Diabetes and Digestion: Understanding Gastroparesis

Nausea, heartburn and bloating have many causes. For people with diabetes, though, these everyday digestive complaints should not be brushed aside: diabetes is the most common cause of gastroparesis, a condition in which the stomach does not empty properly.

What happens

Normally the stomach’s muscles tighten to push food along the digestive tract. In gastroparesis, nerve damage from high blood sugar makes those muscles slow down or stop working, so digestion slows or stops.

That causes two problems for people with diabetes:

• Insulin timing. Because gastroparesis changes how fast the body absorbs food, it becomes harder to know how much insulin is needed at a meal.
• Nutrition. It also affects how well food is absorbed, which can lead to malnutrition if it is not treated.

Symptoms

Most people know the “stuffed” feeling after a big meal. With gastroparesis, that feeling — along with bloating, discomfort or pain — can come after eating even a small amount, either soon after starting a meal or long after finishing it, if the stomach is not emptying.

Other symptoms include heartburn, nausea, vomiting and poor appetite. Anyone with these symptoms should talk with their doctor, so gastroparesis can be managed and kept from getting worse.

Managing gastroparesis

There is no cure. But keeping blood sugar under control can help prevent or delay gastroparesis, and for people who already have it, can help them manage it and avoid other serious health problems.

Other steps that help:

• Eat small meals often, low in fat and fiber — fat, fiber and large meals slow stomach emptying and make symptoms worse.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Check with a doctor and pharmacist before taking over-the-counter medicines or dietary supplements.
• Limit or avoid alcohol.
• Quit smoking, as soon as possible.
• Stay physically active.

Sources

Based on "Digestion and Diabetes," Diabetes, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain.