Thursday, August 4, 2011

Mood- ????
Health- (this never seems to change, does it?)

This morning I tried my first Banana flavored Pediasure (I usually get the Berry flavored, which tastes like black raspberry) and it was like drinking a banana cream pie or that banana pudding with Nilla wafers.  While I loved the flavor (instant childhood memories washed over me) I have paid the price all day for it.  

Banana burps... yep... all day long I have been having banana burps and while it was great, after a day of 're-tasting' it I am not so sure I am a huge fan of the flavor anymore.

It may be that my Gastroparesis is gearing up for another big flare, it could be my increasing difficulty in getting liquids to empty my stomach but I have noticed that semi-liquids (soft soups) have also gotten into the act more and more lately.  A few bites and I am full and that fullness does not go away, instead it becomes painful and gas builds as it ferments in my stomach.

For those who do not understand what this can do to a body I have explained it this way in the past...

Imagine that it is 98.6 degrees outside (the average temperature of the human body) and before you could eat your meals you had to place it outside in the heat for a few hours or half a day.  You would not want to eat it because it would be going bad in the heat... it would be rotting, breaking down... bacteria would be having a party in it.  The very thought of that being the only food you could eat would be torture.

This is basically what is happening in our stomachs. The food just sits there in the heat of our bodies and decays... it rots and ferments and bacteria grows.  A common issue with Gastroparesis (and Chronic Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction) is something called SIBO or Small Intestine Bacterial Overload (http://www.medicinenet.com/small_intestinal_bacterial_overgrowth/article.htm).  That fermenting rotting food is a perfect growth medium for bacteria which feast on the food and release gas and other bi-products that cause bloating, pain, diarrhea and other issues.

So it is not just a case of feeling full after a few bites of food or feeling nausea, it is a cascade effect that once started travels along the entire digestive tract.

If an engine cannot get fuel the engine will not run... if the body cannot get fuel the body cannot work.