Dxed with gastroparesis?

[christineu]

Recently DXed with gastroparesis probably due to use of long term narcotics for severe chronic pain. I tried all the typical medicines for nausea and did not get much help from most of them, the one my GI doc settled on was Reglan even though it made me so sleepy I could not even drive or really do much of anything. Since I am also preparing for kidney removal (unrelated medical issue) my GI doctor was concerned that I be able to take in adequet nutrition so he arranged for me to see another GI doctor who has an arrangement with a Canadian doctor to counter-sign on prescriptions for Domperidone (medication similar to Reglan with much less side effects that is not availible in the US). Since starting it 2 weeks ago my life seems like night and day- I actually can eat and have an appetite again. After strugling to get 800 calories in per day I am now able to easily eat 5-6 small meals per day (typical daily calories: 1500).

Looking back, I wonder if I always had the gastroparesis on some level. I was always a slowest eater when I went out with friends, tended to do better with several small meals/snacks then 3 big meals per day, had a lot of what I thought was stomach bugs which always included nausea and vomitting (typically 3-5 times per year), etc. Is it possible that the gastroparesis was always there and that now I am on narcotic medications that slowed my GI track down to the point the gastroparesis symtoms became unbearable? Besides the domperidone & prevacid plus eating 5-6 small meals per day is there anything else I can do to minimize this? How do others with gastroparesis deal with not being able to eat raw vegetables?- I hate most cooked vegetables! Is there anyone else out there using Domperidone long-term?

Thanks,
Christine

[kaz_22]

A related discussion, newbie was started.