How to prevent drug-induced gastroparesis

  There is a kind of stomach pain caused by drugs, so it is called “pharmacogenic gastroparesis”, that is, after taking certain drugs, there will be pain in the stomach, acid reflux and loss of appetite and other discomfort. For this type of stomach pain, it is not simply a matter of taking painkillers or stomach medicine, but of adjusting medication habits and methods.  The chief physician of the Department of Gastroenterology at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Shang Zhanmin, explained that “pharmacogenic gastrointestinal disease” is mainly due to the different degrees of stimulation of the gastric mucosa by drugs, which causes congestion and erosion of the gastric mucosa.  The drugs that tend to cause “pharmacogenic gastrointestinal disease” are mainly non-steroidal drugs or anticoagulants, such as aspirin. In particular, patients with coronary heart disease often need to take aspirin for a long time because of their condition, in order to avoid “pharmacogenic gastroparesis”, doctors often recommend that patients take it after meals, and at the same time add gastric mucosal protective agents, and ferrous sulfate, doxycycline, etc. can be taken after meals.  In fact, “pharmacogenic gastrointestinal disease” is completely preventable. Director Shang gave three tips: first, chronic patients with sudden onset of acute disease, should first take drugs that can relieve acute disease. For example, if a coronary heart patient is combined with acute gastritis, it may be a good idea to stop the treatment of heart disease aspirin first, first take the treatment of acute gastritis drugs.  This is because aspirin takes a long time, while drugs for acute gastritis generally only need to eat 2 to 3 days, which can reduce the “pharmacogenic gastric disease” attack. The second preventive measure is to use alternative medicines. For example, change the aspirin into enteric tablets; not suitable for taking the compound antihypertensive tablets containing blood pressure, under the guidance of a doctor can switch to other antihypertensive drugs, so as to ensure the effectiveness of the drug, but also to reduce the damage to the stomach and intestines. Finally, to reduce drug irritation to the gastric mucosa, you can also switch to an aqueous solution. For example, taking 10 ml of potassium chloride solution (10% concentration) is equivalent to 1 gram of potassium chloride tablets. If taken on an empty stomach before a meal, while paying attention to drinking more water, the drug can enter the duodenum through the stomach in a few minutes, or the drug can be dissolved in milk and diluted.