Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Gut Check Report

The worst thing about a colonoscopy is the agonizing bloating you’re left with because of all the air they pump into your lower gastrointestinal tract.

They did the upper and lower GI yesterday morning, starting about 7:15 a.m. We were out of there and on our way home by 10 a.m. with illustrated printed reports that showed they found nothing alarming. The doc’s response to my possible diabetic gastroparesis symptoms was to give me a prescription for Omeprazole, which I have concluded is definitely not the answer.

Happily, I was sufficiently decompressed by 3 p.m. to be comfortable again.

My chiropractor says she has good success treating gastroparesis with chiropractic techniques. Diabetic gastroparesis is a condition where the vagus nerve, which controls the contractions in the stomach and lower gastrointestinal tract that move the food through the system, gets compromised by a lack of oxygenation from the bloodstream. The result is that food sits in the stomach so long it begins to ferment and cause acid reflux and extreme discomfort, especially when you’re horizontal and trying to sleep. I’ve had a couple of episodes so extreme that I thought I was having a gallbladder attack with waves of sweating, nausea and disorientation. Since my gallbladder checked out fine last month, I’ve come to the conclusion that fermented food generated enough toxic stuff to rise to the level of food poisoning.

At any rate, rather than accept the conventional medical wisdom that I have a chronic, incurable condition, I’m following a course of treatment that I think may get my vagus nerve back up to snuff while, at the same time, modifying my diet to favor foods that are easily digestible.

I remain guardedly optimistic that we’re on the right track.

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