You’re having digestive problems, Feeling bloated after one or two bites of food, being sick and feeling sick right after you take those bites, getting constipated a lot, getting really bad stomach pain and losing a lot of weight.
These are common symptoms of Gastroparesis and your doctor may send you on a series of tests including:
- Upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy.
- Ultrasound.
- Smart Pill.
- Gastric emptying study .
These are tests your doctor may suggest you have (there may be more). Nobody wants to be waiting years to get diagnosed, constantly being tested with no conclusion. Why? Doctors may suggest it is in your head or even suggest it is anorexia (as I found out myself); It’s never nice suffering and/or not knowing what is wrong it can cause a lot of stress, the sooner you find out what is causing your problems the sooner you can manage them.
Here are some of the tests my doctor sent me to have:
- Colonoscopy.
- Endoscopy.
- Esophageal pH Test.
- Multiple scans and blood tests.
- Barium meal.
- Gastric emptying study.
I had some of these tests more than once with no conclusion so doctors suggested it was in my head. When they suggest such a thing and you know it is wrong it makes you question yourself. It sends you downhill and everyday life becomes even harder mentally. I decided to go to a new specialist and he had seen all of the tests I had and one of the first tests he suggested was a Gastric emptying study. After years of waiting for these tests to give me the answer I need to maintain my sanity and well-being I finally got my answer. The gastric emptying study nailed it straight away; I could not believe how it could seem so simple after I had gone through so much.
So what test is best to get a Gastroparesis diagnosis?
Talking out of experience I would say Gastric emptying study (They watch how fast/slow your stomach empty’s) for obvious reasons. I had a lot of the other tests more than once and they failed to come to a conclusion. But the Gastric emptying study made it look simple and easy.
Obviously I am not a doctor but I have been through what you may be going through, if you are going through the same and have all the symptoms then I suggest you recommend a Gastric emptying study to your doctor.
You can even recommend Gastroparesis to him/her he/she may not know about this Illness yet, I myself suggested a lot to my doctor as-well.
If you have or think you have this Illness then I wish you luck on your path to a manageable life. Also stay strong, do not give up because you cannot let this Illness beat you.
If you need someone to talk to or have any questions please contact me on our webpage I am always willing to help.
www.gpanorthwest.org
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