Look there are many many horrible results of diet culture but one of the most annoying ones to me personally is that it's basically impossible to find shakes/smoothies/similar products that are high in protein+other nutrients that are ALSO high in calories
With my stomach problems protein shakes are a life saver for getting things I need and struggle to get from eating. However every single one I've found brags about how low calorie they are and it's like NOOOOO PLEASE GIVE ME THE CALORIES IM BEGGING YOU
Not to mention the fact they're all disgusting tasting lmao. If anyone has shake/smoothie recommendations PLEASE give them to me. Doesn't even have to beat the low calorie issue! I'm just so tired of Ensures they're so gross
not ableism but I'm so glad that this blog accepts stuff about gastrointestinal disabilities
I've had chronic constipation for a few years now (unsure if it's caused by another condition or if it's its own thing) and I've always felt really gross talking about it and how it effects me. In most disability spaces I'm scared to mention my experiences due to fear of being called "gross".
I've noticed some other blogs talking about gi issues, and it really means a lot to me. I really do appreciate this blog talking about it without calling peoples' experiences gross
The stigma attached to GI disabilities is physisensory ableism.
We have a GI disability, specifically connected to our pelvic disability. People act really rude or weird about it ever coming up in discussions.
Defecating, urinating, and menstruating deserve to be treated as normal bodily functions - because they are. People need to stop attaching the concept of disgust to it.*
(*I don't blame people if they have specific phobias over it, thats entirely different. I'm specifically referring to the societal stigma built around it.)
I am not gross for being unable to defecate properly, and for having to get my fingers involved to get it out.
I am not gross for urinating against my will sometimes.
I am not gross for menstruating.
I am not gross for being disabled or having a [functioning] uterus.
It’s not as uncomfortable as i imagined but mine is very long for some reason
ID: a mirror selfie of a pale person with brown hair in a spider web pattern sweater in a bathroom with blue walls, her ni tube is tucked back behind her ear and still falls to the top of her waist. End ID
After three long and painful years I finally have a diagnosis as to why my GI tract and abdomen hurt so badly. Why I am unable to eat or drink. Why I have chronic constipation.
For years doctors have been saying it’s all in my head and to see a therapist. (Jokes on them I’ve been seeing one since childhood! Hasn’t changed anything.) They’d give me medication that didn’t help.
Tests kept coming back normal which made me feel more and more crazy.
My mental health fell a part as doctors and medical staff would gaslight me insisting there was nothing wrong with me. Making me constantly question my sanity. Breaking me down little by little.
I finally was refered to one of our state’s research hospitals. They have a clinic that focuses on motility disorders.
My results came back and they say I have Global Slow Transit. Also known as Global Gut Dysmotility.
This means my entire digestive tract is affected. It moves much much slower than it should. This causes food and liquid to get backed up. This is what causes the early satiety, pain, nausea, bloating, and constipation.
They are putting me on Motegrity and Mirtazzapine. I get to get off linzess which I am grateful for since they were a pain to put in a syringe (or more accurately, what I have heard. My caregiver does that). I hear the side affects can be a lot though so I will brace myself and hope for the best!
I am also having appointments with a neuropsychologist and neuro nutritionist. I never even knew the former existed so it will be interesting learning what they have to say.
I desperately needed to talk with a more advanced nutritionist so I am grateful this opportunity arose. I have one provided by my DME, but they were at the end of their knowledge.
I am not tolerating tube feeds well. I only am at 30ml per hour only consuming around 2 cartons of Kate Farms Peptide 1.5 formula per 24 hours. Let’s just say I am malnourished and under weight (again).
Whenever I would try to increase it (or sometimes even it being where it was) I would complain of my intestines feeling engorged and my pain and nausea being off the charts miserable.
(This is where they say the neuropsychologist can help)
So talking about how to best get nutrients and hydration would really help right now. Every doctor has scoffed when I have brought up TPN but I fire back with well if I can’t eat and drink orally, not tolerating tube feeds well, and am underweight and malnourished then….whats the alternative? I hope we can discuss such alternatives at our first appointment. Does anyone have any good alternatives or arguments for or against TPN? I would love advice.
In the end I would love to try a community now that I have a confirmed condition. Is anyone else affected by this condition? How similar and different is this to gastroparesis and intestinal dysmotility? I would love to have other tubie friends. I am lonely. 
So I’ve just spent last night prepping for an endoscopy and colonoscopy to diagnose a possible GI disorder. Don’t worry, this won’t really get TMI, but it will include a helpful tip for people whose bodies work like mine.
Most people say that the worst part of the prep was the actual sitting on the toilet part; I did not find that to be true. Getting everything out was fairly easy, and slowed down quite fast--I even had a chance to get 4 hours of sleep overnight, take an hour nap between trips to the bathroom, and watch most of a movie without getting up that much. For me, and this is pretty expected since it lines up with the primary symptom that I’m getting the procedure for, was trying not to vomit up the prep. I started feeling nauseous about 3-4 glasses into the Miralax portion yesterday afternoon, and by the time I started drinking the magnesium citrate I was actively gagging and feeling like I was about to throw up. This morning I woke up already on the verge of vomiting, and I still have one bottle of magnesium citrate to drink before the procedure. Here’s what is helping me:
1. Leave yourself plenty of time. My appointment is at 12:15, so I am NPO after 8:15 this morning. I got out the bottle of magnesium citrate at 6:15 because I knew it would be baby sips for hours until I finished it without incident.
2. Drink the magnesium citrate through a straw. It’s carbonated, and mine tastes like lemon-scented Lysol, so drinking through a straw allows the bubbles to bypass your nose (carbonation in my nose is a surefire vomit trigger for me) and avoids having the awful taste coat your mouth.
3. Resist the urge to “chug” the prep so you can be done faster!!! I’ve had tests like Upper GI Series and abdominal CTs with contrast before, and I find the best thing to do when I’m drinking the barium contrast for that is to drink it as fast as possible and get it over with. THAT DOES NOT WORK HERE! I tried to do that at first and if I had continued I would have thrown up, guaranteed. It’s so infuriating because you can barely see the level of liquid go down at all from drink to drink, but it’s better than taking a huge sip and not being able to swallow it, then feeling it start to come back up.
4. Here’s the one that will only work for you if your tastes are like mine. When I was drinking the clear liquids to supplement my prep, the only liquids I wanted to drink were hot ones (probably because almost all cold liquids were the same temperature as the prep, so they reminded me of being nauseous). Drinking some chicken bone broth yesterday afternoon helped with the nausea a lot, and there’s salt in the bone broth to keep me from getting dehydrated and then being more nauseous. So this morning I did the following:
-I had my mom bring me a cup of hot tea (plain), the bottle of magnesium citrate, and a large bottle of water.
-I started with one sip of tea (might as well lead into it with something I want).
-Then I drank a sip of water (so that there’s a palate cleanser between tea and magnesium)
-Then a sip of magnesium through a straw (because, well, I have to)
-Then another sip of water
-Then another sip of tea, and repeat until the tea is all gone. Once the tea is gone I’m going to have my mom make me a cup of bone broth and continue the same process with broth instead of tea.
So far my stomach has settled down nicely, which will hopefully continue. I’d really like to take a shower before the procedure this afternoon, but I can’t do that until I feel like I can even roll over without vomiting.
I am getting a feeding tube (nj) placed temporarily and potentially outpatient fluids with iv nausea meds a few times a week until we can try the gastric stimulator
I have been trying for years to have doctors being helpful for my dysmotility and I’m finally getting help
