1. < Digestive Health

Gabapentin for rapid gastric emptying, diarrhea and possible Cdiff

Posted by celderki07 @celderki07, Aug 24, 2021

Anyone taking gabapentin for rapid gastric emptying without cause? I’ve had no surgeries to cause this but nothing helps slow motility. I was just started on gabapentin but I’m not sure if it’s making my diarrhea worse. I have zero quality of life and cannot barely leave the house because of it.

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Mentor
Teresa, Volunteer Mentor | @hopeful33250 | Dec 22, 2024
In reply to @mavans10 "Hello. I have been battling colon issues for many months started with diverticulitis with a perforation..." + (show)
@mavans10

Hello. I have been battling colon issues for many months started with diverticulitis with a perforation ended up in the hospital on massive antibiotics for a week sent home on more antibiotics triggering cdiff since July. I’ve been on the metronidozole, vacomyacin three times and most recently the dificid and seems isn’t gone sadly. I see a wellness specialist and he’s had me on a variety of supplements thus far not much progress. One of the probiotics he sometimes has me on includes the one you mention but it’s not the only ingredient and he only has me on it when I’m on the cdiff antibiotic. You mention you took it three times a day. Can you tell me what brand and what dosage you took along with how long you were on it (weeks or months?). I may need to seek a contagious disease specialist and may require fecal transplant. Hoping to find an option to get rid of this so frustrating. Thank you!

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Hello @mavans10 and welcome. I can certainly understand your frustration. Some issues, like c-diff, are hard to treat. I am glad you found this forum where you can learn from the experiences of others. On Connect, there are many discussions where members have discussed having c-diff.
Here is a link to those discussions,
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/discussions/?search=C-diff
I encourage you to read about the experiences of others and feel free to post and share your experiences as well.

REPLY
jimhans48 | @jimhans48 | 6 days ago
In reply to @amandaa "@celderki07, I know it has to be quite tough to feel like you can't even leave..." + (show)
@amandaa

@celderki07,
I know it has to be quite tough to feel like you can't even leave the house because of your bowels.

There is some research that suggests that Gabapentin does help with reducing rectal mechanosensitivity and increases compliance in patients with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowels.

Here are a couple of sites that I found to show you some data:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16268973/#:~:text=Conclusion%3A%20Our%20results%20show%20that,bowel%20syndrome%20patients%20warrants%20investigation.
https://www.karger.com/article/fulltext/362405
How long have you been dealing with this?

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I have similar issues. Rectal cancer surgery May 29 od 2024 removed most of my rectum. Since then have many bowel movemants per day. I take immodium which allows me to work 2 five hour days per week those two days I have no bowel movements at all, then I return to my usual 6-8 per day. I'v had as many as twelve several times my old record was 18 until this past Monday Dec 30 2024 when I had twenty bowel movements between 3 am and 11 pm that night.
This is insane and I will do something about myself since I can find NO ONE with a similar problem to talk about it.

JIM

REPLY
mavans10 | @mavans10 | 5 days ago

Are you suffering from Gastroparesis? I was diagnosed back in 2005 after losing 90 pounds, gallbladder was removed and I ended up with pancreatitis as my digestion shut down completely. I’ve had two major flareups not being able to eat anything for weeks or months even baby food bananas caused extreme gastric pain and nausea. Check out Living Well with Gastroparesis from
Crystal Zaborowski (Saltrelli). Her books and online blogs were very helpful. I went on Erythromycin which can be used to aid digestive motility, there are other drugs to help and newer drugs since I was diagnosed along with gastric stimulator implants although I’m sure treatments have improved. I manage mine a lot thru diet relatively strict on a regular basis and when flare ups occur I follow an easy to digest soft foods and liquid diet sometimes
V8 peach mango and gerber graduate fruit pouches. Eating very small portions more frequently in the day. Also check out this link it’s kind of the approach I use for level 1-3 diet depending on symptoms. With my cdiff over the last six months definitely causing more issues. I’m
Not sure about gabapentin for gastric emptying but with my cdiff I found it can somewhat reduce the rectal spasms/pain and pressure to go frequently. Good luck to you.
https://www.gicare.com/diets/gastroparesis-diet-for-delayed-stomach-emptying/

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