THANK YOU for this article.
My gentle bride has gastric problems. [editor's note here: I am NOT a medical professional like the rest of you here and do not know the lingo.] The valve that allows her stomach to empty closes too soon. Now her stomach thinks she ate more food and orders more acid production. This goes on and on until her stomach is burned from all the acid, and her stomach is STILL not empty yet.
Severe nausea, cramps, and all she ate was a few crackers.
Then everything goes away for maybe 6 months, and she can eat whatever she wants. The next time this happens she's supposed to go to a particular hospital in Atlanta and ask for a particular test to be performed immediately.
I wonder if this "stomach pacemaker" could be something in her future?
Again, thanks.
After CMF chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer, my wife who previously for 61 years was heartburn-free developed severe refractory heartburn/reflux. This persisted when chemo treatment was abandoned due to severe toxicities. It was found that she then had double the normal amount of acid in her stomach. She was also found to have esophageal and slow gut clearing impairments. Her esophageal lower spincter could not prevent acid refux and she eventually had to have anti reflux surgery which now backed up with PPI controls the acid reflux.
Has any one seen this injury after chemo therapy? Tom Cawood Birkenhead, Auckland NZ
I had surgery for gastric ulcers and somehow ended up with gastroparysis. Now I need a gastric pace maker put in but my state considers them experminatel and wont do it. If anyone knows a doctor who can help me. please e-mail me and let me know. I am sick all the time and cant seem to live a normal life. Thanks
Machelle,
What state are you in? I'm going through the same thing right now...debilitating gastroparesis..with vomiting almost every day. I'm in FL and was told today that I'll need a gastric pacemaker. There are doctors at the Mayo clinic in Florida who can put them in. That's all the information I have at the moment.
The only way i am dealing with my gastroparesis is medical marijuana before each meal. it helps with nausea and takes the edge off the pain and actually gives me some sort of a appetite. i will be getting a gastric pacemaker put in soon that is if all goes well with my insurance. good luck to you.
Machelle and Stefanie,
I have had a gastric pacemaker in for over a year now. I wanted to let you all know that yahoo has a really great gastroparesis support group that is full of people with gastroparesis that can answer any questions you have about pacers and other treatments, it has been a great help to me. Also look up G-pact. They are a group dedicated to helping people with GP. They have lists of Doctors that are experienced in treating GP and that inplant pacers. Hope any of this helps.
iam working in Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Hyderabad,India.we are doing one study for pts undergoing gastric surgery regarding delayed gastric emptying, n we want to study electrical activity of stomach post op. so we want this electrodes. kindly reply and do the needfull as early as possible.
dr prasad k, if you want to contact me for your study please E-mail me @ kellyb78@hughes.net
Machelle, your probably sick now because of nerve damage from the ulcer surgery. Surgery is a common cause of gastroparesis.
I have had idiopathic gastroparesis since 2001. I am curently resistant to the standard medications used. I am going for a gastric pacer on Feruary 5,2009. I will repost personel outcome changes after placement. My Dr. is Dr. Shafi (motility specialist)from Houston Texas. I find her to be knowlegable ans compationate, would recomend very highly.
I have gastroparesis and am taking reglan with some success. Does the condition worsen with time? I am type two diabetic; this came on after I had salmonella poisoning that took three months to cure. Any comments?
Hello everyone, My fiance has had gastroparesis for many years. He has tried all kinds of medications that seem to work for a short period of time & then end up having no effect on the condition what so ever. This has taken such a toll in our lives. We can not commit to anything because we have no clue when he will be sick, thus, not even being able to commit to a job because this disease gives no warning signs. We have even had to put our wedding on hold once again because it seems to be getting worse. We are so willing to try any suggestions that anyone has. The doctor does say that the pacemaker is still in the experimental stages, does anyone personally have one? Please let us know how it has changed everything.
Thanks, Kathy
my daughter-in-law has beem diagnosed with this disease. She has these long belches that last 5 to 15 seconds. This besides the vomiting. Does anyone else have the problems with the belching?
I have had a pacemaker for almost two years now. I feel so much better. I wish I had done it six months sooner!
I have had gastropresis for years now. In this last episode I have lost about 20 pounds. Medications work for short periods of time, and I am very very tired of this. I may have to go for the gastric pacemaker, and I don't know if I will have relief and if it has any negative consequences. I have found little post operative information. Any one had to have a "bag" after the surgery?
Thanks for any response,
Susan
My husband has the gastric pacemaker,
it saved his life! Without it, I do not beleive that he would be here today. He has had it for 4 years and it has worked wonders for him.
I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone with gastropresis.
We made a trip to Kansas State University Hospital to see Dr. Richard McCallum, he is an EXPERT on the whole gastiric pacemaker and placing it, he saved my husbands life!
Fell free to ask me questions, I will answer any that I can.
Hi all. I had a pacemaker fitted 3 weeks ago, I know it'll take time to see the benefits but the severe sharp shooting pain i get after i eat is making me wonder if i made the right choice, i never used to get pain only nausea with the GP. Did anyone else get this pain? It's different to the surgery/incision/inflammation pain and is like a very sharp stabbing which lasts hours and worsens with any sort of movement. Any advice would be great as this is really getting me down.
In response to Ash,
My husband got the same pain that you are talking about and he still gets it sometimes, not very often.
He puts a heating pad or a warm wash cloth on the pain site and it helps.
Laura
Where are you Joice you were going for a pace maker Feb 2009 how is it did it help?some details ,time it take to recop,eat normal again?
I was recently diagnosed with GP. My emptying rate is 16%. I don't know if this percentage is normal or not or what? My Dr. let's just say...he's not forthcoming with information and is reluctant to assist me in information regarding the pacemaker. He said that nobody in my area or even within the state would be doing this surgery. My guess is that if you fix the problem you don't pay his bills every month. I am searching for answers. I live near Jacksonville, FL. Any assistance or advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.
I have had the gastric pacemaker for almost six weeks now. I had it put in the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. I can't recommend that Mayo Clinic highly enough for those who haven't found the options/answers they're looking for elsewhere.
In the first five weeks after surgery, I noticed a significant improvement. I went from vomiting nearly every day to maybe once a week and from waking up every night due to nausea to sleeping through the night most days.
While some patients see immediate results, it's my understanding the for most people the results are gradual and can take 6-12 months.
I have posted more information about my experience with the pacemaker on my blog: http://www.delayedgastricemptying.com
i am a 22 year old diabetic,i have had diabete's since i was 16!about 2 years ago i started to feel very bloated after each meal i ate.i then started been sick about a month after the bloated feeling started then i started with pain that was uncontrollable..i have spent 18 months of the past 2 years in hospital having diffrent tests and operations to see if they could find out the problem,they discovered my pancrea's had been eaten away by a virus,and i had a slow emptying stomach,most of this but not all was linked to diabete's.i have had every single treatment possible witch have not worked and thought ther was nothing that would ever be done for me.but i have just found out that i will have to be fed threw a tube for at least 4 weeks to rest my stomach,and then in the next 4 weeks have a gastro-pacemaker fitted wich i have been told will improve my symptoms by at least 90% witch is fantastic news and cant wait to have the proceedure done..so all that seem to have no hope if u keep holding on something will come in the end and u will get better its hard to stay focased i no that as much as the next person..but at this age ive missed out on alot of things but it all seems to be back on track for a healthy future....so all stick in there,there is hope in the future..good luck
Does anyone know of a physician performing the pacemaker surgery in the Atlanta area? I have idiopathic gastroparesis, most likely due to nerve damage from gallbladder surgery ten years ago. I'd love to get off Zofran and Nexium (both expensive and Zofran causes chronic constipation). Reglan is too risky with the black box warning concerning tartive dyskinesia and can only be taken for three months anyway. Motilium hasn't been approved by the FDA in the U.S. and I don't want to take a drug I don't know anything about. My insurance (United Health Care) won't pay for the surgery at Mayo, or I'd go there to have it done. I'd appreciate any information anyone has out there concerning the surgery in either Atlanta, or somewhere in Florida where my insurance might cover the procedure. Thank you!
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