Has anyone else suffered from this?
Hi Carey,
I suffered from Diffuse Esophageal Spasm (DES) for years before my surgery. My throat would "close up" when I tried to swallow the first 1 or 2 bites of food, but for the longest time it only happened once in awhile. When it got to the point where it happened every time I sat down to eat, I saw the doctor. I had barium swallow studies done, in which they make you drink the barium; starting with very thin and progressing to bread mixed with the barium. They take the x-rays as you swallow to see if it got stuck along the way. Of course, I did not have the spasm during the testing but there was an area where there was some mild spasms but the final report said it wasn't enough to cause the symptoms I was having. After much in-depth history taking concerning my chewing and drinking habits, we decided it was cold liquids that was causing my spasms most of the time. I was instructed not to drink anything with my food until mid meal, when my esophagus was in a normal pattern of swallowing. It seemed to work for the most part, although I still had episodes from time to time no matter what. The strange thing about it is that the DES completely disappeared after my RNY. The surgery forced me to take smaller bites and chew more thoroughly so I concluded the real cause of the spasms in addition to the cold liquids, was that I was also being a glutton and eating too fast. Post-op, we all get that "stuck" feeling but nowhere near like the DES stuff. I haven't had any episodes of DES since the RNY.
I suffered from Diffuse Esophageal Spasm (DES) for years before my surgery. My throat would "close up" when I tried to swallow the first 1 or 2 bites of food, but for the longest time it only happened once in awhile. When it got to the point where it happened every time I sat down to eat, I saw the doctor. I had barium swallow studies done, in which they make you drink the barium; starting with very thin and progressing to bread mixed with the barium. They take the x-rays as you swallow to see if it got stuck along the way. Of course, I did not have the spasm during the testing but there was an area where there was some mild spasms but the final report said it wasn't enough to cause the symptoms I was having. After much in-depth history taking concerning my chewing and drinking habits, we decided it was cold liquids that was causing my spasms most of the time. I was instructed not to drink anything with my food until mid meal, when my esophagus was in a normal pattern of swallowing. It seemed to work for the most part, although I still had episodes from time to time no matter what. The strange thing about it is that the DES completely disappeared after my RNY. The surgery forced me to take smaller bites and chew more thoroughly so I concluded the real cause of the spasms in addition to the cold liquids, was that I was also being a glutton and eating too fast. Post-op, we all get that "stuck" feeling but nowhere near like the DES stuff. I haven't had any episodes of DES since the RNY.
KathyG
Most Active
Recent Topics
