Gastroparesis is a disorder that affects the stomach’s ability to empty properly, often causing persistent digestive discomfort. If you are experiencing symptoms and wondering about the cause, a self-assessment can be a helpful first step. Understanding the signs of delayed gastric emptying allows for a more informed conversation with a healthcare professional.
What Is Gastroparesis?
Gastroparesis is a long-term condition characterized by delayed gastric emptying, meaning the stomach takes too long to move its contents into the small intestine. Normally, the stomach muscles contract in a coordinated, wave-like fashion (motility) to propel food through the digestive tract. This movement is regulated primarily by the vagus nerve.
When the vagus nerve is damaged or malfunctioning, it cannot send the necessary signals to the stomach muscles. This impairment causes contractions to slow down or fail, significantly delaying the digestive process. Since food remains in the stomach for an extended period, it disrupts normal digestion and absorption, leading to various uncomfortable symptoms.
The Gastroparesis Self-Assessment Checklist
Symptoms of gastroparesis can range from mild to severe and often involve uncomfortable sensations related to food remaining in the stomach too long. Chronic nausea is a common indicator, which may or may not be accompanied by vomiting of undigested food eaten hours earlier.
A hallmark symptom is early satiety—feeling full very quickly after starting a meal, even after only a few bites. This can lead to reduced food intake, unintentional weight loss, or a lack of appetite.
Other symptoms include significant abdominal bloating, a feeling of uncomfortable fullness lasting many hours, upper abdominal discomfort, and heartburn associated with acid reflux. If these symptoms are regular, worsening, or disrupting daily life, they align with delayed gastric emptying.
Defining Underlying Risk Factors
Gastroparesis develops from conditions or events that impact the nerves and muscles of the stomach. The most common cause is diabetes, especially in individuals with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes who have experienced sustained high blood sugar levels. High glucose can damage the vagus nerve, a condition known as diabetic neuropathy.
Other factors include surgical procedures involving the stomach or esophagus, which risk inadvertently damaging the vagus nerve. Viral infections are also implicated, sometimes leading to a post-infectious form. In many cases, the cause remains unknown, classified as idiopathic gastroparesis.
Certain medications can slow stomach motility, including opioid pain relievers, some antidepressants, and specific drugs for high blood pressure. While these drugs may not cause the condition directly, they can worsen symptoms in those who already have it. Less common causes include neurological conditions like Parkinson’s disease and connective tissue disorders such as scleroderma.
Medical Confirmation and Next Steps
If your self-assessment suggests persistent symptoms, consult a healthcare provider, such as a gastroenterologist. A doctor will take a medical history and perform a physical exam to rule out conditions that mimic gastroparesis, such as a mechanical obstruction or peptic ulcer disease. An upper endoscopy is often performed early, using a flexible tube to examine the upper digestive tract and ensure no blockage prevents stomach emptying.
Definitive diagnosis requires a test to measure the rate of stomach emptying. The most common procedure is Gastric Emptying Scintigraphy (GES), where the patient consumes a meal containing a small amount of radioactive material. A scanner tracks the material’s movement over four hours to measure how much food remains in the stomach at set intervals. Another option is a breath test, where a substance in a test meal is absorbed and measured in the breath over several hours to gauge the emptying rate.