When you’re in a “flare” it can be hard to focus enough to figure out what you need to get yourself back to stable ground. So, I put together a quick “Gastroparesis Emergency Flare Kit”.
These are all of things I do for myself when I was having constant flares and even so many years later when I have a rare flare. These are tried and true for me.
What’s a Flare?
This term is used amongst the Gastroparesis community and so it can be varying in description depending on who you talk to. But, my description of a flare would be:
Pain, nausea, bloating and extremely full, all more than the normal daily symptoms you face. It can be debilitating and lead to vomiting, extreme constipation or diarrhea. The lack of appetite, due to feeling so full, can create more nausea and pain.
Sucks, right?
How to Calm a Gastroparesis Flare?
Well, each thing in the emergency kit helps each part of your flare, even if it looks a little different than what I described. Let’s go over each one.
Warm Lemon Water: if you have been around here long enough, you know I basically require anyone visiting my site to have warm lemon water. The warmth is soothing for your belly and the lemon helps aid in digestion and also soothes the stomach.
Warm Bone Broth: again, the warm liquid is soothing on the body, but bone broth has numerous benefits. Mainly, it helps reduce inflammation and helps to repair the lining of the gut. It’s also providing you protein and fat in a way that’s easy to digest.
Walking: you might not feel like getting up to do much during a flare, but I promise, walking is so helpful. It helps aid in digestion and gets your metabolism going to help reduce that full feeling. Being out in the fresh air and sun can also aid in creating a good environment for those important bacteria in your stomach that help with digestion.
Heating Pad: sometimes, you feel like you have a rock just sitting in your stomach. Using that heating pad helps relax the stomach muscles and can help gas move through and relax your body.
Safe Foods: Juice. Juice is always a safe food for me. I am getting nutrients that I need but don’t want to work to digest in that moment. A smoothie would also suffice here. But also, even if you don’t feel good and don’t want to, consuming something is still important. Any of the recipes from the Juicing for Gastroparesis Ebook or the Free 3-Day Guide would be good ones here.
Rest When Needed: after everything else, sometimes you just need to rest your body. I usually try it all first and then if my body is still flaring, I just try to rest when I can. I try to get some decent sleep to let my body rest and digest.
So, next time you are in a flare, come back here and start with step 1 and keep moving through all of these steps until you start feeling some relief!
Hopefully, that was helpful for you.
Until next time,
Aubrey
Ps… if you would like to know more about how I can help you personally with your Gastroparesis, click here.