Gastroparesis and Motilitone

[garygjs]

If you are struggling with gastroparesis there are precious few drugs - prokinetics - that can offer much assistance to the frail PWP.

Prucalopride is pretty much the best bet but, and certainly if you are in the UK, getting hold of that will be mightily difficult...will require much jumping through hoops and, likely, the assistance of an open-minded and flexible gastro specialist...Lotsa luck!

youtube.com/watch?v=dZsbO92...(Not working as expected?)

The above video ably addresses the shortcomings of most prokinetics for PWP.

There is an alternative: Motilitone, which is approved in South Korea.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

I have been able to buy it from here:

korepharm.com/en-gb/product...

After a week or so, my mum's symptoms appear to be improving.

[garygjs]

Some additional, meandering thoughts that may - possibly - assist someone:

Earlier in the year mum's caloric intake - almost all through thickened fluids - was down to c700 calories. Within 5 weeks it was back to maintenance (c 1200 calories) principally, I think, because I aggressively tapered her buprenorphine patch: opioids are notorious for slowing gastric motility.

Gastroparesis has given rise to LPR (silent reflux). One of the symptoms is a chronic cough. Worth noting that the cough and other symptoms can very much mimic certain respiratory conditions...so the PWP with a cough/ apparently endless respiratory infection/ other respiratory difficulties may want to investigate whether their problems may in part be caused by LPR (digestive issues/ reflux)...Gastroparesis is common in PD and most all surely endure some degree of gastric slowing. (It ain't just constipation!)

[Boscoejean in reply to garygjs]

so chronic cough needs to be investigated? what about chronic mild congestion - could this also be a sign of silent reflux? I had been thinking that we had been able to remedy the GERD here using various supplements but now I have concerns.

[garygjs in reply to Boscoejean]

Keep in mind I'm a layman lazily speculating. Congestion is absolutely a symptom of LPR

jamanetwork.com/journals/ja....

Yet if that is the sole symptom - there's no hoarseness, no cough, no feeling of something in your throat that needs clearing etc etc - it would seem unlikely that LPR's the cause...though I simply do not know definitively.

[Boscoejean in reply to garygjs]

Thanks

[garygjs]

Brief update after 7ish weeks of use:

Constipation is much improved. It has pretty much ceased to be a significant issue. (Keep in mind, we still use Laxido (macrogol3350) and magnesium citrate). My guess is that transit time is much quicker.

Abdominal pains have gone entirely. This was becoming a besetting problem. Fabulous.

There are sure signs of improved physical capacity: Stronger stride. Better able to stand upright. A stronger throw ( mum still loves a game of catch).

The cough remains but may possibly be improving. In the study linked above, reflux issues showed improvement after 12 weeks...not so much after 4.

All in: a godsend.