I am the single mother of a 26 yr old son and 7 mo old twin boys. one of the twins had an upper gi to rule out reflux and the report came back "stomach demonstrated delayed gastric emptying and delayed parastalic activity" findings were... mild reflux and gastroparesis suspected. He fits almost all the symptoms of gastroparesis. my pedatrician dismissed it and didnt even tell me anything but the reflux part. i only found out cause i asked for a copy of the report. SO, i have an appt with a new pediatrician friday... any suggestions on where to go from here, how to cope, what to do to make life easier on him?????

Hi and welcome!

My son has severe delayed gastric emptying due to low muscle tone in his gi tract. This just means the muscles dont contract hard enough to send the food through at a normal rate. It sounds like the radiologist was saying the same thing about your son.

I have been told by multiple GI's that all kids with reflux have some level of delay in their stomach in order to have acid reflux. The level of delay is what makes it clinical delayed gastric emptying--something that needs treatment.

So my first suggestion is to request a gastric emptying scan. You may need to see a GI for this, so your first step may be to request a GI referral, if your insurance requires a referral. A gastric emptying scan is the only accurate measure of his rate of emptying and it wll tell you if he really has a significant delay or not. It is an easy test, but it is long. They drink formula laced with a little radioactive dye and then lie on a table while a camera records the movement. It times how long it takes for the formula to leave the stomach. Your result will be something like this: "After 90 minutes, 20 percent of the formula left his stomach". This was my son's result and it was considered severe. For an infant, after 90 minutes, normal emptying time would be 75 percent.

To make things easier for him....not a lot on your own! What formula is he on? Breastfed? My son is on neocate, a prescription formula. It works the best for him. The easiest to digest foods that move through the quickest will be the most helpful for him. Fruits and veggies (non constipating) will move through the fastest. High fat and constipating foods move through the slowest. So a child with a delay, the effect can be more exaggerated. Small meals help minimize vomiting, my son regulates himself really well so he almost never vomits. The only downside is they have a hard time gaining weight if the food is still in their stomach hours later--they never feel hungry! My son has trouble gaining but is doing okay. He is 13 months old and weigh just a few ounces over 20 pounds. He doesnt really eat food though, just neocate formula.

There are two meds approved to treat DGE--erythromycin and reglan. Reglan is associated with multiple serious side effects, so it is personal opinion if you want to try it or not. Erythomycin is safe but not as effective. It didnt work for my son, so he just takes periactin, an appetite stimulant. It helps a lot. It does not help to move the food through faster, it just makes him feel hungry. We chose not to try Reglan.

Apparently they can outgrow DGE by age 2. So it may get better as he gets older. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Hello and Welcome!

Our son had some major DGE issues as well, his was corrected with surgery. There are meds you can try and diets that will make it easier for most kids. I am glad you are switching docs and I would look into a GI As they will be able to better treat you guys. Sounds like you need a specialist.

Welcome here, and let us know what we can help you with :hello2:

Hi, I just wanted to welcome you to the boards. Unfortunately I don't know much on DGE but Erin and Carla have filled you in a little. Hope to see you around.

Thanks for all the info guys!!!
we went to the new pediatrician today, she said she felt the best thing at this point was a gi referal so we are gonna start there, but there isnt one here in east south ca, so i will have to go to Loma Linda. The boys are on isomil but she doesnt seem to think changing anything in that department will help. but i am gona try the carnation good start SOY and see if that helps, we tried the good start milk based a couple weeks ago, it seemed like nick did better with the digestion, but they both had lots of spittin and congestion so we went back to isomil.
they definately arent failing to thrive... they were 3lb6oz and 3lb2.6oz at birth and are now 18lb12oz and 17lb12oz. at 7months. since starting the reglan nick has caught up with alex, they were about 3-4 lbs difference now only a pound!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
she ordered a upper gi for alex to see what it says and we will go from
there. i am just glad that she is willing to refer me so easily.
at this point we havent started them on much solids.. they are 7 mos, adjust age 5mos and alex did good with some of the cereals and some fruit so far, but nick vomitted the cereal the first time and since then wont eat anything from a spoon. my mom tried a couple bites of applesauce and he was fussy all night.. no clue if any correlation or not.
is so often in pain its hard... he just screeches and cries and cries and cries but when he feels good (the few short hours between when he eats and when he gets an upset stomach) he is such a calm happy baby.

should i start solids??? ive been workin with alex but im afraid to add anything to nicks diet in the risk of upseting the very delicate balance we have right now.

Welcome to IRD! It's possible that the applesauce was too acidic for him. If you feel that they're ready to start solids, then I'd go for it. Just be prepared that it may make the DGE worse, as it did for our son. You won't know unless you try though.