On By somanyminutes

Having just recently received the diagnosis of gastroparesis; it was caused by my vagus nerve being “nicked”.  I have only begun to do any research on this, and have found very few post/articles     about this type of vagus injury. My vagus nerve was cut during a C5-6 fusion. 

These are some of the symptoms I have:

-Difficulty swallowing and talking

-Inability to rotate head away from affected side(which a doctor INSISTED I was faking)

-Heart palpitations and rapid pulse

-Persistent cough

-Hoarseness and weakness of voice(from vocal cord spasm or paralysis)

-Gastroparesis

-Ovarian cysts

I am worried if my nerve will fray, since it has actually been cut? This probably sounds stupid, but I worry about that. 

I guess I should be grateful that the VA did not kill me, and I will eventually get there, but right now I am PISSED! There was a team of doctors in my surgery JUST TO MONITOR MY NERVES. I may get into all that at a later time.

I realize that I am the one responsible for my health, but if anyone out there knows of another who has this “condition”(I don’t even know what to call it), I would appreciate ANY info. 

I would also like to thank those who have reached out to me; I really appreciate it. 

25 thoughts on “”

  1. Scottie

    Wow you really are suffering. I have Gastroparesis but mine is caused by my diabetes as I said yesterday. For me it is the not being able to eat, not wanting to, and the vomiting. What does go down comes back up. It comes and goes. I had two days of it then it just stopped. So if I am careful it can be managed. I hope you can find some information that will help. There must be some treatment out there. Good luck. keep me informed please. Hugs

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    1. When I got diagnosed, I was informed that I was eating all the WRONG things. I grew up athletic and eating “healthy”, and being very active. Before I changed my diet, I was literally on my death bed twice. I feel a lot better; still need to keep a food journal(I SUCK at journals). I was lucky enough before, to be able to eat whatever I wanted. I love to cook AND eat. I only throw up about once a day, now. Have you found certain foods help, or not make you ill? I am very new to this, and have never had to watch what I eat- I don’t even own a scale(it got too depressing to see how icky skinny I was getting). My weight seems to have leveled off; underweight, but level. I am nauseous every second, and I too go for long periods of time without an appetite. I cannot force myself to eat; there are times when I can not physically swallow.
      Saying all this stuff makes me feel like a huge whiner. Growing up, I was told to “suck it up, Buttercup”, all the time. I have been accused of being stoic many times. I will try and keep my whining to a minimum. Thank you so much for your concern. Hugs!

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      1. Scottie

        You have a right to be upset and no one should tell you to “suck it up”. No my problem is that along with it I have a sensitive stomach in that it can’t stand pressure. So if the valve don’t open and the contents don’t go out, pressure builds. IF I don’t feel like eating I know not to try. Ron thought me going without eating was part of depression and would be after me to eat, and as soon as I did I would throw up. So the best I can do is listen to my body. IF it says don’t put anything in your mouth and swallow I don’t, because if I do I will see it again in a way I don’t want to. Ya, you have it much worse than I. I am constantly thirsty from the diabetes. So I drink a lot of fluid. IF I don’t realize my stomach has not emptied I will suddenly have to throw up. I hope yours gets better. Once we realized what to look for and what to do, it got better for me. Hugs

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  2. I’m just wondering if a muscle relaxer would help? Although I guess it might make it worse, too. Not sure if you’d be able to get a script for a light muscle relaxer, but you might ask. Even anti-anxiety medications can work as a type of muscle relaxer.

    Seems like any nerve that’s cut would grow back, but this sounds like an important nerve. As a gymnast, I remember having a pinched nerve in my back, the pain of which lasted for 6 months. But the pain did eventually go away. Of course, I was very young and healthy back then. 🙂

    You might want to follow a friend of mine, Kara over at Polishing Dookie. She also has gastroparesis. And her husband is in the military. 🙂

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      3. Scottie

        How does the Gabapentin affect you? I couldn’t take it. It causes me to have twitches, jerks, tremors. I suffered a loss of motor control. So I have to suffer the neuropathy as my primary refuses to prescribe anything else for it. Be well as you can. Hugs

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      5. Scottie

        Nah, don’t worry about me, my problems have been almost life long. You have had this horrible thing happen when you had so much to look forward to. It is you I worry for. I know I have care that helps me through it, but you seem to not be receiving good care and that makes it all the much worse. Again I worry about you and what is going on in your body. You and your husband have paid enough, suffered enough. This should be the time you reap the rewards. Many warm hugs

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  4. bethanyk

    The vagus nerve is what is affected in my daughter and is part of POTS postural orthostatic tachycardia or aka dysautonomia. A friend of mine who is a parapalegic also has issues with the vagus nerve and he gets the sweats and is dizzy. I also know someone with gastroparesis and she has a lot of pain. I wish i knew about the nerve being nicked. Do they think the nerve can regrow or heal?

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    1. I’ve done a little reading about the vagus nerve, but I can’t find any information on whether it regenerates. “It is the most important nerve coming from the brain and travels to all the major organs.” Perhaps it depends upon the amount of damage, although the condition appears to be incurable. I’ve read about how you can stimulate the vagus nerve, including with an implant. But I don’t see anything about how it can be repaired.

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      1. bethanyk

        I just read through tons of articles. There are a lot of people asking the same question who have had that nerve damaged in surgery. One said that it takes a long time to repair itself but it will if it is just nicked. Many others just talked about medications to take.

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      2. The GI I went to said there is only ONE medication, and the medication crosses the brain barrier; which means all side effects are PERMANENT. No thank you. She offered me a drug from Canada, but I am going to go as long as humanly possible without meds; I LOVE my brain the way it is.

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      3. bethanyk

        How can ther only be one medication. I hope your apt goes well on Monday where they hear your diagnosis. Are there any ramifications for the doctor who injured the nerve? Would a neurologist be better able to address it?

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      7. The stimulator is used when the nerve is damaged at the abdominal level, I think. Mine was damaged up in my neck. I will eventually be happy that they did not kill me outright– anymore, I would have stopped breathing. I just hope it doesn’t fray; I think I am just being paranoid, though.

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