Have you ever thought that you consume food through your mouth and excrete the waste through the anus? Your digestive system is a long wide tube containing different organs in it. The food moves through with the help of the movements that your stomach creates.
When you eat food, your gastrointestinal tract processes it with the help of gut motility. But sometimes, the gut motility can stop- a condition known as gastroparesis. When you consume food, your stomach creates movements that help push it down. But when you have gastroparesis, the stomach movements stop, and the food can not travel through your digestive system. Hence digestion is also stopped.
Gastroparesis can cause your digestion to stop, leading to nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. There is no such cure for it. However, changing the diet and getting rid of causative agents can help get rid of it. It can affect nutritional intake and blood glucose levels.
There is no exact cause for gastroparesis. However, it can occur due to some medications such as allergy relieving medications, opioid medications, hypertension medications, and antidepressants. Gastroparesis can also occur as a complication of diabetes and post-operatively as a complication of surgery. If you already have gastroparesis, take the above-mentioned medications with extreme caution as they can worsen the pre-existing condition.
Always consult with your healthcare provider if you have any symptoms of indigestion or gastroparesis. They can help you know the cause and in getting relieved from it. When you can not digest food, you can not consume more food. It can cause severe weight loss and cause nutritional deficiencies. Therefore you must consult with a healthcare provider. To seek professional help, you can visit an Internal Medicine Specialist in Lahore.
What Are The Symptoms Of Gastroparesis?
The symptoms of gastroparesis are quite similar to that of indigestion. It can cause the signs and symptoms such as:
● Abdominal bloating
● Nausea and vomiting
● Feeling full just after consuming little food
● Abdominal pain
● Vomiting out undigested food that you have eaten just a few hours before
● Fluctuations in blood sugar levels
● Acid reflux
● Feeling of indigestion
● Lack of appetite
● Losing weight
● Malnutrition
What Are The Risk Factors For Gastroparesis?
Some factors that can put you at risk of developing gastroparesis are:
● Having Diabetes
● Abdominal surgery
● Esophageal surgery
● Infection, usually from a virus
● Consuming certain medications that slow the speed of stomach emptying, such as narcotic pain medications, antidepressants, antiallergic medications
● Scleroderma- a disease of the connective tissue
● Diseases of the nervous system, such as Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis
● Hypothyroidism- is a disease of the thyroid gland in which it produces too little thyroid hormone.
Generally, women are more likely to develop gastroparesis than men.
What Are The Complications Of Gastroparesis?
If you have gastroparesis, you can develop the following health conditions and complications:
Dehydration
When you keep vomiting due to gastroparesis, the chances of getting dehydrated are increased.
Malnutrition
When you have gastroparesis, you do not consume enough food, which can lead to nutritional deficiencies. Moreover, the food you eat often does not get absorbed due to vomiting, which leaves you malnourished.
Bezoar Formation
Undigested food can harden and remain in your stomach, forming a bezoar. If it prevents the passage of food from your small intestine, the condition can become life-threatening. It can also cause nausea and vomiting.
Fluctuations In Blood Sugar Levels
When the food does not get absorbed well in the intestine, it can cause fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Gastroparesis does not cause diabetes, but it can worsen pre-existing diabetes by causing fluctuations in blood glucose levels.
Moreover, instabilities in blood glucose levels can also cause gastroparesis. It makes it a vicious cycle.
Decreased Quality Of Life
The symptoms of gastroparesis can affect you health-wise and mentally too. They can also affect the quality of your life, making it poor.
The Bottom Line If you have any symptoms of gastroparesis, you must seek expert advice. If you take any medications, they can also cause it. Therefore a visit to the doctor is essential. To get an expert opinion, you can consult with an Internal medicine Doctor in Islamabad.
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