http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765612441/Womans-death-brings-national-attention-to-rare-gastrointestinal-disease.html?pg=2
Okay I'm stepping onto my soap box about this article!! If you suffer from Gastroparesis, please read! If you don't, this article & post will probably be boring to you! Such a scary thing to read. After battling for years, what felt like the stomach flu over and over and over, I was finally diagnosed April last year with this disease. It is scary to think about how unfamiliar doctors are with Gastroparesis, and that it's now killing people. I read an article not too long ago about this being a slow death sentence.......you're slowly starving to death, and it's hard to keep under control. This nasty stuff lands me in the ER on average of 1-2 times per year and it's the most miserable thing I've ever had to deal with. I handled Giardia much better than this disease! The meds that are available for it don't work very well, and when they do, it's only for a couple of weeks, then you're back to misery. Not to mention, the meds have horrible side effects. One of the meds, which I was taking for a while is an antibiotic, and having to take antibiotics constantly, is so horrible for the body.....not to mention, if I got an infection, I was screwed because I already had antibiotics in my system, so I would have to take stronger doses just to fight an infection. There is a diet you can do, but it takes all the nutritious foods out of your diet, and you basically eat crap. I had surgery 3 months ago, which triggered my GP to worsen. A little over a month ago, I was the sickest I've ever been with this disease. My meds stopped working, and going under anesthesia for surgery shut my entire digestive system down & it was very slow functioning after. I switched doctors, and my new doctor took me off the antibiotics and we're now working with my diet instead. Eating soft & easier to digest foods, but still getting the vital nutrients needed. I have started doing daily smoothies & juicing fruits/veggies, which so far has worked really well since the food is broken down before entering into my stomach, therefore, making the stomach not have to work as hard, since it's partially paralyzed anyway. I've had to take high fatty/greasy foods out of my diet....although I still occasionally sin. Also, eating late at night is now a big NO NO for me, which is so hard since I love to pop a nice big bowl of popcorn after the kids go to bed and cuddle up and watch the boob tube. I am learning though, if my stomach is functioning pretty well for the day, I can occasionally have a late night popcorn fix, but ONLY if my stomach is functioning properly. I have been attack free for about 5 weeks now, so I'm hoping this is a breakthrough. Guess time will tell. If you're reading this mile long post, and you also suffer from GP, try doing what I'm doing and see if it works for you as well. I'm really curious to know if dietary changes are a better medication for this disease than drugs!! Okay.....I'll get off my soap box now!
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Thursday, October 11, 2012
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