If you were diagnosed with gastroparesis, it means that your stomach doesn’t empty food as quickly as would be expected.

While you may have heard that gastroparesis means “paralyzed stomach,” it actually means “weak stomach.” The movement of the stomach (motility) is weak or slow.

Gastroparesis is a functional disorder, meaning there’s nothing structurally wrong with your stomach and no physical obstructions are present. You can’t “see” gastroparesis by looking at the stomach.

If you think you have gastroparesis but haven’t been diagnosed, I strongly urge you to see a doctor for testing.

The gold standard for diagnosing gastroparesis is a 4-hour gastric emptying study. This test can be ordered by a gastroenterologist.

Gastroparesis has many symptoms in common with other conditions, some of which can be easily treated. You want to be sure you know what you’re dealing with before you work on treating it.

While it’s common to focus mostly on medications and/or dietary changes, especially immediately after diagnosis, I’ve found that following what I call a Comprehensive Management Plan tends to have the greatest benefits for symptom relief and improved quality of life.

This includes: appropriate medical treatment and complementary therapies, dietary modification and proper nutrition, lifestyle practices, and mental health and coping support.

You’ll find a great deal of information about each of those things (and much more!) here on my blog but the easiest way to start feeling better quickly is to follow the steps in my free eBook, The Quick Start Guide to Gastroparesis Management.

If there was only one thing I could share with you it would be this: a gastroparesis diagnosis does not determine what the rest of your life will look like.

If you have been in social media groups, I know that may sound hard to believe but please hear this: that picture is skewed. The people who are not struggling, whose lives do not revolve primarily around this diagnosis, are not posting about it on social media. They are out living their lives.

It IS possible to live WELL with gastroparesis and the less time you spend thinking about gastroparesis, the more true that will be. Educate yourself. Figure out what works for you. Build a team of trusted practitioners. And then keep on living your life.

My greatest hope is that resources I provide will help you do just that!