things that are working for me

backstory: i’ve had GI problems my whole life, had episodes of sulfur burps and vomiting growing up but we never knew what it was. got covid in november and became extremely nauseous a few days after and it never got better. gastric emptying test last week showed t1/2 of 227 minutes so moderate-severe gp. we suspected it was gastroparesis before diagnosis so i started research before bc it was so bad i was only getting 300 cals a day and lost 15 pounds, was down to 114.

some random things i’ve been trying that have helped so far - i got herbal nausea patches from a website called patchaid. they don’t have any medication in them, just herbal stuff, and go behind your ear. idk if it’s just placebo, but i swear these things work. i take a ginger root pill with lunch and dinner. ginger helps nausea and has shown in some places to help gut motility. i feel like this has helped me get hungry faster after a meal. acupuncture - i’ve only had two sessions so far but both times during the session and the needles were in my stomach my stomach growled loudly which hasn’t happened at all since november. i had a session today and was able to eat a full plate of nachos for dinner, which is a LOT for me, especially of trigger foods. pedialyte with meals - i started seeing a gastroparesis nutritionist and she recommended drinking pedialyte with meals because pedialyte is an isotonic solution which means it is more readily absorbed into the body and is easier to digest than water. obviously in moderation bc it has vitamin / mineral content and you don’t want to overdo it, but i do think it’s helped especially bc i also have pots.

i still take zofran/promethazine/ativan as needed, but i’ve been able to manage without meds a lot better which in turn makes me feel better because those meds constipate me. i’m supposed to be starting cyproheptadine soon to further help appetite.

all of this is kinda holistic type things that i know not everyone is into, honestly i wasn’t very into it before i got sick. i’m a neuroscience major and have worked as a pharm tech for years so im all about using medications as treatment. but meds weren’t fully helping me, so i did research and found these things which have been helping so far. i hope it can help someone else!