Underlying cause of gastroparesis?

[herethiscentury]

I was recently diagnosed with gastroparesis after a gastric emptying study. At 90 minutes, I had emptied about 20%.

What's unusual about my case is the suddenness of it all - one day i was fine, the next - BAM, pain, bloating, inability to eat a decent-sized meal. If I had been living with gastroparesis before that day, it was completely manageable.

My doctors think there is an underlying cause as I don't have the typical presentation and wants to wait and see 'what we come up with' before we start prescribing medication like reglan or domperidone. I'm not diabetic, did not have any viral illness, did not have any injections, am not allergic to anything, do not have MS/Parkinson's etc.

The only triggers I can think of are: 1) Stress. I had just quit my insanely stressful job just a few days before symptoms started.

My symptoms started out of the blue one day - I ate toast for breakfast and shortly before lunch, had this insane pain (sometimes stabbing, other times a squeezing, and when i've eaten anything at all, the sensation that I'm going to explode) in the epigastric region, between my ribs. I'm fine in the mornings when there's nothing in my stomach. Things have gone downhill from there. I've lost 15% of my body weight in 4 weeks.

I sent my GP a note asking to rule out other causes such as MALS, POTS and the like, for which I have an appointment later this week.

Did any of you have this sudden-onset presentation? Is it normal to have a stabbing pain just underneath your sternum? I know this disease presents itself differently for different people.

[Avw1985]

15% weight loss is scary. You need to rule out cancers such as pancreatic cancer. That would cause the symptoms you are talking about. Dramatic weight loss like that indicates a serious problem. Don't wait. Get upper GI CT scan and pacreatic blood work to check for abnormalities. Good luck buddy. Keep us updated.