Student lost half her body weight in months after 'stomach was paralysed'

A woman has told how she lost half her body weight when a rare condition caused her stomach to become paralysed.

Shannon Dunbar-Dawe feels she has been failed by the NHS; misdiagnosed and left starving for weeks while waiting for her vital feeding tube to be repaired.

A self-described foodie, she started to suffer from stomach issues in 2022.

The then-28-year-old, from Glasgow, began to feel nauseous or extremely full after eating. The issue came to a head when Shannon woke up in May 2022 with a burning feeling in her stomach.

“I didn’t know if I’d be able to eat again or if I’d get my life back”
Shannon Dunbar-Dawe

She immediately referred herself to Glasgow’s Royal Infirmary, where she underwent several tests to determine the root of the issue.

Medical professionals initially told the former accountancy student that she could have gastritis – inflammation of the stomach lining.

After being discharged, she returned to the hospital a few days later and was given abdominal scans.

Shannon lost over 30kg due to the condition. Supplied

The problem was still not identified.

Eventually, Shannon was told she had an eating disorder and was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

She told STV News: “I was sent home with omeprazole. Initially, I could eat anything, but it would make me feel uncomfortable.

“Then it got to the point where I couldn’t eat anything without my stomach swelling up and feeling in pain.

“I was admitted to Glasgow Queen Elizabeth, where I had an abdominal CT scan, but nothing came up.”

Shannon’s weight reduced dramatically – from 64kg (ten stone) to 40kg (six stone and four pounds).

Medics thought she must have an eating disorder – but she didn’t.

“I was distraught,” she said.

“In a year, I had gone from enjoying food to being told I had an eating disorder. In July, I was back in hospital because I had been unable to keep anything down for a few months. I then weighed 33kg.

Shannon spent numerous stints in hospital as medical teams tried to get to the root of the problem. GoFundMe

“After seeing a psychiatrist, I was put on a mental health hold where I was monitored 24/7 and force-fed food.

“They even watched me go to the bathroom. It was the worst two weeks of my life. I loved my food and it was soul-destroying not being able to eat.”

A year after the initial symptoms, the 30-year-old paid to see a private gastrologist at Ross Hall Hospital.

Within minutes, she was diagnosed with gastroparesis, a rare condition which impacts the nerves of the stomach, stopping it from emptying its contents.

“I used to be bright, bubbly, positive and outgoing – I’m a shell of who I used to be”
Shannon Dunbar-Dawe

Shannon initially suffered from partial paralysis, which meant she could not digest soft foods. However, she now lives with full stomach paralysis and is unable to digest any food.

The 30-year-old said: “I was devastated.

“I didn’t know if I’d be able to eat again or if I’d get my life back. I joined a Facebook page for people with the condition, and there are thousands with no quality of life.

“Gastroparesis doesn’t kill you, but it makes you wish it had. The condition has taken who I am away from me.

“I used to be bright, bubbly, positive and outgoing. Now, I’m a shell of who I used to be.

“I spend all my time at home feeling sick, taking six or seven doses of medication a day. I gave up singing and playing the guitar, which is one of my favourite things.

“I don’t see my friends and family as often as I like because of how ill I am.

“I haven’t had food in over a year. It has stolen everything from me.”

Due to the severity of the condition, which affects 14 in 100,000 people in the UK, Shannon has been fed through a tube for the last 11 months.

She was initially fed via her nose from December until June and is now fed through a surgical feeding tube.

But since the operation, the tube has broken multiple times, leaving her without any way of taking in nutrients for prolonged periods.

“There are a lot of difficulties with having a surgical feeding tube,” she said.

“Currently, it’s broken. I’ve been waiting two to three weeks to get it changed, and I still don’t have a date. Over the summer, I was left without a working tube for six weeks, and there was no oral intake, so I starved.

“Over the summer, I had no energy, suffered muscle cramps, and my heart started to give out. It could’ve been potentially fatal.

Shannon has lived with a feeding tube for 11 months and is hoping a gastric pacemaker can change her life. Supplied

“There is no protocol in place for feeding tube patients in hospitals. If you turn up to A&E, you will be waiting days because they don’t know what to do.”

In a bid to help manage the incurable condition, Shannon has attempted a number of treatments, including probiotics and botox injections to the stomach.

She is now hoping to raise £50,000 for the private installation of a gastric pacemaker in London. The device helps regulate stomach muscle contractions and improve gastric emptying.

Although it can be fully funded by NHS Scotland, Shannon says the operation is only offered to those with diabetes and so she does not meet the criteria.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has been asked by STV News to clarify the health board’s policy regarding the prescription of gastric pacemakers.

“At the moment, it is only offered to diabetes patients through NHS Glasgow, but even then, it is very rarely funded,” Shannon told STV News.

“It sends electric pulses to your stomach, which should make the muscle contract. The pacemaker also helps reduce the nausea.

“If the pacemaker means I could eat soft food again, that would be amazing. I need to gain 12kg to have the procedure.

Money is being raised for the operation, which will take place in London GoFundMe

“Then I would travel to London for the operation. I’d travel back and forth each month to have the voltage adjusted.”

She has complained to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde regarding her being put on mental health hold for an eating disorder and the periods of time she spent without a working feeding tube.

The health board has acknowledged the complaints and said attempts were made to resolve the issues.

An NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spokesperson said: “This patient has raised her concerns through our complaints process.

“Though we are unable to comment on individual patient cases due to confidentiality, we are sorry we were unable to meet her expectations.

“At all times, the patient’s concerns were taken seriously by the clinicians involved, and attempts were made to resolve them.”