Topic: Food goes in but doesn't come out other end too good
Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
This condition is called gastroparesis.
Or perhaps you prefer the Tincup version.. sluggish belly movements?
Here is some information that might help you.. and the condition IS found in folks with Lyme disease. HEY! Even HOPKINS says so!!! So it MUST be true! Or... they say it because everyone on this planet already KNOWS it! HA!
This condition occurs when the rate of the electrical wave slows and the stomach contracts less frequently. Now the food just lays in the stomach relying on acid and digestive enzymes to break down the food and on gravity to empty the stomach. There are a number of causes for this condition:
* Normal Stomach Contractions Diabetes is the most common known cause. Adrenal and thyroid gland problems can also be a cause although these are infrequent
* Scars and fibrous tissue from ulcers and tumors can block the outlet of the stomach and mimic gastroparesis
* Certain drugs weaken the stomach (tricyclic antidepressants such as Elavil, calcium blockers such as Cardizem and Procardia, L-dopa, hyoscyamine, Bentyl, Levsin, narcotics)
* Previous stomach surgery
* Anorexia and bulimia
* Neurologic or brain disorders such as Parkinson's disease, strokes and brain injury
* Certain diseases such as lupus erythematosus and scleroderma
* In up to 40% of cases the cause of gastroparesis is not known
It should be noted that not all of these disorders affect the pacemaker of the stomach.
Some disorders weaken the stomach muscle itself so it can't respond to the pacemaker. In either case, the result is the same, gastroparesis.
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A diet designed to assist those with this condition:
Inflammatory causes of gastroparesis: report of five cases.
Pande H, Lacy BE, Crowell MD.
Marvin M. Schuster Center for Digestive and Motility Disorders, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21224, USA. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The good news is.. if you have gastroparesis... it is treated with an antibiotic (erythromycins)!!!!
So... if you have this symptom.. and you need antibiotics for Lyme.. funny how they WILL give it for a symptom of Lyme.. but not Lyme itself. DUH...
See this site.. down at the very bottom... where it says..
Additional Information Once a medicine has been approved for marketing for a certain use, experience may show that it is also useful for other medical problems. Although these uses are not included in product labeling, erythromycins are used in certain patients with the following medical conditions:
Other than the above information, there is no additional information relating to proper use, precautions, or side effects for these uses. http://health.yahoo.com/drug/202223
posted
I have mentioned this many times on here, I think more of us Lyme patients suffer from this than we know.
What I will say is that it really is not that easy to treat. Low dosages of erythromycin do very little to correct the problem. My GI doc gave me low dosages of Zelnorm to try to help.
Diet change is really necessary have to stay away from raw vegtables and fruit, and whole milk, gluteen products, fat.... Need to eat many small meals instead of large ones.
I think mine was more related to babs, because I am better now after 12 months of mepron/zith. Have not been retested, but I want to to seef if it has gotten better.
What it does do though is it changes how your meds are absorbed, so it is real important to check the levels of meds in your bloodstream each time you change dosages. I had a situation were 200mg of doxy was actually giving me the equivilant of 400mg. So if you have this there is a real chance you might be getting to much or to little of the drug.
I also found that suspensions were more effective than the pills. I took liquid zithro and did much better.
Posts: 533 | From Las Vegas, NV | Registered: Jun 2003
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Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Hey Kira..
Feel like you have a cow in your belly that wants to rumble?? UGH! Not a good feeling! Sorry to hear it. Maybe Little h's comments might help?
Hey little h...
Good to hear you have posted on this topic. I wasn't sure the "official name" of it.. and am now getting caught up on some things.
I asked my chiropractor about it.. and he said "bitters" might help. It can be purchased in some health food stores.
I have a bottle here from the liquor store.. but haven't tried it yet. I didn't want it to suddenly work while I was out of town at the Senate hearings!
But that does make sense about the diet.. and I am glad you shared that info. I will certainly try it. I have been eating all the wrong things, it appears, after seeing what IS good for it.. and what isn't. Anything at this point to help.. I will try!
And it is interesting you suggested Babesiosis. Good thinking... and I was wondering the same thing about the connection.
Now that I am home near the porcelin throne.. I MIGHT try the bitters. Will let you know if it helps.
posted
So thats what is causing the rumbling in my stomach. At night especially when sitting or lying down I get these terrible loud sounds strangely they don't sound like it is always the stomach making the noise sometimes it sounds like and feels like it is coming from the intestines.
Posts: 649 | From United States | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
Tincup strikes again! This is such a useful post. I knew there was something different from plain old constipation going on, and reading this really helped me to sort it out.
You're the best, TC!
Posts: 199 | From Santa Cruz, CA | Registered: Oct 2004
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docdave130
Unregistered
posted
i wish i had that problem . i eat and it goes right thru me. all the acidophillus in the world doesn't help.
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Sue vG
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3143
posted
I find that Mg malate keeps thing moving along nicely. Also, getting on thyroid meds helped with regularity.
Posts: 1307 | From TX | Registered: Sep 2002
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I had an upper GI where they told me to take a few walks around the block to see if anything would ever leave the stomach!
As a result my acid reflux includes a hiatal hernia. No acid blockers help, they only make me much sicker!
What works for me is Metamucil, tonic water, magnesium, tums, and time. The Doug coil usually brings on a Bm and an extra dose of synthroid once a week helps too.
Posts: 499 | From Western NY | Registered: Dec 2000
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Beverly
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 1271
posted
It sure soudns like I have it??? But who knows anymore? I know I am gonan have fun reading what I can't eat..for sure.
posted
I really want to stress that if you have gastroparesis, it does effect absorption of oral meds. This is the real point I wanted to make.
You should request that your Docs monitor the Blood levels of all your meds, especially if you are having problems with them. You might be getting to much or to little. I know that this was the case for me.
Posts: 533 | From Las Vegas, NV | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
Constipation. It was my very first symptom alone with back pain, of what I now know is lyme disease. Has anyone else had this as a primary symptom? (actually, I had a beauty of an EM rash that I thought was a reaction to a yellow jacket sting that I got in the same leg)
I could go little bits and it was not hard stool it just would not empty. My first diagnosis was IBS with constipation. The gastro guy thought that my intestional musclesjust got disorganized and had mixed up electrical impulses. It just just stoped functioning. "stress related" Which I bought at the time because I was extra stressed with a death in the family.
Lyme disease can cause paralysis. And it is a multi-system illness. I am thinking that it just happened to be my intestional track that is having paralysis. Does this make since to anyone? Has anyone had similar symptoms?
Posts: 258 | From Washington State | Registered: Nov 2005
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lymeloco
Unregistered
posted
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Visit these IFFGD web sites: IFFGD.org About IFFGD Industry Council GI Disorders Publication List Research Membership Calendar Make a Donation Links Glossary aboutConstipation.org aboutGERD.org aboutIncontinence.org aboutKidsGI.org giResearch.org
IBS Publications Another look at bacteria and IBS
Is IBS a Bacterial Infection? By: William E. Whitehead, Ph.D., Professor of Medicine and Co-Director, University of North Carolina Center for Functional GI and Motility Disorders
A recent article by Dr. Mark Pimentel and colleagues at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center caused a great deal of excitement because it suggested that irritable bowel syndrome is a bacterial infection that can be treated with antibiotics [1]. These claims were widely reported in newspapers [2]. If they are true, then the understanding and management of IBS will be revolutionized. However, a careful reading of the study suggests caution.
The authors made two important observations: first, that 78% of IBS patients had small bowel bacterial overgrowth and second, that eradication of bacterial overgrowth decreased the symptoms of diarrhea and abdominal pain and "cured" IBS in 48%. Let's take these observations one at a time.
Although it is premature to conclude that the authors have found the cause and the cure for IBS, they have drawn attention to the fact that small bowel bacterial overgrowth is a relatively common condition that can cause symptoms suggestive of IBS. The patients who entered this study were not a representative group of IBS patients; they were patients who were referred for breath testing because their doctors suspected they had small bowel bacterial overgrowth. Selecting patients for testing in this way may have led to an overestimation of the proportion of IBS patients who have small bowel bacterial overgrowth. The only way to know what proportion of IBS patients have small bowel bacterial overgrowth is to test a large, representative group of patients.
The criteria for diagnosing small bowel bacterial overgrowth may also have been rather liberal. The investigators appropriately considered a test as positive only if they saw two peaks in breath hydrogen concentration, one representing intestinal bacteria and the second representing bacteria in the colon. However, they are unclear how high the first peak had to be for the test to be considered positive. Their rate of positive tests was much higher than expected; for example, out of 144 tests for suspected small bowel bacterial overgrowth carried out in our laboratory during a one year period, only 28% were positive.
It is also difficult to evaluate the authors' claim that eradication of abdominal pain and diarrhea with antibiotics "cures" IBS because only 30% of the IBS patients treated with antibiotics returned for evaluation. This was a retrospective study, so it was left to the discretion of the primary physician (not the investigators) which antibiotics were used to treat and whether the patient was asked to return for testing. It is important to know whether the other 70% were not sent back because they no longer had symptoms or whether they were not sent back because diagnosis and treatment of small bowel bacterial overgrowth made no difference, so their doctors had moved on to other tests.
Quite apart from these concerns about the study design, there is a question whether these patients should be diagnosed as IBS. The Rome criteria [3] state that a patient should be diagnosed IBS if they have a sufficient number of a list of positive symptoms (which these patients had) and if there is no alternative, disease explanation for these symptoms. Many gastroenterologists are aware that small bowel bacterial overgrowth can produce symptoms similar to IBS, just as inflammatory bowel disease and lactose malabsorption can; they do not label a patient as IBS if there is evidence for one of these alternative diagnoses.
Although it is premature to conclude that the authors have found the cause and the cure for IBS, they have drawn attention to the fact that small bowel bacterial overgrowth is a relatively common condition that can cause symptoms suggestive of IBS. This may have the beneficial effect of causing physicians to consider this diagnosis more frequently, to test for it, and to treat appropriately when it is found. However, antibiotics should only be prescribed when there is definite evidence of small bowel bacterial overgrowth because antibiotics occasionally cause harmful side-effects, and their indiscriminant use may lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria.
References:
[1] Pimentel M, Chow EJ, Lin HC. Eradication of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth reduces symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Am J Gastroenterol 2000;95:3503-3506.
[2] Beasley D. Study links intestinal bacteria to irritable bowel syndrome. Reuters, Los Angeles, December 13, 2000.
[3] Thompson WG, Longstreth G, Drossman DA, Heaton K, Irvine EJ, Muller-Lissner S. Functional bowel disorders and functional abdominal pain. In: Drossman DA, et al. Rome II: The functional gastrointestinal disorders, 2nd edition. Degnon Associates, McLean, Va, 2000. Pp 351-432.
For more on this topic, read the comments of Dr. Douglas Drossman
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Carol in PA
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 5338
posted
henson2, Look at the date of the first post.
posted March 15, 2005
Posts: 6956 | From Lancaster, PA | Registered: Feb 2004
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just don
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1129
posted
I have a few ramblings that I thought pertanet to this thread. I used to take bucketfuls of pills and always was constipated even when taking flagyl which others had runs from. I discontinued all those Rx,s grown over time that wew NOT for pain management or contributed to it indirectly. I take 4 Tramadol insted of usual 6 before, 2 neurontin-before 3 or 4 , now zero allergy meds(have taken those 20years or more) now I just take either an OTC Claritan or a small Generic Benadryll. Still take ny gluchclos..-clontridion, citrical and magnesium as pain management helpers All the others I quit cold turkey as they ran out. Tried also to dump the cardura but it related to getting up too much at night andd disrupting sleep so kept that. I went from 1200-1500 a month RX bills to less than a hundred or so depending on who is running the co-pay,that day but generally in that 60-75$dollAR REGION PER MONTH.I AM MUCH HAPPIER NOT TO HAVE TO FIGURE OUT WHERE NY NEXT PENNY IS COMING FROM, that I cant find till I sweep the floor a couple time OR raid the chairs and couchs for change One of the axed meds I didnt think I could tolerate without would have been the expensive "Acifex" (at one time I was taking 4 per day, That was $400 per month just for that And they didnt do it all) I have alot of digestive issues still to the point of causing constant gas resulting in naseua. I combat that issue with chewing gum constantly when I am in motion This really relives the gas issues whether it results itself inconstant relieveing itsef from belching, fluffing, and that old restless leg(much like waiting to tinkle too long) .The other choice that works would be like a diabetic and carry sun flower seeds. The secret seems to make the mouth busy , getting those digestive juices flowing. Even if you had to suck on hard candy all day, one guy I talked to had same thing and he sucked on a rock all day When laying in bed on one side tummies just gurgul. and make so nuch racket cant sleep. S o have to turn over so food can exit properly
Okay next rambling about my fathers condition. They attempted to do a hiatal hernia repair by scope, guessing now around 2000. They shoved the scope where it should have never gone(thru the walls of the intestine)Went from minor surgery to major real fast. Coming out of anesthisiia wasnt fast enough and he collapsed both lungs from like pneumonia. he is deathly ill at this point and on full life support. His chanses were grim to say the least. Death was knocking on his door.(He makes a very poor patient anyway) They find a few pockets of infection they drained, He survived on high dose abx for a long time. But ever since that episode it goofed up something inside. has had constant diheria(sp) some days so bad cant leave the throne. A 1-10 scale of gas passed very very smelly offensive and probably should be rated at 25 or so, For five years he has been going to ducks and they dont have a clue. Just IBS, your age, your past problems(very lengthy) go home and live with it, it cant be that bad, take an Imodium and all is well. Gave him accidohillis(refrig kind)no help. he was going to doc in next few days because he coulndt stand the suffering and weakness any more and I said you guys pitch a fit until they give him a test for hy-plori, new gal there(hometown gal all educated up and now going to show the world what she learned) says "NOBODY" ever has that. Thats crazy, thats not his problem. Somehow arms gets twisted enough she gave him the test and he 'was' highly positive. She's grumpin around and gives him a sample of some low grade abx and says take this and you are all cured, dont call me, i will call you!! Took all the pills as presribed and how HE wanted to. No difference after a couple months, still in distress. So went to regular man doctor and he says right up front"She put you on that one pill??? That will NEVER cut it, what you have. here. you need this three pill combo and then a follow up with a scope to see if the hy-plori was still there. he had his scope last week and they found his colon cancer is back again for the third time. Once in about 1974 or so. and then again in around 89 or 90. That time it was much more severe. So now Dec. 2 is scheduled for a very long surgery to remove and section his large intestine again, if they can. Anethisia being his biggest enemy, with his emphesemia and getting him out of it fast enough to avoid the always happens pneumonia.Could be touch and go!!! havent heard peliminary reports on how big and extensive they think it is by now. But I did want to report that his diareha and off the charts gas problem has recided alot during the three pil combo teatment. He says he doesnt feel better but he does. Ask him, "Is this better" yeah is that better, Yeah. Well then how can you say you feel the same??? The whole purpose of this thread is you have to ASK to be tested for hy-plori, ducks wont do it. Are there any other speciffic infections of the guts that we should be checking on???besides?? If we dont, nobody will,ask,ask,ask--d--
-------------------- just don Posts: 4548 | From Middle of midwest | Registered: May 2001
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First I had to give up wheat and dairy and that pretty much stopped the gas factory that put out stinky product every 10 min.
It still didnt fix the sluggish movement and I never felt like I completley eliminated my bowles even after an exhausting 20 min of slow passing.
I tried psyllium & it stopped me up worse. Drank tons of water and even tried coffee, which would help on ocassion but nothing would clean me out till I tried Chlorella.
I now go at least twice a day and feel completely cleaned out and it only takes a minute or two without agony. Now my stools are well formed instead of hard rocks or runny mess - you know like normal people. Yeah for good poop!!!!!
I take 5 200mg pills, on and empty stomach, 30 minutes befor breakfast lunch and dinner and then 5 pills at bedtime and this has fixed this lifelong problem that has done nothing but get worse and worse.
I started out with tiny doses and worked up till I was sure it would agree with me.
I read about it right here.
Posts: 561 | From connecticut | Registered: May 2004
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