Intestinal Difficulties Due to Diabetes

Autonomic diabetic neuropathy is a type of damage to the nerves that travel to your organs caused by elevated blood sugar levels associated with diabetes, according to the Mayo Clinic. When autonomic diabetic neuropathy affects your digestive organs, it has the potential to lead to a disorder known as gastroparesis.

Identification

• Gastroparesis is a medical term given to a delayed rate of stomach emptying, which causes your food to enter your intestines at a slowed pace. This condition is caused by damage to your vagus nerve, which is responsible for opening and closing your stomach.

Symptoms

• Symptoms of gastroparesis due to diabetes include abdominal bloating, feeling full after only taking a few bites of food, nausea, heartburn, upper abdominal pain, stomach spasms, lack of appetite, vomiting undigested food several hours after eating and periods of noticeably high and low blood sugar levels.

Time Frame

• The symptoms of gastroparesis due to diabetes normally develop slowly, worsening as the damage to your vagus nerve increases.

Risks

• Gastroparesis causes your intestines to absorb less nutrients, which can result in deficiencies of important nutrients and weight loss, warns the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse. The condition also makes it more difficult for you to control your blood sugars, which puts you at risk for developing complications from diabetes, such as loss of vision or heart damage.

Treatment

• The most common treatment for gastroparesis is a combination of dietary changes such as eating small meals and prescription medications like metoclopramide, erythromycin and domperidone, which aid with stomach-emptying. Severe cases may require the use of a feeding tube or intravenous nutrients to treat malnutrition caused by the gastroparesis.