Stephen’s Personal Story: Finding Relief from Gastroparesis
I am 43 years old and I was told I have gastroparesis about 10 years ago.
When I was around 25 is when a tumor was found in my stomach which I had removed along with half my stomach at MD Anderson in Houston because it was thought to be cancer but it turned out it was not!! But my nausea and vomitting didn’t go away and after many years of Dr’s trying to figure out what was wrong I was told I had Gastroparesis.
After every meal I would get severe nausea and vomiting within about 1-2 hours after I would eat. I could hold no food down. I tried every medication possibe and had a gastric pacemaker surgically implanted with no relief. I tried every deit and every treatment they gave me and final I was in a bad way and they said I may have to have a feeding tube to help try and get some weight on me along with nutreints. That is a road I was going to try and avoid at all cost.
My dr really feels my illness was NOT caused by the surgery, he thinks the SSRIs for my mental illness are what caused it, that is his opinion there is no way to know for sure. He worked alot with Dr. Abel who basiclly is the expert when it comes to the gastric pacemaker. But anyway….
It has been over a year now since I started my new treatment and in that year + I may have vomitted 5 times!!! thats right I went from every meal I ate to 5 times in a year!! I was so happy and releived after all this time I found releif!!!
My dr. has turned off the pacemaker to save the battery that way if I need it can be turned back on (it didn’t work before but I understand why he done this)
When I told him I wanted to turn it off he look at me like I was crazy but after I told him what I was doing he said it has been shown to be the best treatment for this awful thing. He told me he couldn’t tell me to do it but did give me info from some of the very limited trails that have been on this and what he has seen. The CBD pill made no difference in the vomitting or nausea.
The state I live in doesn’t allow this treatment but many do and I will be force to move in order to get legal treatment, luckly it not a huge move but still I shouldn’t have to move but I am forced to do whats best for me and my family.
For me it’s been a cure but some have different levels of success as with any treatment they give you.
I have to live and that’s what I will do.
It took many years for me to even consider this but I was backed into a corner and I want my life back and at lest for now I have it!! If this treatment was given to me early om I wouldn’t have false top teeth and half my bottom teeth missing.
Please don’t suffer needlessly because you are worried about what people might think, it’s your life and you have to make the best of it.
I just thought I would share and sorry about all the spelling errors I have never been a very good speller.