Maybe gastroparesis, and definitely problems with bowel motility

Hi. I am feeling overwhelmed and not sure what to do next. So I am asking for organizing help and support from those who have like symptoms....Thank you in advance!

About two and a half years ago I started having severe difficulty with constipation. I have always had it, but now it was worse. Nothing over the counter worked; not enemas, not bulk, and not pills. Prescriptions haven't worked for long either. Even when I can feel diarria in my gut, I still don't go. Colonoscopy preps do work though; just pretty nasty stuff. And I found something called Super Colon Cleanse and when I take that with Linzess, I could go to the bathroom, for about three months. Now that is not working very well. I just tried aloe juice with Linzess and Super Colon Cleanse, and that is a little better.

Lately, it seems like I have developed delayed stomach emptying. I talked w my endocrinologist and he suggested taking bolus after I see on my cgm that sugar is rising. I started that. Then a few nights ago, I treated a low blood sugar and couldn't get it back up. I was 32 and beginning to think I was going to have to shoot glucogon. Then, over the course of the night, having turned off the high alarm out of frustration and sleep deprivation, I hit somewhere above 400. The next morning I changed my low alarm to 90.

My gastro hasn't return phone calls. I finally called the Nurse Manager, who reported that the reason his Nurse Practitioner didn't return the call was because the doctor was out of town. Nice. I asked for a doctor on staff to call me. He has prescribed something that starts with an "A" and I am picking it up at the pharmacy now.

Any thoughts, suggestions? Which tests do I need? I think I am going to try to find a doctor in St. Louis who specializes in this... Thanks for your time and consideration, and I look forward to hearing from any one of you.

Sounds to me like you need a gastri emptying study. That is the best way to determine gastroparesis. I had the opposite issue - not constipation, but of course everyone is different. I would have the gastroenterologist run a gastric emptying study and go from there. That should give them plenty of information to start digging into what is happening.

1 Like

Thanks Jo. I talked to the gastro guy yesterday and he said, "Well, with your sugars hitting 30-upper 300's, I'm not doing any tests, until your sugars are better" . I tried to explain that they aren't normally going crazy, just from this delayed gastro thing.......but a call from my diabetes doc might help him understand.

Thank you for your reply.

Is your issue under control now, or have you learned to deal with it better than when you first got it?

I have forgotten a few times to shoot after I eat. That seems to be the biggest problem....that is when I can't then get out of a low. Forty five years of doing it the other way.....

Best to you.

Kim