Acid Reflux UGH!!!!

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/gastroparesis/index.htm

You should see a dr. about it right away. Could be lots of things. My gastroparesis syptoms are nausea, stomach pain, bloated feeling, feeling like food gets stuck when swallowing, feeling full after just a few bites of food - but the sypmtoms are many and vary from person to person. I hope you get some good answers soon.

My grandmother had something that sounds like this. She had a hiatal hernia. She said it felt as if her food got trapped in her esophagus too. The best thing to do is see a doctor ASAP for the proper diagnosis. BTW-I get acid reflux (not nearly as bad as you do, but it still is annoying), and I use Prilosec OTC. This may help while you are waiting for your doctor's appointment to arrive (cause you know that it is nearly impossible to get a same day appointment, LOL). BTW-elevating your head while you sleep may help keep some of that acid down.

Good luck and I hope you feel better soon!

Denise, I don't get cramping after a few bites, I just feel like I've just finished Thanksgiving dinner! I feel full and bloated right away, and have stomach pain a couple of hours after a heavy meal. I actually expected a dx of hiatal hernia (as Kelly suggests) when I went to my dr. He first said it's just GERD and prescribed Prilosec. He said if it didn't help after a couple of months to let him know. It didn't help at all so he ordered some tests, which showed the GP. I agree elevating your head slightly for sleeping might help. Some gastrparesis patients feel better lying on their right side. (Food moves out of the stomach and into the small bowel from left to right, so lying on your right side gives you a gravitational advantage!)

I hope you can see a dr. soon. In the mean time, try the suggestions for sleeping position, and Prilosec might help ease symptoms. You might also try eating 5 or 6 small meals a day rather than 2 or 3 large meals. Also see if it helps to replace some meals with nutritional liquids (milk, juice, Ensure). Liquids will pass out of the stomach much more easily than solid food.

I hope you find relief.
{{hugs}}

Denise, you need to put pillows under the head of the mattress so your not sleeping flat. Get to a doc as soon as possible for a scope of your esophagus and stomach. I had GERD so bad I was aspirating in my sleep and not only almost choking to death but getting pneumonia. Stomach acid was not meant to be in our throats or lungs. I had surgery for mine 10 yrs ago but they have improved the procedure since then. They wrapped the upper part of the stomach around the esophagus to make a new valve. Mine is only a one way valve and I can not vomit now but like I said they have improved it a lot since I had mine done. But Prilosec or something like it may be all you need. I took Nexium for a long time but our ins stopped paying for it and will only pay for Prilosec.

 

Mayo and sweets were what bothered me the most. Sweets were fine as long as I didn't eat them before bedtime oh and cinnamon, I went years without eating anything with cinnamon in it and boy have I made up for it since the surgery. Mayo still bothers me some so I limit it.

 

I have a hard time getting dry things down since I have so little saliva so I have to be careful and drink a lot while eating. Before I gave up meats due to the gastroparesis I had a hard time getting some meats down. I got rice stuck not long ago and it wouldn't go down but thank goodness I was able to get it back up which was a first. I know kinda gross but some of us have this problem.

 

To do the test for gastroparesis you eat radio active food and they watch to see how long it takes to digest it. They only made me lay there for two hours and I still hadn't digested it. I have had no problems since I gave up dense meats and of course any raw veggies that are hard to digest.

 

I haven't had that full feeling after a small amount of food for quite awhile but I'm not sure that is a good thing.

 

Song are you on any meds for GP???

 

luv and hugs

Marlee

Thank you all for your replies.  I am going to make an appointment with my GP as soon as I get up tomorrow.  I was nervous about going to sleep last night so I stayed up really late so, of course, I slept late today.  I am going to take your suggestions & elevate my head in bed.  Also, I am going to talk to my Pharmacist tomorrow & make sure I can take Prilosec with my other meds & then use that until my appointment.  I think I will write down each of the different dx's you guys gave as possibilities & talk to my GP about each.  She is very good at listening & is always interested in what I find out on the Forum, (She & her colleagues have quite a few Fibro patients) she says it gives her a good starting place.  In the meantime, I am trying very hard to eat slowly & not gulp air & chew my food well.  It really helps to know that this may not take years to dx.  I always have a tendency, anymore, to think of all the time & money & I just don't want to do that, ya know?  Oh & Marlee, I figured out that I had eaten a big gooey cinnamon roll covered in frosting the night before I had the episode, (yup, I splurged on my diet) not too long before bed.  Also, I hadn't had any of those problems since I started on the diet, it's something I will tell my GP.   

Hugs to all, what a wonderful group of people, Denise