Depression Community

Sounds like it could be depression, but it's just a guess, I am not a health care professional. Have you seen the doctor about this? What kind of help, if any, are you getting?

You need to work with a therapist and someone that understands your condition. Please call your primary care doctor if you are not under doctors care. Ask for a doc that can work with you on these feelings. It's important you get the help you deserve.
For immediate care please get to a hospital emergency room. Also WebMD has a list of crisis hotlines available.
Please let us know how you are doing, I hope if talking here will help you feel a bit better, but you need to reach offline for help as well!
Stay in touch.

I think if anyone was diagnosed with a serious illness that had no cure, they would go into depression. Speak with your doctor about getting on an antidepressant. You might also consider talking with a counselor who is familiar with your serious illness. Your doctor should have given you somewhere to turn to for emotional support.

You are more than welcome to stay in this community and post. Someone will always answer. We will do our best to support you.

Can you be more specific about your illness? I would be willing to learn all I can in order to help you talk about it.

Mary

Thank you for the feedback. To be honest I am taking so many different kinds of meds now trying to get my illness under control and am having side effects from these meds that I'm scared to add any more to it. My condition is called Gastroparesis and what that means is I am not able to digest food like you are supposed to. I am not allowed to eat any healthy foods like fruits, veggies, fiber, as these foods are hard to digest for anyone. Also solids like any sort of meat. I can eat very little mashed potatoes or apple sauce when I'm not really hurting that much but most of the time I just eat a slice of toast once or twice a day and maybe a little cream of Wheat for my big dinner. I'm at the point now that I don't even like to eat that much but I am losing so much weight and am so weak most of the time I can't stay on my feet very long. Essentially I am existing....not living. Sometimes I have a good day for a while and I actually get dressed and go for a little ride for some fresh air but I have to rely on my daughter for that. When my Doctor first diagnosed me I was of course full of questions and her reply was that there is not much they can do for me but I would have to learn to live with the new diet or very simply she says you can always go on a liquid diet!! She did start me on some meds that have worked a little for some "Reglan" but that doesn't seem to work for me anymore and sometimes it makes the stomach pain worse. It's the daily pain and bloated feeling that is driving me up a wall....and naturally because I can't eat my bathroom habits are next to nil. I just feel like I'm fading away to nothing and can't do anything except sit in a chair wrapped up in a heating pad most of the time. My poor husband God Bless his soul has been cooking his own meals and doing most of the work that I used to do for him. I appreciate your help Mary. Thank you for caring and taking the time to write!

hello, F --

i'm afraid i don't have any words of wisdom for you, but i wanted to say that i am so sorry you are having to deal with this horrible illness. please know that there are people here who are thinking of you.

-- susie margaret

Okay, I have a few questions.

Why are you staying with a doctor who doesn't seem to care about you?

Why are you not using Boost or Ensure? FLW, you are not taking in enough calories to even stay alive. You are seriously ill and you need help - NOW.

There is a young man in our community who has the same disease. Please - call the Mayo Clinic and get in to one of their doctors. They have helped him tremendously and I'm sure they could help you. He is now a med student in college.

I am so very worried about you. Your doctor should be ashamed that she is not seeing you on a regular basis and helping you more.

I hope the next time you post, you will be able to say you are on your way to Rochester, Minnesota (where the Mayo Clinic is).

Mary

hello, F --

i'm responding again to get this post to the top of the list (as MARYSINGS wanted to do in http://forums.webmd.com/3/depression-exchange/forum/6859?@guest ).

one other idea i had is that you might want to re-post this inquiry in the digestive disorders community, http://exchanges.webmd.com/digestive-disorders-exchange , for emotional support and good advice on how to handle your eating.

i send you many caring thoughts tonight.

-- susie margaret

(((hugs))) Hope you find someone in the medical community that can help you deal with this in a positive way. Will pray for you.

Wow....haven't been here for a while and guess no one else has either. I'm still suffering with Gastroparesis and still taking the same meds. I've lost a lot more weight though and this is what concerns me the most. I used to be a robust 250 lbs (which I know was not good for me either) but I have to say I felt healthier and more energetic than. Now I'm lucky if I weigh 120 lbs. I look terrible! Although I've gotten to the point that I don't really care what I look like anymore I know I have to change my attitude. I just get so angry that with all the technology in the medical world today why they can't come up with something to fix ones stomach?? I'm still living on toast and cereal. Sometimes if i can tolerate it I will eat mashed potatoes. The reason I don't drink Ensure or boost is because it is milk based and I can not tolerate fats. I'm seeing a new Doc now as we moved but he really didn't have anything new for me either. It just seems hopeless. I don't think a lot have died from this condition but I'm afraid it's going to get the best of me. If anything I'll soon starve myself to nothing! Anyway, just wanted to check in and see if anyone else has any suggestions. I really appreciate the support from all of you. Thank you.

hello, fran --

i am so sorry you are still suffering from this terrible gastroparesis (see PS). i did some skipping around the internet tonight and stumbled across an extremely thorough article on this disease, http://www.medicinenet.com/gastroparesis/article.htm . along with a comprehensive explanation of the physical process, the article lists possible meds and procedures to try. you are probably well aware of all of these, but you might take a look, just in case.

in addition, i did a search in the digestive diseases community for posts that include the word "gastroparesis" in them, http://exchanges.webmd.com/digestive-disorders-exchange/search?query=gastroparesis&Submit.x=26&Submit.y=19 . i expect that these will yield more or less random info, but who knows? there might be some comments that would give you ideas you haven't considered yet.

have you considered applying to participate in clinical trials or research studies related to gastroparesis? clinical trials that are currently recruiting participants are at http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=gastroparesis&recr=Open . two other sites that list clinical trials are at http://www.trialscentral.org/gastroparesis-condid-936.htm and http://www.centerwatch.com/clinical-trials/listings/condition/72/gastroparesis (i don't know if these are duplicative of the first one in this paragraph).

finally, at https://www.researchmatch.org/volunteers , you can register yourself to be contacted by researchers on a specific condition even if they have not yet started a trial or study.

i hope this helps. i send you caring thoughts; please keep us posted on how you are doing.

-- susie margaret

PS -- for other readers, gastroparesis is a condition where the muscles in a person's stomach work poorly or not at all. this means that food does not get pushed thru the digestive system and stays in the stomach for too long without being properly emptied. this interferes with digestion, can cause nausea/vomiting, affects blood sugar, and can lead to malnutrition. it can be caused by diabetes, or its cause may be unknown. there is no cure. the national digestive diseases information clearinghouse of the national institute of diabetes and digestive and kidney diseases, national institutes of health, has a very informative discussion of gastroparesis at
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/gastroparesis ; webMD info on gastroparesis is at http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/gastroparesis-directory?catid=1006 .