After weeks of unexplained nausea and vomiting, doctors uncovered an unexpected issue in a 63-year-old woman’s stomach and a surprising treatment.
The woman was rushed to the emergency room after experiencing severe nausea and vomiting for an entire month. Her symptoms initially left the doctors scratching their heads.
Burning Pain
Complaining of a loss of appetite, she was on a GLP-1 medication similar to Ozempic, due to her history of type 2 diabetes and obesity. Remarkably, she had lost 40 pounds, but the weight reduction came with intense pain in her midsection, back, and torso.
A report revealed that traditional medications for acid reflux weren’t effective, and there were no signs of an intestinal blockage. However, after the woman noted her stomach felt distended, doctors performed a CT scan. They confirmed the existence of a mass in her stomach, an effect linked to the weight loss drugs.
The cause turned out to be a gastrobezoar, which is essentially an accumulation of indigestible material in the stomach, as explained by the National Institutes of Health. Doctors believed that the GLP-1 medication delayed stomach emptying. Thus, they decided to halt her medication and admitted her for treatment.
Then came an unusual remedy: soda. “Evidence, mostly from case studies and personal accounts, supports a 3-liter dose,” the doctors suggested. That’s about 0.8 gallons, which could be administered either orally or through a nasogastric tube. This amount is similar to one and a half large bottles of soda, intended to break down the undigested clumps in her stomach. Yet, the medical community isn’t entirely sure whether it’s the acidity, carbonation, or something else that helps dissolve these masses.
Correct Diet
Despite being prescribed this treatment, the woman had diabetes and wasn’t fond of carbonated beverages. Therefore, she was given Diet Coke and asked to consume a slightly reduced dose of 1.5 liters.
Interestingly, by the second day, she reported feeling a “pulling” sensation in her abdomen, and the discomfort began to diminish.
Eventually, an endoscopy revealed that the mass was no longer lodged in her stomach. The woman resumed a normal diet while hospitalized and was discharged without any lingering symptoms. She was advised to take a daily acid reflux medication but discontinued the semaglutide.
