Chills after eating ?

• By WendyRB
• Reply 1222410
• December 10, 2010 at 10:43 am
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Just wondering if you've had your thyroid tested? I also got chills as the precursor to my horrible vomiting/nausea attacks- it was one way I knew one was coming on. I would eat, and then maybe 20 minutes later start feeling very weak and chilled, sometimes to the point of shivering, then cramping and loose stools, nausea, and finally vomiting for hours. When the vomiting stopped, I would shake uncontrollably for about two hours.
I also don't have any real answers other than dysmotility based on HIDA and Sitzmarker studies. I'm told nerve and/or muscle damage, probably due to a bad infection in childhood.
Luckily I have found something that helps me (domperidone and desipramine), plus huge diet changes (no wheat, corn, red meat, dairy, chocolate, tomatoes, and so on), probiotics, eating an apple every day at 10 am, very small meals, and of course chewing everything until it is really ground up.
By the way- did you try domperidone? Because I was tried on amitiza (a laxative), and Reglan (motility) and they both made me feel absolutely horrible. Tried miralax and got basically no results. The domperidone is really the only thing that has worked, and other than a little lightheadedness and a bit of cramping the first week or two- no bad effects.
Good luck!

• By DawnTB
• Reply 1223000
• December 10, 2010 at 4:04 pm
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My daughter had had similar reactions after eating (still does but much better now!) Small meals and diet changes as Wendy has said, and also keeping still and warm after eating allowed her to get her weight back up (still very slim) and energy back somewhat. She also has the vomiting (severe) unless she takes L-arginine supplements prior to each meal. HTH

• By joelee
• Reply 1223092 · In reply to 1222410 by WendyRB
• December 10, 2010 at 5:08 pm
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Wendy,

Yes, my thyroid was tested and appears to be functioning normally. It is interesting that you say chills occur before episodes of vomiting because when originally asked if was vomiting, I told the doctors it felt like the warning signs that occur before you throw up.

I have taken both Reglan and Domperidone without any benefit. It seemed the symptoms occurred more rapidly and intensely. And the side effects were intolerable. Amitiza brought on nausea and stomach contractions right away, though it seemed to sooth some of the other symptoms. So I am taking nothing but Dexilant and Sucralfate for my stomach.

Miralax seems to work for me as long as I take it consistently. I have also found that my system handles bananas and cucumber well. So they are part of my mid-day meal. The NP at my Gastro practice said that I need some solid food to trigger the digestive process. When I try to live exclusively on liquids, my gut just fills up and my reflux symptoms get worse.

I guess I just wish doctors weren't so comfortable
with not having an answer. Even if some problems are untreatable, I'd like an explanation of just what if going on inside my body. They always use the "its neurologic" excuse. Apparently, the nervous system is just too complicated to understand.

Thanks for the input. Exchanging ideas seems like only way to get helpful information.

--- Joe ----

• By joelee
• Reply 1223109 · In reply to 1223000 by DawnTB
• December 10, 2010 at 5:23 pm
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Dawn,

I guess staying warm helps. I have been wearing a sweater constantly. But there is still the feeling, the sensation of tingling in my neck and shoulders, even when I feel warm. And putting anything in my stomach other than sips of water is likely to bring the chills on. This seems like a winter symptom though, since it just started recently again after being at a very minimal level for several months. All muscles of my body get stiffer with winter; so maybe that is part of it.

I am happy that you have figured out ways to improve things for your daughter. Dealing with this kind of disorder forces you to be a physician much of the time.

--- Joe ---

• By WendyRB
• Reply 1223171
• December 10, 2010 at 5:55 pm
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Hi Joe- this just proves how different everyone is- cucumbers are guaranteed to not agree with me! I eat an apple every day at 10 AM like medicine, and I chew it extremely well. It seems to help- apples have an enzyme or something in them that supports digestion. I also have normal thyroid tests, but literally every doctor I've been to in the past 25 years, no matter what department, has suspected thyroid issues. Get the test: normal. But I do take 100 mg (or is it mcg?) of synthroid every day- if I don't take it, after a few days I literally can not get off the couch. There are two distinct rules of thought re: thyroid. Half the docs feel that if your blood tests are normal, you don't have a thyroid issue. The other half feels like numbers are just statistics, if you have all the symptoms of low thyroid, take thyroid and it helps them, then you have some type of sub-clinical thyroid thing going on. I have literally every symptom of low thyroid, no matter how weird or rare, and yet my tests are always perfectly normal.

• By WendyRB
• Reply 1223174
• December 10, 2010 at 5:57 pm
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Also just thought to add, have you checked out the mitrochondrial syndrome thing? Because that can cause similar symptoms, and also heat intolerance. And I've read that you should never drink cold fluids with meals if you have motility issues- only warm liquids, like green tea.

• By DawnTB
• Reply 1223361 · In reply to 1223109 by joelee
• December 10, 2010 at 8:26 pm
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Joe, just thinking of how similar this is to my daughters' symptoms. By the way, her GP was caused by lyme as far as we can tell, so symptoms overlap. But the GP - cold thing definitely seems to correlate with eating. My non-medical theory is that it is so difficult for the body to digest and keep warm at the same time that something has to give. It's limited resources are just stretched too thin, especially if underweight. The more burdens you can take off, allowing it to use those precious resources for digestion, the better. Keeping still up to an hour after eating in a somewhat upright position for a few weeks helped her, as well as limiting herself to liquid/fruit on the worst tummy days. Apples/applesause and bananas are her staples. Warm drinks, now that it is cold, too! (Without l-arginine and/or domperidone each meal, it would come back up; chills then would be more related to the energy expended by the vomiting, so it can be hard to pinpoint the cause.) Hope you can stay warm this winter!