I have been newly diagnosed with Achalasia, and my doctor at Kaiser has suggested a balloon dialation of my LES. I have read that this could potentially rupture the LES, and then emergency surgery might be needed to repair it. I also read that this proceedure, helpful to empty the esophagus of food, virtually assures one of acid reflux symptoms, and the need to take acid reducing meds (like Prilosec)for life. Is this true? Also I am wary of my doctor who got very excited to see such a rare conditionâand I think she has not treated many with this condition (ie little experience bodes poorly for patient treatment). Also she said surgery for achalasia is done laprascopically, yet another attending doctor said yes, it was, but the actual incisions were on the chest and they were NOT small. HELP! Does anybody have any information???
I had the heller/myotomy done Dec 19, 2006 and my doctor went in through the back. I have one long scar (about 4-5 inches)on my back and nothing on my chest. I was told that dilation would not be in my best interests because of the severity. I had 100% blockage. i tried botox twice but the second time it only lasted 3 months.
Heal Myself here. First of all I want to thank everybody for responding to my query. You are all very kind to take the time to reply.
The last few days have been a blitz of internet searches for me. One good source of information is "AGA Technical Review on Treatment of Patients With Dysphagia Caused by Benign Disorders of the Distal Esophagus at http://usagiedu.com/articles/benign/ben2pdf. Itâs basically a treatment protocol. Scroll down to achalasia.
Also www.clinicaltrials.gov gives a list of researchers on the conditionâand with that link I found a Dr. Soper who is on the cutting edge (a pun) of research and treatment. Heâs at Northwestern University which seems to be a hub for this kind of research. They have some newer surgical, less invasive treatments in the works. I also located a trial using chocolate to relax the LES. I tried it and found that as I also have a haitial hernia, it works too well and gives me refluxâwhich I donât normally have. I am apprehensive about dooming myself to a lifetime of proton pump inhibitors as I also have trouble with anemia, and stuff like Prilosec inhibits its absorbtion. I swear, one can start a chain of medications, each one fixing some undesirable side effect of the last!
But I digress. I suppose the bottom line is that you try something and either it works for you or it doesnât. My current strategy is to wait as long as I can to try to get a better type of treatment. But my body might not let me do thatâŚ
When I did the Barium Swallowâmy esophagus looked like a soggy balloon with liquid sloshing back and forthâand an eye dropper at the end squirting bits of fluid into my stomach. With the manometry, I had no contractions but a tiny bit of compressionâwhich are the two components of peristalsis. Using these tests, there is a recent study at Northwestern that groups people into four types and then sorts out who will benefit most from which treatment. I havenât read it yet.
I do a lot of belching and eating out is becomming problematic. I donât like to have to explain my health issues. Somehow, I feel that talking about my condition might reinforce it. So far, walking after eating, small meals, avoiding âdry scratchyâ foods and (thank you for this suggestion Serno!) drinking beer with meals, help. I also notice that the symptoms get worse if I feel stressed or rushed.
I think I have carried on for far too long. Srukamp, my heart goes out to you with all you had to go through. Thanks again. All this has been most enlightening. Keep in touchâŚ
I still remember going out to eat. The first thing I did was scope out the bathroom and made sure that I had a table as close as possible. I hated going out to eat but I tried to make my life look normal. I have 3 daughters and at the time they were 10, 9 and 4. I had to walk a finw line because the rumors about my health was that I had bulemia and/or anorexia. My daughters were subjected to these rumors which made it hard for them to understand what was really going on. My 9 year old daughter had to see a neurophycologist because the teachers believed she was having mini seizures during class. The problem was she was watching me waste away. After the surgery everything has been falling into place. Iâm writing for anyone to feel sorry for me! I am writing to let people know that I can be used as a sounding board. Iâve lived through it and I will be ears to anyone who wants to vent. This is not a glamorous disease and no one should face this alone. I just want everyone to know that I am here if needed.
Thanks for being ears to me. I havenât talked about this in almost 3 years and I can give some recipes if needed to put in a smoothie maker. If need let me know.
Sorry but the sentence should say that I am NOT writing for sympathy. I just want you all to know I am here.
Lived it and surviving it!
Srukamp
Hi Srukamp,
I believe there is a difference between sympathy and empathyâand I wish to express the latter.
Now, I have heard rumors that on rare occasion, achalasia can spontaneously remiss. Have you ever run across such imformation?
Right now, the thing about eating around other people who donât know about this, is all the choking, gurgling, belching noises that I have to make to get the food down. Disgusting. I canât predict how bad it will be each time I sit down to eat and I donât want to go into explaining my disease.
Thank you for offering the smoothie recipes. Iâve been told Iâm a very good cook and I have a large variety of ethnic cuisines that I can draw upon. And also, Iâm not to the smoothie point at this time. But thanks again.
Best, Heal Myself
Hi, hope i can help - risk of rupture is estimated at 5% which increases after each attempt . Iâve had it done twice first time using 30mm balloon & more recently with 35mm balloon i believe the max size is 40mm ? I take 20mg of omeprazole twice a day morning & evening to control acid levels . I had a hellers myotomy 4 years ago but it didnt relieve the symptoms . Normally it has a 90% success rate but it didnât work for me however the last balloon dilation has worked , just hope it lasts a while ! The hellers myotomy left me with 5 small scars that can barely be seen . Only if it goes to open surgery you will be left with bigger scars . At present i can eat a normal diet but tend to avoid spicy food and wont eat after 8pm as it tends to give me indigestion . I hope you find relief from achalasia with it being quite rare ( 1 in 100,000 ?) people donât understand what itâs like . Iâd recommend balloon dilation first - your in & out the same day . I was kept in for 3 days for heller myotomy but took 6 weeks before i returned back to work . Hope you find some relief from your symptoms 
Hello,
I would like to ask you something. What were your achalasia symptoms?
Being mechanical engineer and considering the esophagus and stomach from
that point of view, I have impression that some people (like me f.ex.) are
diagnosed wrong.
In my case, I never have spasms, but I have quite often problems swallowing.
Bannan is the worst thing I can (try to) eat. I read that for many people
with achalasia this is actually the best kind of food.
During examination in Trondheim, Norway, they found out the following:
- values of pressure on which my valve muscle between the esophagus and
stomach opens are normal; - there were very weak contactions of my esophagus ring muscels (weak or no
propullsion in esophagus). I manage to live more or less normally with my
desease now.
By other words, food gets in my stomach through esophagus by more or less
free fall.
There were times when I have considered surgery, but I am now happy that I
did not do it.
What I understood is that for people with ârealâ achalasia the propullsion
in esophagus is normal but the muscle valve between the esopagus and stomach
does not open under the pressure made by muscles contractions in esopagus
(that is why spasms occur). In this case the surgery that âdestroysâ the
muscle valve can be efficient, as the food under the pressure from esophagus
contractions above will mannage to pass through the muscle valve.
Recently, I have been talking to some other specialist and he told me that
it looks to him that I have something called âdysphagiaâ.
Looking on the internet I found out that for dysphagia there is no help by
doing surgery. This desease can have many causes from neurological, cancers
to simply weared out esophagus lining and muscels, +++.
What I found out to help me is chewing patiently & eating slowlly, sitting
upright while eating, taking cold liquid before and during eating (water is
the best for swallowing but beer tastes better ), doing sitt-ups to
strenghten the musculature in abdomena, eating regulary (not to get very
hungry and then eat fast without chewing)âŚ
Hope that somebody will find this of help.
Take care,
V.