Just FYI, autonomic dysfunction, generally, covers a broad spectrum of possible ways in which symptoms may manifest. The intermittent rapid emptying and then gastroparesis is one possible way. It results from a larger problem in that your body is not appropriately responding to “normal” stimuli. The thing that actually made me ask you was your mention of dizzy spells and inability to concentrate. When our autonomic system isn’t working, our body will start sending itself all sorts of signals that are inappropriate. Have you heard of POTS? It is a form of autonomic dysfunction. Vasovagal syncope or vasovagal disorder is another form where your blood pressure will drop. Basically, your autonomic nervous system takes care of all of that “stuff” we do automatically. In this case, when we stand up, the vessels in our lower extremities should contract to ease the burden of the added gravity on our heart, making it easy to continue to pump blood to your brain without your heart working any harder. If our autonomic system fails to do this, blood pools in your legs, you’ll start to feel dizzy like you’re going to faint, because your body is desperate to get you to lie down and make it easier to get oxygen (blood) to your brain. Also, in an attempt to get your vessels to constrict in other ways, you may release adrenal or neurotransmitters almost like a fight or flight type situation.

Anyway, I’m sure this is overly technical and boring but my point is a GI doc is not who you need to make this diagnosis. You need an autonomic specialist if you can see one. Where are you located?

One other GI question, unrelated to my previous ones... Has anyone mentioned adhesions to you? If you’ve had several operations, this is a distinct possibility and is known to cause extreme pain. Depending on the location of the adhesion(s) it certainly could make digestion difficult and potentially dangerous so if you don’t know this answer, I’d ask your GI doc ASAP. This one is totally their wheelhouse.

Let me know if you have any questions. I’ve been there. It is tough and so frustrating when you don’t have answers but you came to a good place to ask and hopefully we can help you get the answers you need. It always seems like it will never happen, until it does. Hang in there!

@joshk, I’m not sure if it is an option for you but if it is, the Mayo Clinic is very good at diagnosing health issues that are difficult to diagnose. I believe this is because the different areas in Mayo Clinic work together to diagnose and treat the patient. If you would like to seek help from Mayo Clinic, you can contact one of their appointment offices. The contact information for Minnesota, Arizona and Florida can be found here:

Mayo Clinic Contact Information: https://www.mayoclinic.org/appointments