This year I developed Gastroparesis.  I won’t comment on why as right now I really don’t know. I have suspicions but until I speak with my doctor and possibly go thru more testing I really don’t know.

I have had to learn to deal with this through a lot of trial and error. It has made me hugely aware of how important patient advocacy is… whether it’s while being dismissed when you know something is wrong, to having testing done and needing to push for some guidance instead of being diagnosed with something then left without any guidance. I had to relearn my body in a very intimate way.

Before I share more I want to remind anyone reading this or tell you for the first time if it is your first time here…I am not a medical professional and nothing I say is a replacement for actual medical care. I’m simply sharing my experience and what has worked and not worked for me while navigating chronic illness.

What is Gastroparesis? Its a condition in which your stomach takes too long to empty. When I had my testing done what should have taken 45 to 90 minutes took an estimated 470 minutes. Not ideal.

What does this mean? Eating is hard. You feel incredibly full really fast. In my case when it first started it hurt to eat, I was so bloated I looked like I was expecting a baby, I was nauseous… so so nauseous.  From all my babies I’m good at not throwing up but not even my best tricks could save me all the time. I was in a lot of pain.

Once I knew it wasn’t just in my head or a recurrence of my gastritis I started to do a lot of research.  A low fiber diet was recommended which I was very familiar with as someone who has been doing more of a meat based diet due to my autoimmune disease.  There are various recommendations for how to eat, one of the most common being eating more frequent small meals. For me this didn’t work . Here is what did.  Again this is my own experience, but what I’m sharing helped me get to a place where I felt like I was able to manage my life.

Intermittent fasting became my friend. I have a lot of experience with this as it has been one of the keys to managing my IBSD.  Instead of eating 6 smaller meals most days I ate two and supplemented with things like protein shakes in between to keep my protein goal closer to my ideal amount vs lacking. I did not want my body to suffer more than it needed to.

Here is what a day looks like.

I treat my eating like how I treated the first trimester of pregnancy… or for my pregnancies every moment of them until they were over. Eat what doesn’t cause instant regret.

In the morning instead of my usual coffee I  have a protein iced coffee. Could I do something better.. most likely but I’m a creature of habit and my morning coffee was not up for negotiation. I will either mix it myself or I found a brand called Slate. The ingredients are cleaner than my favorite coffee creamer and 20grams of protein was a good way to start the day. They taste best cold. Vanilla was my favorite.  They most days cause no stomach upset.

I will either eat a late breakfast more like a brunch time meal. My go to is eggs, specifically omlettes. I started having texture problems with food and even scrambled eggs would make me gag. Omlettes I do ok with. I will usually have an omlette with meat and cheese.  I also like mine with Hollandaise sauce.  I am fortunate to have finally gotten making omlettes down to a science.

After my first meal I will not eat again until the evening most days  and depending on how I feel some days I wouldn’t eat again.  Assuming my stomach did take 470 minutes to empty that is almost 8 hours. The longer I give my system the better. I also make sure my last meal is several hours before bed.

Some days I don’t eat until late in the afternoon,  I just see how I feel.

Some days I am hungry and I eat an actual meal in between.

I have been eating a mostly carnivore based diet. I tolerate meat, some dairy like cream for my coffee, cheese, a little yogurt. I tolerate eggs very well. Most condiments seem ok as long as there is zero spice. I love brie cheese with fruit and crave it. Since fiber isn’t ideal… and I’ve messed up eaten something and regretted it so I know… I do a small amount of a strong tasting jam on it for one the craving is intense.

I have been drinking more protein shakes than I care to admit.  I really like the Shamrock ones and Fairlife. Aldi just came out with a shake that tastes like both Shamrock and Fairlife and it’s only $7.99 for a 4 pack at the store near me. Cleanest ingredients… no… do I tolerate it…yes..and tolerate right now is a higher priority for me than perfect ingredients.

I bought a liquid Multivitamin and I use electrolytes. I like ketochows unflavored drops and the LMNT lemonade flavor.

At first I was much more tired than usual,  but as I’ve adjusted I am doing better. At first I was rapidly losing weight because I just wasn’t eating. I did appreciate the lower number on the scale but I know that is not wise. My health is so much more than the number on the scale. A lower weight but malnutrition is not the way to go.

As time has gone I occasionally try something else, but for the most part I am sticking to my basics.  Soup is also good but I need to be aware of what is in it as I’m still trying to stay low fiber.

I do not know how long this will take to resolve but I decided that I will live my life mindful of it but not ruled by it. One blessing of living with chronic illness for so long now is I have learned enough to know how to adjust quickly and normalize it. Normalizing it makes it easier for me to manage, both physically and mentally. It’s also been a good reset as I was struggling to maintain my carnivore diet and now it’s pretty much all I can eat.