If you have diabetes, you may have heard of a condition called gastroparesis. It’s when the stomach takes too long to empty food into the small intestine. What’s tricky is that diabetes can cause gastroparesis, and gastroparesis can make diabetes harder to manage. This creates a cycle where each problem can make the other worse.
What Is Gastroparesis?
Normally, your stomach muscles push food through your digestive system at a steady pace. With gastroparesis, those muscles slow down or stop working properly. This means food stays in your stomach longer than it should, which can cause discomfort and affect how your body absorbs nutrients.
How Diabetes Causes Gastroparesis
Over time, high blood sugar can damage nerves by affecting their signals and reducing their blood supply. This is known as diabetic neuropathy and can happen when the tiny blood vessels that feed the nerves become weak. Specifically, high blood sugar can damage the vagus nerve, a nerve that tells your stomach muscles when to contract. When this nerve is damaged, the muscles can’t move food along as they should.
How Gastroparesis Affects Blood Sugar Control
When your stomach empties slowly, it’s harder to predict how quickly food will be digested and absorbed. This can make it tricky to know how much insulin you need and when to take it. As a result, blood sugar can swing both ways, sometimes going too high (hyperglycemia) and other times too low (hypoglycemia).
Common Symptoms
People with diabetic gastroparesis may notice:
- Feeling full after only a few bites
- Nausea or vomiting
- Bloating
- Stomach pain after eating
Treatment and Management
The main goal is to keep blood sugar as stable as possible because this helps control gastroparesis and prevents it from getting worse. Treatment may include:
- Medications to help the stomach empty faster or reduce nausea
- Diet changes, like eating smaller meals more often, avoiding high-fat and high-fibre foods
- Close monitoring of blood sugar and adjusting insulin as needed
In summary, gastroparesis and diabetes are closely linked and each can make the other more challenging. But with good blood sugar control, the right medications, and healthy eating habits, it’s possible to manage symptoms and improve quality of life.
References
https://www.cuh.nhs.uk/patient-information/dietary-advice-for-diabetes-related-gastroparesis/#
https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/diabetes-complications/diabetes-and-digestion.html#
