pramlintide (available since 2005 under the brand name Symlin), helps improve blood glucose control after meals. It does this by prompting the following actions:
Slowing digestion. Amylin slows gastric emptying, or movement of food from the stomach into the intestines. When carbohydrates stay in the stomach longer, they are converted to glucose and enter the bloodstream in a slower, more gradual manner.
Blocking glucagon secretion. Glucagon is a pancreatic hormone that raises the blood glucose level by stimulating the liver to release stored glucose. It is usually secreted in response to stress or hypoglycemia (low blood glucose). Without amylin, most people with diabetes produce extra glucagon when they eat; this can contribute to after-meal blood glucose spikes. When taken with meals, Symlin suppresses the inappropriate release of glucagon by the pancreas.
Enhancing satiety (the feeling of fullness). By helping to limit appetite and thus reduce the amount of food eaten during (and between) meals, amylin limits the potential for huge blood glucose
Why would you post this on a Gastroparesis thread, it’s literally about delayed gastric emptying and you are telling people to take a supplement that delays it more?
I’m not T1D (just prediabetic) and my triggers of GP are probably different from yours but the ONE THING that helped me the most was NOT DRINKING WATER before, during, and just after a meal, and chewing more slowly. The theory is that the water that you drink with your meal dilutes your stomach acid so your “digesting power” gets weakened. chewing more slowly invites more saliva to go down with your food so your stomach recognizes it as something it needs to digest. Soup is still ok for whatever reason even though it has water in it. I used to have GP a few times a month, some months more, some months none. since I stopped drinking water with meals in 2016, I can count on my hands the number of episodes I’ve had (and can almost always trace it to a trigger, whereas pre-2016 it just happened randomly)
Sometimes, when I start to feel its onset, I can avert an episode by stopping to put anything in my mouth (not even water) and putting a hot water bottle on my belly to coax my stomach to relax while I go take a nap/sleep for the night. If I manage to sleep through it, then I’m saved. If my measures didn’t work, the pain gets worse and I’ll have to vomit in the wee hours to get rid of my breakfast/lunch, it usually takes a whole hour of vomiting to get rid of absolutely everything (and even if there is half lentil left in there, the pain won’t relent!) I realize it’s harder to do my method of aversion when you have full on diabetes and need to watch your BGL dropping too low.
my triggers don’t always trigger, but every time I’ve had an episode, one or a combination of the following were involved:
processed foods esp fatty+sweet processed foods
(probably some additives confusing my stomach)
unsprouted legumes/pulses in large quantity
tough beef in large quantity
coated vitamins (gels capsules were ok, probably the coating confused my stomach)
poor sleep the night before.
My first ever episode 17 years ago was when I ate Milano while doing college apps at 2am. (combo of crappy sleep and processed sweet/fatty food)
I’m not sure if anyone has mentioned this but have you tried a nutritionist? I have talked to one recently and even a visit over the phone. I try to use protein shakes to get certain nutrients you might be missing out on. You probably already know this but just in case. I have been told to do a liquid diet for a short period of time if symptoms are bad and then work up to soft foods. I can try to find information if you haven’t gotten all of this already. I think the biggest thing that helps is small meals and moving to an insulin pump/trying to better control blood sugars.
You are right though. You have to eliminate some healthier foods because they take longer to digest and can cause symptoms.
