looking for info and support

i am looking for people with multiple autoimmune diseases. i'm really frazzeled. i've had lupus for 20 yrs. more recent diagnosis's are ankylosing spondylitis,hashimoto's thyroiditis, gastroparesis, and now diabetes. i was taking cellcept due to constrictive pericarditis. now i have to go on methotrexate. there's nothing much i can eat due to the gastroparesis, now with the the diabetes i don't know what to do. anyone going through anything like this???

thank you for reaching out. is methotrexate one of your drugs? i start it in 2 weeks and am a little nervous. i've had lupus lung before

Hi Karrie, welcome to the forum!

I too have several auto-immune diseases' and take Methotrexate among other meds. I have tolerated it well, I think one of the main side effects is nausea but I think there is a med your doctor can prescribe that counter acts it but I'm not sure what the name is, my rheumy gave it to me but I didn't need it. Be sure to take your folic acid with it! Your doctor should also monitor your blood work, I go every 2 months to make sure I'm tolerating MTX and Imuran.

I pray it works well for you and that you see an improvement in your health. Take care

Hi Karrie,

I have RA and I also have Gastroparesis, although not brought on by diabetes.  I'm so sorry you are struggling with GP.  It really impacts your life and limits what you can and cannot eat on a daily basis (especially with diabetes thrown into the mix).  How severe is your GP, can you eat solid foods?

Hugs to you!

Karrie,

Yes, it is frustrating I agree! For me, I can eat the peanut butter and Jelly without the bread! I think I have made every smoothie there is to make, and there is nothing worse than eating something only to have it come back to visit later If you like, I can give you a link to a wonderful support board that is geared just for GP, great people and caring advice.

I just wanted to say welcome, I am so sorry you are dealing with all of this. I don't have your conditions but I do have a problem with my spine, we found that enbrel helped with the pain though no one has a clue why but I had heard it might be an option for treating your spinal condition, sorry can't recall how to spell it and too tired to scroll around. I just wanted to toss that out there as a possibility. My hubby has type 2 diabetes and found that medication helped him more than changing his diet ever did for some reason. No idea why but he can eat an almost normal diet as long as he takes his pills twice a day. I really hope insulin works for you. I used to eat and then get sick 24-48 hours later and the food would be undigested. I had my gallbladder out and suddenly that problem stopped being a problem but I know that likely wouldn't work for someone who gallbladder was normal. I just wanted you to know I totally understand though about the odd diet you have to follow when the stomach is slow to empty, I can recall eating half a cup of soup and being full for 2 days it was hard because everyone around me wanted me to eat more and when I did it made me ill. Listen to your body when it comes to food and your doctor of course. I had heard there was medicine to help with slow emptying stomach but can't recall where I heard it. I also heard about experiments using a pacemaker like divise. Just ideas for research. Sorry I am rambling and likely not making sense. Just remember we are here to listen and hopefully someone with some knowledge will come along and make more sense than me.

Hi Karrie,

The link is www.inspire.com and hopefully this will take you to the homepage and not to mine!

The first time I checked to see if it worked, it went to my homepage for some strange reason!

The Domperidone that you mentioned is a scary medication! There is good reason that it isn't approved by the FDA  However, some do take the Reglan, and I did for a short while, although it gave me migraines, so I just try to manage with diet.

Best wishes and I hope you find support at the Inspire boards.