How do I get my stomach to empty faster? (Feeling full, bloated and indigested)

I'm neither a gastro or a dietary expert (hint: I know nothing!) but after my surgery my stomach started working much better when I drastically increased my fibre intake and started pouring olive oil on my food (or having a spoonful of olive oil before eating).

I increased my fibre with high fibre cerial for breakfast (soaked in milk until it was soft), apples and salad (covered in olive oil of course).

Hope this helps a bit,

LD

PS: meant to say you may need try the digestive enzymes a bit longer on their own before adding anything else

Have you ever been tested for Helicobacter Pylori? Your symptoms could suggest a possible H. Pylori infection. I would request to have a test run for it. For an initial diagnosis of H. Pylori you can have a blood test to test for antigen's to the bacteria, or a stool test where you would bring in a small sample of stool to be viewed under microscope for presence of infection, or one of the easiest and most accurate tests is the Urea breath test, where you swallow a small capsule then the doctor takes samples of your breath.

I wont bore you with a long explanation of what H. Pylori is, but if you havent heard of it do a google search and read up on it. It is very common around the world, with over half the worlds population being infected by this bacteria. It only shows strong symptoms in certain people however, and is the leading cause of stomach and duodenal ulcers. Bloating, acidic burps that seem excessive, and stomach pains that get worse when the stomach is empty, and gastritis are the most common symptoms. Another common symptom is that sometimes you will feel full after you have just begun eating. Leaving H. Pylori untreated can cause problems long term, mostly stomach ulcers that can bleed, as well increase your risk of stomach cancer.

It is easy to test for, and could be playing all or part of a roll in your stomach problems. If the test came back negative at least you know you have not been exposed to this bacteria yet in life.

Post Edited (tornado82) : 7/11/2014 6:32:45 PM (GMT-6)

Hi Gewarn,

I have slow motility in my digestive tract and the best treatment I've found for it is regular exercise, particularly aerobic exercise that gets your heart rate up. As your body needs to replace the energy burned, it will naturally call on your digestive system to deliver that energy, and it can only do that by moving the food through your system. My preferred exercise for this is a stationary bike, since that doesn't aggravate my GERD by sloshing acid out of my stomach. Plenty of other exercises would also work, just be careful not to exercise when there is food in your stomach or use exercises that involve bending over or putting pressure on your abdomen.

Your problem could also be from excessive meat consumption. Meat is extremely hard to digest, and it is not surprising to find undigested meat in your stomach long after you have eaten it. The stomach will not release food particles into the small intestine until they are quite tiny in size, so if you do not chew meat to practically a liquid, it is going to sit in your stomach for a long time no matter how much acid you have in there. If you're going to eat a lot of meat, I'd avoid red meat and stick to quicker digesting ones like chicken, turkey, tuna, etc. In general meat is going to make GERD worse, so it's unfortunate if you are unable to eat carbs, since those are the fastest to digest. If you are eating a lot of veggies, I'd avoid eating them raw since raw veggies are also quite slow to digest. Kind of sounds like you are eating the slowest and most GERD inducing food possible, so I'd examine that carefully as a possible source of your problem. Medication is no match for a poor diet.

Burping is usually an early warning sign of a failing LES valve. Not much you can do about that other than try to make its job easier by eating smaller meals and exposing it to less acid. You could also try diaphragmatic breathing exercises to strengthen the muscles surrounding the LES to give it better support. Sometimes stress can weaken the LES, and the rapid progression of your symptoms suggests you might be suffering from stress. If so you should try to eliminate that.

I'd avoid motility drugs like reglan. They have some dangerous side effects and at your young age you wouldn't want to risk nervous system damage.