Sophie May, a 30-year-old clinical exercise physiologist from Walsall, West Midlands, has revealed how she was repeatedly told her severe digestive symptoms were due to Irritable Bowel Syndrome, stress or were 'all in her head' before finally being diagnosed with gastroparesis, a rare stomach condition that has left her unable to eat without a feeding tube.
A dancer's health deteriorates
May, who once represented England in dance competitions, said that even after eating small meals she would 'swell up and throw up'. She described the sensation: 'Even if I'd only had something small, it felt like I'd eaten a four-course Sunday dinner.'
After being diagnosed with Crohn's disease in 2022, her condition worsened. She was hospitalised multiple times and eventually required a feeding tube when she could no longer keep food or fluids down.
Understanding gastroparesis
Gastroparesis is a rare condition in which food moves too slowly through the digestive system. May also lives with POTS and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. She said getting the gastroparesis diagnosis was 'validating because it meant there was a physical reason' for her symptoms.
May has shared her story during Gastroparesis Awareness Month to raise awareness of the condition. 'People aren't faking being sick a lot of the time - we're faking being well,' she said.
Impact and awareness
Her experience highlights the challenges many patients face in getting rare conditions properly diagnosed. For May, the diagnosis provided a clear explanation for symptoms that had been dismissed for years. She now hopes that by speaking out, others with similar symptoms will seek proper medical evaluation rather than accepting a misdiagnosis.
