RE: Burping & Clearing the esophagus & Medications

[Guest guest]

I was taken-back by all the emails in response to this

“Wipperwillow”. The discussion of burping, “clearing

the esophagus” and taking medications caught my eye. I know we are

all different and I need to voice how different I am to some of the post I have

seen today. Could we be having some trouble with our communication in the

terms and our usage of the English language? And I don’t mean to be

disrespectful to anyone, as I have found this group to be one of my

lifelines. I’m just a little confused and would like to vent this

out.

I have to say that before and after my first myotomy I

wasn’t able to burp outwards. That is to say that I couldn’t

open my mouth and let gas out. And as my undiagnosed achalasia got worse, I

wasn’t able to drink sodas. After my first myotomy (no wrap) I was

told to stay clear of them or let the fizz out. Otherwise, for me, it

induced vomiting and choking. I drank flat soda to get the calories during my

pregnancies when I wasn’t able to tolerate sports drinks. Now, I have

been told by many of the member here that sodas are great for clearing the

esophagus. What does this mean? Do you vomit or regurgitate?

In June of 2006, I had a dilation that worked GREAT for about 5

months. I put on about 25 pounds and had a lot of sounds coming from my

stomach. I wouldn’t call it a burp as I wasn’t using any

muscles to release any pressure. The sound resonated from my abdomen.

Months after my second myotomy, I have enjoyed a soda. I love rootbeer!

I burp loud and often.

As for the “clearing of the esophagus”, I’ve

used this phrase to explain why I drink a lot of water at night. I do not

regurgitate. I have a large pocket midway in my esophagus. The pocket is

just above were my esophagus bends. Prior to my 2nd myotomy,

my esophagus was double the size of my stomach. However, my stomach was

detectibly smaller than normal. I did not have a wrap, but the Upper GI

showed that I might have had one because of the size of my stomach. After

an endoscopy, they showed no signs of a wrap. By the way, I was taking

30mg Prevacid soluble tables 3 times a day.

Today, I still have a pocket in my esophagus that food can build

up in. I have to clear it out by drinking water to make sure that food

doesn’t stick. Sometimes it can, and I’ve noticed that it

happened about every 3 weeks. I miss a bowel movement; then 2-3 days

later, I get very nauseous and vomit: that is to say that stomach acids come up

and burns my esophagus. Also, I’ve reduce my Prevacid to 2 times a

day. I haven’t had an anxiety attacks (so I’m of the

Lorazepam) and I can sleep with one pillow sometimes. But I have NCCP

every 6-9 days and I have a nagging cough that leaves a metal after

taste. By the way, I eat everything but popcorn and spicy foods.

To many, it appears that this is not good enough. And

maybe I can’t be a good judge of my condition, but I don’t

regurgitate with every meal and every meal doesn’t have to liquefied or

mashed before I consume it. At this time, 7 months post operation; I’m

eating the best I have since before I got this dreaded disease. And with the

help of this group, I don’t let people treat me like I’m a mental

case. I have a valid physical illness much like asthma or emphysema,

where they can’t breathe I can’t eat or drink. (Sorry, if I’ve

offended anyone with asthma or emphysema, but this is how I explain it to others

and they seem to get it.)

Thank you for letting me blow-off some steam,

in SF

From:

achalasia [mailto:achalasia ] On Behalf Of

Haigh

Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 11:29 AM

achalasia

Subject: RE: This is the support I was hoping to find!

ERRORS

Hi

I don’t wish to enter into a full

blow argument but I must totally disagree with a comment you made as it is

INCORRECT.

you

will not be able to burp, will take an anti-reflux prescription

medication for the rest of your life

I had the myotomy two weeks ago and if I drink too much

too fast or too much fizzy drink I do in fact burp and I am not taking and

neither have I been prescribed any anti reflux medication of any description...

As I said just a point of fact that needs correcting as

it sounded like you were giving it as a fact but it’s clearly wrong.

I may be wrong and I welcome any corrections as we are

all learning about this but I have been on this group for over a year now and

out of all the facts given it seems to be the ‘facts’ from the

people that want to find alternatives to surgery are the ones that give out

misconceptions and misleading information.

Andy

Yorkshire, England

From:

achalasia [mailto:achalasia ] On Behalf Of wipperwillow

Sent: 07 February 2008 18:58

achalasia

Subject: This is the support I was hoping to find! Thank you

Dear Wipperwillow,

There is a very caring alternative group' and yes because we do not

believe this is incurable; we are all treated like we have something

the rest can catch. The majority of the people on the site live their

disease. They have lots of valuable information, but please do not

let it discourage you too much. I was accused of having something to

sell when i first joined and i backed away quickly. I still read the

useful email but i do not join into the pity party. There are great

ways to cope and understand more about the disease than most doctors

will ever know. I think this is one of those problems that not

enough in known and we get medical treatment from physicians that do

not take the time to learn more about what works and what does not.

Mostly we are the people that do not believe that our esophagus's

nerves are dead. The alternative group usually uses alternative or

homeopathic medical help. We change out diets to accommodate our new

situation and do not expect to swallow steaks and fast food. We do

share what we can and cannot get through our systems.

Do not give up, i think we are very close to a cure or some ways to

hang in there till we can be " cured " . There have been cures who come

online and share their stories, but the people here do not want to

believe it, discount what the " cured " have to say. Personally I

think there is a relationship with food allergies and stress. It

looks like there are many similarities and celiac disease (Gluten

intolerance), progressive gerds, and other clues let us know there

is still hope. My understanding is, that if you have the myotomy and

or one of the " wraps " , you will never be able to undo the surgery,

you will not be able to burp, will take an anti-reflux prescription

medication for the rest of your life and may still get cancer of the

esophagus or have the whole thing removed. To start out, please eat

many mini-meals of foods you can get down. I have a whole list of

what does and does not work for me. Hot water with or after small

meals that are very well chewed helps. Stopping your eating by 6 or

7 pm and emptying your esophagus before you go to bed also helps.

Since it is very serious, you do need to monitor your health. If you

join the alternative Achalasia group, you can still read the regualr

emails but you will also get the alternative information and much

nicer support than you have witnessed. Please feel free to email me

at margmorgan@... or call

me at 925-256-1130. I am home most

days. Good luck and god bless.