www.incontinentsupport.org

Earlier this afternoon I returned from an hour-long session with my two physical therapists. Briefly, my family and social obligations frequently force me to eat food that causes me serious discomfort. After a family dinner I occasionally have so much pain that I cannot sleep, and when I do sleep, I sometimes awaken, having vomited. One medication for this makes me soil myself during sleep. In order to manage this I double up on erythromycin and ranitidine. In the gentlest terms they could think of, my therapists told me that this is doing me no good, and that I should be more assertive in telling those around me what I can and cannot eat. But my family already are making considerable allowance for my incontinence; adding a complex special diet onto that promises to be burdensome. And, I am just learning what I can and cannot eat. My gastroenterologist said that I should use an enema to clean myself out before bedtime, so that the medication would not cause me grief while I sleep.

I understand that this is primarily an incontinence support website, and that my gastroparesis is only tangentially related to this; however, I did feel the need to vent and solicit whatever advice and wisdom you may have. This situation is thoroughly exasperating, and you are my friends.

Thank you, thank you very much.

Patrick,

Wow - you are having a very rough time! Sorry to hear about that.

I have no experience with gastroparesis and can offer no advice there. However, you may have noticed from my postings that I am double incontinent and use daily enemas very successfully to control my bowel incontinence.

There are a lot of small things that can make an enema more comfortable and less unpleasant, while more effective. I have written a 32-page paper on the use of enemas to control bowel incontinence, some of which may be helpful to you. My primary care physician (internal medicine) has reviewed it and is encouraging me to publish it. If you have an interest, send me a PM with an email address and I will send you the latest revision. If you would rather not provide an email address we can work something out via DropBox.

Good luck
--John

JD,

Thanks for your offer. I'll take you up on it when my son and his wife arrive this weekend. I must wait for them because I do not know how to do it myself.

As May wears on, each day brings you closer to your back surgery. My heart goes out to you; keep us informed.

Patrick,

If a PM is inconvenient for you, you can email me at jdinvirginia@yahoo.com.

--John

I have been doing some gastroparesis research, and discovered that urinary and bowel incontinence are frequently parts of the gastroparesis problem. The vagus nerve dysfunction which causes gastroparesis can also impact bladder and bowel control. I joined a GP support group; I'll keep you informed.

Our church group went out to a Mexican restaurant Friday for supper. That food gave me the spanking of my short life. Taking my medicine was only partly successful; I'm still in GI pain.

Thanks for your support.

I have discovered that the combination of a stool softener plus a laxative greatly improves managing the bowel side of gastroparesis. This discovery is the result of trial and error, lots and lots of error. I have also learned that GP (gastroparesis) is a common medical condition that as many as five million of our citizens endure. I still have the occasional soiling accident, but not as bad as I did two months ago. Now if I can get some control of the nausea and vomiting, I'll be almost back to normal, I hope.

Thanks for allowing me to vent. GP, on top of urinary incontinence, is a bear.