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Living with gastroparesis
Living with gastroparesis is like being stuck in a body that refuses to cooperate. It’s a chronic illness that slows or stops the stomach from emptying properly, and with it comes a cycle of pain, nausea, vomiting, bloating, frustration, and invisibility that many people on the outside will never understand.
One of the hardest parts is the unpredictability of weight. It is a common misconception that gastroparesis only causes weight loss, when in fact it also causes weight gain for some. Some days, you can barely keep food down, and the pounds fall off in a way that frightens even you. You never know what will be safe to eat, the food that was safe yesterday could lead to a ER today. It's a constant battle between knowing eating will make you sick and starving to a point you want to eat anyway just to make that pain ease, knowing it's going to start a cycle of misery. Noone sees the hours spent doubled over in pain, the nausea that makes eating feel like a punishment, or the exhaustion that comes from your body constantly fighting itself.
And then there are the doctors. Too often, patients with gastroparesis are dismissed, told it’s “just anxiety” or “in your head.” Test after test, appointment after appointment, you feel like you’re screaming into a void, begging someone to believe the pain you live with every single day. The lack of validation can feel just as crushing as the illness itself.
The bloating is another cruel companion. Your belly swells so much it doesn’t feel like your own anymore. It’s humiliating to have strangers smile knowingly at your stomach, assuming you’re carrying a child, when in reality, you’re carrying the weight of an illness no one can see. Clothes stop fitting. Confidence shatters. And still, the world doesn’t understand.
Gastroparesis steals so much—freedom, comfort, relationships, friends, and even the ability to eat without fear. It’s isolating, painful, and relentless. And while you may look “fine” on the outside, the truth is that every meal, every doctor’s visit, every sideways glance at your swollen stomach is a reminder that this illness controls more than just digestion—it takes over your whole life.
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