Stress and other links

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone, Happy New Year to you all.

I read with interest all of the discussions and contribute occasionally ! As some of you will know we've previously had discussions about what could be contributory factors of Achalasia ; this has mainly been focused on the fact that several of us ( and I am NOT saying ALL ) have autoimmune disorders. ( I am also NOT saying "A" is an autoimmune disorder !!!) I guess anybody with ANY condition could say they had had periods of stress before they got ill with things like diabetes , epilepsy or anything else ........ stress can cause illness but we need to be careful with our thoughts here don't we.

I certainly cannot remember any period of extreme stress or major life changing events before starting to get symptoms of "A" as there wasn't anything out of the ordinary in my life at that time. ........I know many people have had a battle and a half to get a diagnosis and certainly for me I know some Drs were going along the "it must be psychological " type diagnosis .... eg "there must be hidden stress/distress" etc.etc causing these symptoms ....... then when they did all the right investigations they had to back track and admit it was a purely physical illness and no it wasn't psychological at all.

I have personally wondered if my irregular eating patterns had a contributory effect !! I was a Senior staff nurse and our unit was always so busy . We would grab a bite and then rush to answer the phone, a call bell etc.etc. It can't be the cause as all the thousands of others would have it as well BUT I just wonder if you have the weakness there whether it might not have helped eating in this way. I know because /I have asked you before that several people have autoimmune disorders and that several of those plus others were health care professionals .

When a condition isn't fully understood all of these things are a shot in the dark and masses of research would be needed to even get close to the causes if there is a specific one that could ever be identified. People with MS , CFS , Epilepsy and on and on also go through this searching for a reason ....... at the end of the day it is quite unlikely that you will be certain ......

Stress won't help anybody and might not be a cause but could be a contributory factor for some and exacerbate any condition from "A" to a minor cold virus ..........lets all spend some quality time just for us as individuals and find something that helps us .

Thanks to you all for your support and I'm pleased so many of you are doing so well after treatments .

[Guest guest]

I am sure there is an answer. The problem is there is very little research on Achalasia. Most doctors say the same thing, They can find more information from those of us who have it then any research.

J.C.

Stress and other links

Hello everyone, Happy New Year to you all.

I read with interest all of the discussions and contribute occasionally ! As some of you will know we've previously had discussions about what could be contributory factors of Achalasia ; this has mainly been focused on the fact that several of us ( and I am NOT saying ALL ) have autoimmune disorders. ( I am also NOT saying "A" is an autoimmune disorder !!!) I guess anybody with ANY condition could say they had had periods of stress before they got ill with things like diabetes , epilepsy or anything else ........ stress can cause illness but we need to be careful with our thoughts here don't we.

I certainly cannot remember any period of extreme stress or major life changing events before starting to get symptoms of "A" as there wasn't anything out of the ordinary in my life at that time. ........I know many people have had a battle and a half to get a diagnosis and certainly for me I know some Drs were going along the "it must be psychological " type diagnosis .... eg "there must be hidden stress/distress" etc.etc causing these symptoms ....... then when they did all the right investigations they had to back track and admit it was a purely physical illness and no it wasn't psychological at all.

I have personally wondered if my irregular eating patterns had a contributory effect !! I was a Senior staff nurse and our unit was always so busy . We would grab a bite and then rush to answer the phone, a call bell etc.etc. It can't be the cause as all the thousands of others would have it as well BUT I just wonder if you have the weakness there whether it might not have helped eating in this way. I know because /I have asked you before that several people have autoimmune disorders and that several of those plus others were health care professionals .

When a condition isn't fully understood all of these things are a shot in the dark and masses of research would be needed to even get close to the causes if there is a specific one that could ever be identified. People with MS , CFS , Epilepsy and on and on also go through this searching for a reason ....... at the end of the day it is quite unlikely that you will be certain ......

Stress won't help anybody and might not be a cause but could be a contributory factor for some and exacerbate any condition from "A" to a minor cold virus ..........lets all spend some quality time just for us as individuals and find something that helps us .

Thanks to you all for your support and I'm pleased so many of you are doing so well after treatments .

[Guest guest]

I also am happy to open mindedly listen to anyone's theories in here. I

wish some doctors would join in. I would think this would be an

interesting forum for any doctors who treat achalasians. I hear you,

when you say that they don't know what causes this, and there are

any of a number of possible causes or even symptom issues that small

groups of us in here could point to...those who know they have

autoimmune problems, those of us who might have taken certain medicines

at the time our symptoms began, some who feel their symptoms intensify

with colds or flus, not to mention the clusters of us who are finding

relief for symptoms in various ways. I also hear you when you say that

stress exacerbates any condition, but not to blame it entirely on

stress. I know I can pinpoint the exact time my symptoms began, as many

probably can. I wish there was some research going on. Where else do

you find so many achalasians as in this group? I wish Baylor or Mayo or

whoever would do some studies with arginine. I have stopped taking it

on a regular basis as my symptoms have improved so much since surgery, I

don't feel the need to take something three times a day right now. I

know it helps me with the famous foam. I can take it symptomatically

for either foam or spasm, so I've stopped taking it daily. I wonder

about the merits of taking one amino alone....will it upset the balance

of the whole group of aminos? I think the next bottle I'll experiment

with will be an amino complex with arginine and see what that does, if

anything. The human guinea pig in me really thinks there is something

to this arginine business....she just wishes for some research.