Stomach empting test

[Gagirl]

has anyone had the egg sandwich with the stuff in to to see how your stomach emptys?
just wondering, I know they said the egg is awful, but still unsure. I have had 2 endo and cat scans and the doc said I have had a bad IBS flare.
Thanks

[kaesara]

Hello,
I have been thru the GES study. That is a Gastric Emptying Study. The test varies somewhat from one Radiology Department to another. The thing that is always that same is that the patient is given food with a radioisotope in it. Then after eating the food pictures are made at varying time intervals to determine how long it takes the stomach to empty. The lenght of time that the xrays are made for ie one and a half hours up to four hours varies from hosp to hosp as well.
At the time I had the study I was having problems with nausea and the thoughts of sitting down to a big breakfast was just not even reasonable for me. The tech ask me which food I thought I may be most likely to eat and I told her the grits because they are basically bland. She put the isotope in that food and I ate that.

My GES test came back abnormal and I was offically diagnosed then with the Gastroparesis. My Gastroenterologist suspected that I had the GP because of finding food that I had eaten four days prior still in the stomach.

Another very helpful test is the Sitz Marker test. You go in the first day and swallow a capsule with a bunch of very small little bands known as sitz markers. Then you return at the same time each day for several days in my case it was five days. They xray you each day to see how these bands have traveled thru the digestive tract. The objective of this test is to check to see if you have adequate motility in the bowels.

The Treatments that were offered to me for Gastroparesis went in this order.
Reglan ( i couldnt take it due to a allergic reaction). This med is helpful to many with GP but does have some nasty side effects and the teaching Hospital told me that they rarely use it anymore because there are better drugs available now.

The second thing that was tried on me was EES or erthyromycin antibiotic. This med naturally upsets the stomach somewhat and causes increase in motility. It was somewhat effective for me but wasnt getting the job done.

The third medication tried was Zelnorm. The teaching Hosp had me on 6mg four times per day and they had to stop it because my heart rate went haywire.

I was having severe Gastroparesis attacks with mutiple hospital stays. Finally a GI Doc came in and said lets try the Zelnorm again but at 6 mg twice per day, Miralax 17 gms one to three times per day. So with that protocol I have improved vastly. That GI Doc said I had not only the GP but had Constipation Dominant IBS and Zelnorm works very well for that.

There is another medication that most GP patients swear by. It is called Domperidone or Motlium. It is not available per FDA approval in the USA. Many people opt to get it from Canada or other places. I wasnt able to find a Doctor willing to prescribe it to me. I didnt feel comfortable with my medical problems to take any mail order meds without a Doctor willing to monitor it for me.

I hope that I have shed some light on the testing, treatments and my experienes. You are welcome to write to me anytime If I can be of help to you. I had a lot of experiences with this issue and will gladly help you in anyway that I can.

I wish you the best.

Sincerely,
Kaesara

[jhmom]

Hi Gagirl, I had the GES too after losing 40 lbs in 2 months, nausea, diarrhea, etc. This was the first of many procedures iwent through! I was also told I had a severe case of IBS, but I didn't beleive it, I knew it had to be something else!

The test itself is harmless, you eat the radioactive food, lay down, the machine is located over your abdomen and it watches the food as it empties out of your stomach. I ate oatmeal for my emptying test and right in the middle of it I had to get up to use the bathroom (not really recommended but I couldn't hold it), it all makes sense now as I have Celiac Disease and oatmeal is not gluten free but anyway my test came back normal and a year later I got one of my Dx's (Celiac) and then 2 years after that got my Lupus dx and found out it attacks my GI tract.

Let us know how it goes

[jhmom]

oops......message posted twice

[Gagirl]

wow............Thank ya both. So much info. I am on Zelnorm now. Just since Sat, but seems to be doing something. I actually ate real food on Sunday and it didn`t double me over. Today is a differnt day. Not as bad, but still hurting. They have ruled out cancer, celic(?) and h- p something and a couple of other things.
I sure hope this test can tell them something. 10 pounds less and 3 sizes is a lil much for just a month. But anyway. I just wanted to tell ya`ll thank you very much for all the info.

[jhmom]

I know what you mean, I lost 40 lbs in just 2 months, but it did make my doctor take notice. I was checked for colon cancer, crohns, celiac and at that time it was negative. I hope you get some answers soon as I know what it's like to have abdominal pain everyday One suggestion I have for you is do your own research on your symptoms, doctors don't know everything, they are human too and we must take charge of our own health. I am not saying to dx yourself just arm yourself with knowledge on your particular problems.

[peonyprincess]

I had that wonderful isotope breakfast as well. Actually, wasn't as bad as I had thought it might be co nsidering it was hospital food ! I too was found to have gastroparesis and was placed on Reglan four times a day. It does seem to have helped.

Nancy

[Gagirl]

Thanks ................I have called my rhuemy and he said nothing I am going thru has anything to do with my "MILD" lupus. But I beg to differ with him. He came highly recommended........but I just don`t know..............But I`ll let ya`ll know when they do the egg thingy......