What if I do nothing?

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I'm 40 years old and have just been diagnosed with Achalasia after having

problems swallowing with chest pains etc.

It took about a month of Gastroscopy, Barium Swallow, CT Scan and manometry

before they finally diagnosed me with Achalasia, a lower oesophagus which no

longer performs peristalsis and a lower oesophageal sphincter which doesn't

relax.

So far things are going really well, I've made some lifestyle changes with a

second pillow, eating slower, chewing more that kind of thing.

And because of this my symptoms have relaxed and I feel quite OK. I have a bit

of discomfort when eating but it's manageable.

I have had some weight loss since first symptoms (about 5 KG in 3 months so

far), at one point I did loose my appetite but thankfully this has returned. To

be honest I've always been overweight and been finding it hard to lose weight

through cardio exercise, diet etc.

I'm not experiencing any regurgitation of food or have not yet found something

I'm unable to eat, but I guess my question is for how long will I be in this

situation? Can I expect big changes soon?

The hard part come to terms with is the fact there only seems to be 1 option -

Myotomy, a surgical procedure... That's it.

I'd really appreciate hearing anyone's thoughts on this and how their

experiences have been since being diagnosed?

I understand everyone is different but has anyone on this forum done nothing and

have been able to get on with life only making lifestyle changes? What about in

10 or 20 years time?

Look forward to your response, thanks for reading!