Need Input Please :)

[am1977]

This may turn out to be a long post :eek:, but I'll try to keep it short and to the point as much as I can.

I am type 1, currently on the Paradigm pump. I'm not sure that this problem pertains to diabetes or not :confused:, but I thought I would throw it out there. Not too long ago, I truly believed I had an ulcer (I still believe that I might). I had all the symptoms of having an ulcer of the duodedem(sp?). The way I felt was exactly the way it was described when I did some research. However, I was sent for a blood test for H. Pylori and the results were negative, to my surprise. So my primary care Dr. has me on Nexium and wants me to wait it out. I do feel somewhat better (the gnawing, empty feeling is gone). However, I still have nausea sometimes, especially after eating. And it seems to happen more than what I think is normal. So I did make an appointment for a gastroenterologist to get to the bottom of this.

I guess what I'm looking for is some input on this. I also would like to know if there is anything I should ask the gastro doctor in particular.

Thanks so much for your help:D

[dpav]

I had gone through a similar experience but not as strong as you are describing. Mine turned out to be a need to take a long acting Pepsid tablet twice per day. It helped for a while and they put me on propulsid as well. That drug has been removed from the market since. Now on metaclopromide. This all helped. But what ended all of the symptoms was taking a vitamin supplement Called Seasilver. I have been unable to take regular vitamins and found this from a friend. All of my stomach problems ended after a month’s of taking this. Also my insulin resistance has reduced very much as well.
I am not sure what they will find with the doctor. But this is something that helped reverse that problem.
I hope it can help you as well. That stomach thing can be a real pain. I am by no means a Health Food advocate or nut of any kind. This all stoped all of my stomach problems. Hope the suggestion is not out of line.

[lgvincent]

I don't have an answer to your question but I do have a similar problem. For about the last 5 years, if I eat too fast (usually, but not always) I will get INTENSE pressure and can not swallow. It becomes so intense at times that I will regurgitate. I've had it looked at and was given Nexium which helped with the heart burn but I still have this problem and I'm not sure what's wrong. It usually occurs when I eat bread too quickly but it has also happened when I've eaten cheese and I didn't eat it very fast at all.

[Andrea]

You may want to read through the thread about "CD and DM". I try and be careful about not thinking that anyone with any kind of digestive track problem has celiac disease, but the fact is that about 10 % of people with type 1 diabetes have it and a large majority of those people have not been diagnosed. If you have type 1 diabetes (or any other autoimmune disease) and have any kind of gastrointestinal problem, you should be at least screened for celiac disease.

Take this link to the www.diabetes123.com website to read what they have to say about CD:
http://www.diabetes123.com/clinic/celiac.htm

Other possibilities would be gastroparesis, other food intolerances, inflammatory bowel disease (chrons or colitis), and ulcer, insufficient stomach acid etc...

Make sure you are tested for all possibilities because you don't want a 'guess' diagnosis. With a lot of gastro problems, you need to do the tests to rule certain things out because a lot of symptoms can be similar from one disorder to the next.

Andrea

[am1977]

Thanks so much for your responses. I appreciate your advice and support.

I have read the other thread and am not sure celiac is my problem, though I truly believe there is one. As for gastroparesis, I always thought that was when your stomach emptied too slowly. When I was first experiencing a problem, it really felt like my stomach was emptying too quickly, actually it felt empty all the time even after eating. It was this very uncomfortable gnawing feeling. That, fortunately, has pretty much gone away. My main problem now is experiencing nausea which comes and goes.

I know I definitely have to metion these things to my Dr. , as she is the only one who can diagnose me with anything. I'm just wondering if there's anything else I should mention to her. It will be my first visit with a gastroenterologist.

Thanks again for the replies.

[Andrea]

The thing with any kind of gastro trouble is that symptoms can be very similar in all of them but can also vary widely for each, if that makes sense. For instance, nausea is potentially a symptom of any one of the disorders that i mentioned. But if you compare two people with, say, gastroparesis, one might feel have lots of nausea and the other might never have problems with it.

Basically what i am saying is that symptoms are not a very good guide for what is going in in the gut. Some doctors quickly diagnose "irritable bowel syndrome", but don't look any further to find WHY the bowel is irritated. Technically this is a diagnosis of elimination since there is no specific test for IBS, but far too many doctors diagnose it without actually eliminating the other possibilities.

I was really sick with undiagnosed celiac disease for years before i was finally diagnosed (this was even before i was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes too). One of my gastroenterologists put me on Prepulsid, which was also used for gastroparesis until it was pulled from the market a few years ago. He told me that it would help my stomach to empty faster. I was having diarrhea at least 20 times a day at that point and I told him that i didn't NEED for it to empty any faster than it already does!!! But then he told me it would help with that too. And he was right, it did regulate my bowel movements to some extent - but not fully since i hadn't received the right diagnosis and therefore the right treatment for my "iritated bowel".

I cannot pretend to know what the problem might be in your case. But it is really important to get the right diagnosis for intestinal troubles. Since gastroparesis and celiac disease are probably the most common gastro problems for people with type 1 diabetes, it makes sense to start there, but all possibilities should be looked at.

Andrea