Boimel, P, Check, J H, Katsoff, D · Clinical and experimental obstetrics & gynecology · 2007
This case report describes one patient with ME/CFS who had severe stomach emptying problems (gastroparesis) that didn't respond to standard treatments. When she was given a stimulant medication called dextroamphetamine, her stomach symptoms improved significantly and stayed better for at least eight months. The authors suggest this type of medication might help some people with refractory gastroparesis, similar to how it may help other ME/CFS-related symptoms.
Gastroparesis is a common and debilitating complication in ME/CFS patients, and treatment options remain limited when standard therapies fail. This report provides preliminary evidence that sympathomimetic amines, which are already being explored for other ME/CFS symptoms, may offer benefit for refractory gastroparesis. For severely affected patients, identifying additional treatment options is clinically significant.
This single case report does not establish that sympathomimetic amines are an effective or safe treatment for gastroparesis in ME/CFS populations more broadly. The case-based design prevents determination of causation, placebo response, or whether improvements would be reproducible in other patients. No control group or systematic outcome measurement was included, limiting the ability to draw generalizable conclusions.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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