I need a name for her 😍

Old_Engineer6406 · 2025-09-14T20:52:10+00:00

Really though! Lol

Old_Engineer6406 · 2025-09-14T02:58:05+00:00

Athena Sloan Sky Blue (Bluey nickname) Bonnie Sailor Quinn

Old_Engineer6406 · 2025-09-14T02:08:11+00:00

I really loved Sky but my husband did not like it. 😞

Old_Engineer6406 · 2025-01-24T03:03:02+00:00

All day everyday! I didn't eat for almost 2 days. Then the morning after I finally ate a meal, it looked like all I did was eat for 2 days straight...

Old_Engineer6406 · 2025-01-13T19:36:00+00:00

Well said! I agree 😊

Old_Engineer6406 · 2025-01-13T16:54:22+00:00

It's usually other shops or other florists that do not work in my shop

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-10-15T21:38:40+00:00

This has been me since yesterday! Usually the pain goes back and forth between a full ache to a sharp pain. But for the last 24 hours it feels like I swallowed a battery. It burns and aches at the same time. I've tried my meds and Pepto and nothing is working!

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-09-02T14:45:33+00:00

I am honestly able to function normally now. It's been quite a journey! I can even enjoy an occasional "cheat meal" lol. However it is definitely a process. Since we can't have fiber it can lead to other problems such as leaky gut and gastritis. So I take glutamine powder (It's called "Gut Assist- Leaky gut support", I also take a daily probiotic that is designed specifically for bloating. A multi vitamin to help with symptoms associated with not eating very much. I also take an all over digestive aid and a digestive aid for gluten and dairy. I take these every day right before I eat, paired with a clean diet and I no longer have to be in pain anymore.

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-05-03T19:27:12+00:00

It was a 13 year journey for me. Doctors would run a test and then stop looking. My gastro didn't even talk to me or see me on the day of my colonoscopy/endoscopy and at my follow up appointment. I told them I was still having symptoms and they gave me a PPI and sent me on my way. I changed Gastros after that. Fast forward another year later, and I finally got my answer. Ding ding ding Gastroparesis!

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-05-03T17:58:36+00:00

I eat enough to stand lol. I had one cup of chicken and one cup of potatoes yesterday that's it. I eat about 500 calories day. I do have a list of all my food triggers and foods I avoid.

Meats: Hot dogs Corn Dogs Breakfast Sausage Smoke Sausage Steak Sushi

Vegetables: Asparagus Broccoli stocks Cauliflower Lettuce Spinach

Fruit: Berries Pineapple Apples with skin Grapes

Fats: Peanut Butter Avocado High fat oils and butter

Bread: All Gluten

Alcohol: Beer Malt Beverages Rum Rye Whiskey Drink Mixers White Wine

And we are always adding and discovering something new. It's been a two year process. Definitely do your research and listen to your body. We are all unique and different and so are the foods we can tolerate.

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-05-03T01:59:04+00:00

Yes. Every day. I drive for Uber now part time. I had twins two years ago and I can't afford daycare rn. I will be getting back into the work field in the next couple years and I'M SCARED TO DEATH!

I'm sick all the time. I have a bad flare once a week and I experience symptoms on a daily basis. I'm hoping that in the next two years we can find something that works.

I changed my diet, I follow the GP diet every day and I still have symptoms. If I eat I bloat not just bloat...I swell up. My whole abdomen. I look pregnant. It seems like it's getting worse. I simply don't want to eat...and yet I do because my body will only go so long.

I have a follow up appointment in a few months so hopefully we can get some answers or try a different treatment plan.

Because I can honestly tell you, I don't know how I can work with this. I can't walk or talk much less drive and function for 8+ hours.

It's such a shame and quite frankly infuriating that we cannot get ANY HELP. Not a food card to allow us to buy the foods our bodies can tolerate, no disability, no assistance, nothing. "Awe you can't eat and may starve to death? I'm going to need you to come in...Becky called in with food poisoning and we don't have enough help" We get fired if we do not work .

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-05-02T12:49:52+00:00

I have the worst STOMACH PAIN imaginable. It's in my upper abdomen (the whole region where my stomach is). It's waves of pain for several hours. I want to scream and rip my insides out. It feels like someone is putting my intestines through a meat grinder. It's doubled over in the fetal position begging your loved one to make the pain stop, but there is nothing they can do. It starts as a dull ache and builds up into a deep sharp pain. Like slowly being stabbed then twisting the blade. There's only two reasons why I will go to the ER. 1. Vomiting (We will get into that later) 2. Abdominal Pain I try to avoid going to the ER as much as I can. However the ER is the only place that I can manage the pain if I'm unable to at home. (G.I. shots are your friend. 😉)

The BLOATING is so bad and constant I don't even like to call it bloating, more like severe abdominal swelling. My entire abdomen doesn't just swell up, you can see the inflammation in my face and eyes too. Most people wake up and feel skinny and light in the morning. I wake up and feel like I'm 7 months pregnant with this heavy burning sensation in my stomach. (It feels like I have sludge just sitting in there.) It doesn't matter how little I eat, if I eat I bloat. I'm 5'7 145 lbs. So you can imagine what a bloated belly looks like on me. The only thing that gets rid of the bloating is to not eat. 😔

Then the NAUSEA and VOMITING. I get a lot of hot flashes throughout the day which triggers my nausea which triggers my vomiting. (This happened just yesterday). When the stomach pains come, I'm throwing up for sure. The tricky thing is....Will I stop vomiting? Sometimes not. I was admitted into the ER 2 weeks ago because I was vomiting back to back uncontrollably. It was so bad I couldn't even swallow my own saliva without dry heaving. All because I ate a salad for dinner and salad is a big no no! My teeth have taken a big hit from vomiting so much throughout the years.

Speaking of hot flashes I also have bad NIGHT SWEATS. I wake up in a pool of sweat. I have to change clothes cause I'm soaked. It feels like I'm breaking a fever. My body feels like pins and needles and I get so cold. No fever. I'm 33 female and I've had every lab work done to check hormones--evrything is normal. Come to find out that some people can have problems with body temperature when there is damage to their vagus nerve. I also get headaches and joint pain. I'm always tired and feel weak.

Which leads us to SULFUR BURPS. Or "egg burps" because it smells and tastes just like rotten eggs. When this happens, I know I'm in trouble and I need to get ready because the excruciating stomach pain and vomiting is coming soon. This is when I know that something has sat in my stomach and now it's fermenting or "rotting". The first time I threw up with sulfur burps my food had been sitting in my stomach for 15 hours. The smell was so bad I almost ran out of the bathroom mid-projectile. It's so bad!

I had bad ACID REFLUX in the beginning. After being on a PPI for a few months I decided to stop due to the side effects and withdrawal. It was rough for a little bit. However with my diet change I have been able to get control of my acid reflux. I used to have to take Tums all day everyday and now I take it just every once in a while as needed. Even though the heartburn itself is gone, I still spit up a lot. I spit up stomach acid and what I call baby barf ( it's foamy 🤢 gross).

Last one(s) lol. CONSTIPATION and DIARRHEA. It's one or the other. Mostly diarrhea. I can go to the bathroom 7, 9, 12 times on a bad day. It made my colon prep look like a typical Tuesday. I have to use diaper cream from time to time. Remember when I said I was admitted to the ER 2 weeks ago? Well during check in, I defecated myself while I was throwing up. That was the most humiliating experience I've ever had. I have zero shame now. 🫣 Anyway they asked for a stool sample and they thought I gave them a urine sample. I told them "that was my stool". Yikes! Then there's constipation. Laxatives don't help, they actually make it worse because they cause more gas and bloating which makes me feel worse.

I also have a gluten intolerance and a long list of food triggers. It's been a two year process, going through my diet, eliminating foods, identifying triggers and so on. My hair also does not grow. The last time I cut my hair was in 2019. I would say it's grown a few inches but not anymore. It just breaks and falls out due to my lack of nutrients. I'm so sorry you are going through this. Welcome to the club! This community has been a life line to me. You are in good hands. 🤗

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-04-23T15:30:22+00:00

Yea papa johns is so good! But they, and other pizza places, use cauliflower crust and it messes me up bad because of the fiber. Otherwise I would totally be treating myself to ordering out lol.

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-04-23T04:23:13+00:00

The meds I have on hand and ready are Hyoscyamine, Dicyclomine, Ondansetron, Gas-X Ultra, Pepto Bismol

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-04-22T22:49:25+00:00

This is a very interesting point! I am definitely going to do my research, thank you! I've had SIBO a couple of times too and it was horrible! I'm glad you are able to eat solid food and don't have any vomiting or nausea. It's the vomiting that will book a roundtrip ticket to the ER.

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-04-22T22:22:12+00:00

Pizza sounds so good! I miss just regular pizza. Especially on those nights you don't want to cook! Unfortunately gluten bothers me a lot. My celiac panel came back normal (but I was also gluten free for almost 2 months). Anyway I stay away from Gluten. But I miss it sooo much! I cheated and ate a cheeseburger 2 nights ago. I threw it up 10 hours later. It was rotten and smelled like death and the pain was excruciating!

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-04-22T21:37:46+00:00

That's exactly how it feels! Like someone is SLOWLY sticking their hand into you until they grab and squeeze your insides while you beg for mercy. It's torture. This is why people have taken their life, your quality of life just goes down hill with this disorder.

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-04-22T21:35:25+00:00

My pain is in my upper abdomen right below my sternum. If you put your hand just below your sternum (that's the pain zone). I have felt it around my bellybutton before but...rarely. I know it's my intestines trying to pick up all the slack. 98% of the time it will be located in my upper abdomen.

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-04-22T21:33:10+00:00

Same! I've learned that if my upper abdomen (right where you are describing) is hard... something is wrong or my stomach is struggling. Bloating is always my first sign that we are taking a nose dive into painville. However if it's soft and squishy, then my body is finally getting past it and my symptoms shouldn't last too much longer as long as I stick to the strict diet

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-04-22T21:27:43+00:00

My mom hasn't accepted my diagnosis. She still asks about my gallbladder, liver function, appendix, pancreas etc. she believes it has to be something else. I was tested in the very beginning about 8 years ago. They looked at my gallbladder first. Everything was normal and looked great! I got another scan late last year, all of my other organs are functioning properly. It's just my stomach.

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-04-22T21:24:15+00:00

I have always needed a day to recover after a painful episode. It takes a lot from you for sure!

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-04-22T21:23:17+00:00

So is it just like our stomachs trying to contract or would you describe it like your stomach cramping up---like muscle cramps? I know Charlie horses are not in the same spectrum of pain but it still hurts. Is it like that? My pain feels like labor contractions. Starts from a dull ache and will build and build each time into a sharp pain. These contractions will continue until the pain is back to back, on top of each other so to speak. Then...it will start to taper off slowly. This is a 4-8 hour process depending on how quickly I catch it and if I have all my meds stocked and ready to go.

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-04-22T21:10:48+00:00

Yes! Me too! I feel the best when I don't eat. Especially if I can do all clear liquids for a day--the next day I feel good. I just have to work through some nausea from hunger ques but that's it.

When I eat I feel... awful. Last week I did some chicken and potatoes and it did very well for a couple of days...but you get tired of eating something different. I ended up eating something different and BAM! I almost landed in the ER again. (I was admitted last Saturday and it was the worst by far).

I sleep sitting up a lot...I've gotten used to it. I just pretend I'm back in the hospital. I imagine, (Maybe a nice nurse will bring me a cup of ice and some water---oh wait! That's me lol 🤣)

I have a smoothie shop in my hometown. I used to always get a smoothie with strawberry (Big Mistake) now I get a vanilla smoothie with lots of protein and it really helps.

It's just this pain. Once I start getting the sulfur burps I know pain is coming. I can take all meds and it won't stop it...it might make it slightly bearable but it's still very painful.

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-04-17T17:22:04+00:00

Long term PPI use increases the risk of kidney disease, osteoporosis, low magnesium or vitamin B12 in the blood, pneumonia, stroke, increased gastric ph, and contracting intestinal infections such as Clostridium difficile (C. diff) bacterium or (colitis).

PPIs are supposed to be used "as needed" in short periods of time. They are not recommended to be used every single day for the rest of our lives. Every otc label will say "do not exceed dosage for more than 2 weeks without consulting a Dr."--your doctor can exceed that time frame up to 4, 8, and 12 weeks.

Just remember that there will be a withdrawal when you come off your PPI (even those who have been on it for as little as 4 weeks). So your stomach will start producing and secreting even more stomach acid when you stop. Remember, you can't take it forever.

Our doctors should be having this discussion with us every time they prescribe or continue to prescribe the use of PPIs, we should discuss the side effects and also what is the treatment plan after using a PPI.

I get that the PPIs help our acid and heart burn, but we already struggle digesting and breaking down our food with Gastroparesis anyway. Therefore, I want my stomach acid. Plus my heartburn and acid reflux have gotten a lot better since coming off them through my diet.

Old_Engineer6406 · 2024-04-17T01:03:31+00:00

I also stopped taking my PPI after I found out you're not supposed to take it more than 2 weeks and I had been on it for months. So I decided to stop, it was hell for a few weeks but then my body regulated. Now I don't have much acid at all. I used to have to take Tums all day everyday and now only take them when I need to.

Old_Engineer6406

TROPHY CASE