Originally Posted by rach73

Hi Jana,

Gastroparesis - I have it intermittently. At the moment I am only able to eat one meal a day because my tum still feels full from the day before. I throw up food that is 9 - 24 hours old. Thankfully I havent got to the vomiting stage again yet but that will come. Then I eat just 6 ritz crackers a day and feel dreadful. Although the weightloss is great as Im on the heavy side.

The full tummy part -- yeah, I feel that sometimes. I will look at my profile in the mirror and be SHOCKED that my stomach doesn't LOOK bloated even when it FEELS bloated. I'm pretty sure I've had this all my life. I remember throwing up undigested food when I was a teenager. I didn't realize at the time that this was ABNORMAL!

Gastroparesis can be part of something called dysautonomia (basically a problem with your autonomic nervous system). The autonomic nervous system control all the things your body does without thinking so heart rate, body temperature, breathing rate, blood pressure, digestion.

I have low BP -- typically 90/60 to 100/70. My heart rate is between 55 and 60. My temp is about 97°. Respiration is about 9-10 breaths per minute. I almost passed out in doc's office one time -- he did a check for dysautonomia........took my BP laying down, then again after I sat up. It was ok. I also have an inversion table that I use to help my back and neck -- I can lean back to hang upside down and then lean forward quickly to become vertical -- NO problems with dizziness or anything. I think this would be similar to a tilt test. BUT, with my other symptoms, I have always wondered.........

I bring this up (really no pun intended lol!) as autoimmune diseases ( like MG) are one of the causes of dysautonomia along with ehlers danlos syndrome.

Ive spoken before on this subject and I know a few of you have noticed that your blood pressure readings are becoming low etc. Or you have noticed that on standing your heart rate goes nuts.

My heart seems to stay the same whether I'm standing or sitting. It ONLY goes nuts when I'm in exacerbation and climb the stairs. THEN it POUNDS in my chest. I've even had this documented via a Holter monitor (GP ran the test during an exacerbation a couple of years ago).

I really believe that dysautonomia needs more recognition in the autoimmune disease community. I do believe many of you are suffering with additional issues along with the MG.

Low blood pressure can cause fatigue, excessive thirst, brain fog, nausea and a whole host of other symptoms. That you could be suffering with on top of MG. Simple things like increased fluid intake and additional salt ( I know everyone thinks salt is bad. Believe me without my salt tablets I would rarely be conscious!)

I'm the same way --- I hydrate constantly and salt is my number one "food group". No telling HOW low my BP would be if I didn't use so much salt!

If your interested there is a great website just google Dinet or POTS place for more info.

I hope this helps

Rach