Stress and Achalasia

Achalasia
#1

I think there are connections between Achalasia and stress. I think that stress management plays a crucial role in living with Achalasia and managing the symptoms.

In a nutshell here is what I believe:


1. Stress does not cause Achalasia.

2. Effective stress management however is important for anyone living with a chronic disease. It enables us to cope better with the symptoms, helps in making better decisions for ourselves and possibly reduces the severity of the symptoms.

So, first and most importantly, I do not believe that stress causes Achalasia.

  • The causes of Achalasia are not well understood, there is no definite answer on what causes or triggers it.
  • Achalasia is NOT causes by: stress; lifestyle; eating habits; smoking; drinking; injuries to the E. by eating too hot or cold food; it is not a punishment/payback for doing anything wrong. It is not in your head. It is not going away if you would just relax about it.
  • it is not your fault that you have Achalasia.

It is not your parents or anybody else’s fault.
  • Achalasia is a chronic disease. There is no cure, but there are many different treatment options to relieve and manage some of the symptoms.

    • Secondly, I do believe that effective stress management can help ease some of the symptoms and more importantly can help us cope better with the effects of a chronic illness.

    • Most people with pre-existing health conditions suffer a worsening of symptoms during times of stress.

    It may be increased back pain or neck pain, headaches, digestive issues or a flare up of anything else from herpes to colds. The effect of excessive stress on the body tends to shows up first at the “weakest link”- People with chronic health conditions that last for months and years, like Achalasia, have an additional constant burden to deal with and manage. It is even more critical for us to take care of our overall health and manage stress.

    We can not eliminate stress in our live, but there is a lot we can do to manage it better:


    1. LEARN:
    Read-up on stress management. There are lots and lots of resources out there concerning stress management. First try the free resources: check on the Internet, check out books tapes, DVDs in your local library, ask friends, family, coworkers, your doctor for resources. Your workplace might have good resources, check with HR. Remember that everyone is different, so what works for me, may not work for you. (A word of caution: there is a whole industry out there on stress, so be careful. They’ll promise eternal bliss and happiness if you just buy this book, purchase this CD, or sign up for this yoga class or seminar).

    Here is what I learned:
    There is acute stress and chronic stress. Acute stress is triggered by a single event (a car is cutting in front of you and you are about to hit it) and enables you to react quickly and accurately (you break and steer away from the car). Chronic stress happens if we can"t de-stress before the next event, if we pile stressful events upon hectic schedules. Day after day, week after week.
    The key is not to live a stress-free life, but to balance stress and high activity levels with relaxing and rejuvenating activities.


    2. FIND OUT:
    Find out if acute stress effects your symptoms. Pay attention to how excessive stress effects your general health, your A. symptoms, your quality of sleep and your general ability to cope.

    Here is what I found out:
    Acute stress effects my A. symptoms. Like lunch with the potential boss during a daylong interview. I knew I would not be able to eat much, so I ordered just some light soup and desert, things with the best chances of going down.
    The better I deal with stress, the easier I can manage my symptoms. I make sure to counter stress with relaxing and fun activities, get enough sleep, take breaks, drink plenty of water, eat well. I cut out alcohol and caffeine and luckily I never smoked. The less stress I pile on my body, the easier I can cope with Achalasia.


    3. LEARN HOW:
    Learn how to balance your life and prevent chronic stress. Find out what calms YOU down after a hectic day. What do you need to recoup? Taking a short walk around the block? Taking a bath in quiet? Reading the paper by yourself? Watching a comedy on TV with your kids and laughing out loud?

    Here is what I learned:
    I need my lunch break to counteract a hectic morning. Running errands and wolfing done my lunch in front of the computer is not going to help.
    After I slammed on the break and just missed the car that cut in front of me, I have a choice. I pull over for a minute, stop the car, and take a couple of deep breaths. I congratulate myself that I just prevented an accident. I relax my hands, which still clutch the steering wheel. I wait a few minutes till my heart stops pounding before I carefully weave back into traffic.
    After a night of painful spasms and almost no sleep, I have a choice. I call in sick and catch up on lost sleep. When I feel better I try to eat something and possibly still make it into work by lunch with a productive afternoon in front of me. I’ll take it easy that day and ask friends or family for help with errands or other stuff.


    4. DO and ADJUST: Start putting little things you learned into action and see how it goes. If the Yoga class doesn't help, ditch it. If a half hour walk with your dog makes you feel refreshed, stick with it. So start exploring some of the choices and options you have. Enjoy!

    P.S. Here a list of a few resources that worked for me:

    Books: "Simplify your Life" by Elaine St. James by Loretta LaRoche

    1 Like
    #3

    Hei TanTAn,

    I made similar conclusions my self about the correlation between Achalasia and stres and trying every day to do small things in order to make my living easier.

    Another thing what I concluded about Achalasia is that there are two basic types: one is where sphyncter muscle does not work properly (too tight) and the other where there is no or there is not enough propulsion of food (contractions of esofagus in “waves” but sphyncter opens at normal presure). I am in the other group. Probably there are people with combination of two types mentioned above.

    #5

    Hi, Everyone.

    I’ve just gotten back from vacation. Stayed a few extra days, went through h*** getting home and am whipped. Hoping to get lifed put back together here (I left a husband in charge… need I say more, LOL?), and if I have brain power left @ the end of the day, I have a few tasks to get started for the proposals I’ve suggested here.

    Do I remember correctly that a few list members have had great success @ John Hopkins? Someone from the Applied Physics Laboratory has found his/her way to Eva’s website and did a thorough read. This could be a good sign. Let’s hope.

    One list member has kindly offered to become a spokesperson. I accept (smile), and will get a post off to answer your questions shortly.

    One idea I have and which I would like to run by you all, is to form a ‘task group’. As I was explaining to my wonderful volunteer (you are wonderful!), what I perceive could happen is that if research could at least get started on the afflicted dogs, potentially further understanding could come that would be helpful to human med – and vice versa. I would like the strength to be on the human side, as that to me is equally as important as are the dogs.

    SO, with that said, what I would like to do is design a 3-fold flyer that is very catchy and can’t be ignored. The flyer would briefly explain the illnesses, have a few catchy pictures and graphics, explain the goal, and ask for support. A page could go up at Eva’s site and as I start to redesign the site, add little blocks of text at key points that cross-references info between Achalasia and Megaesophagus. The flyer would help get viewers to the site, and increase awareness. If we were to send the flyer to key points such as medical clincs, key health insurance firms, hospitals, labs, gosh… CNN… etc., chances are increased that this project of mine will take off and do more good sooner than later.

    I need to start focusing more time on grant writing, so I hope to tweak the website and get the flyer put together fairly soon. I am looking forward to your input with suggestions and further ideas. If you are interested in becoming a team member or ‘group leader’ (by area?), the work cells that would be created could really take this project off the ground and keep it running at a good, solid pace. I have already spoken with one printer and have a decent quote, but need to get a few more as well.

    Sorry to be so long winded. Welcome to our new members, and hoping that everyone is fairing very well. Zen to all who are in need.

    Hugs,

    Peg – a ‘dog mom’ who cares
    Houston TX

    PS) New members, Eva is a dog who has suffered from a condition known as megaesophagus (and diaphragmatic herniation) since birth. Mega-E and A are quite similar. Her website is http://www.caninemegaesophagus.org/ (http://www.caninemegaesophagus.org/) for info).

    #6

    I discovered this site by accident. Thanks for writing it. I was diagnosed with achalasia right after the birth of my second child. I had lost about 50 lbs. in the 2 years prior to my diagnosis but had no idea that anything was wrong. I lost another 25 lbs. while I was pregnant. I knew something was wrong because was not able to eat more than one slice of pizza before it all came up, and when I would wake up at night with food that I had eaten coming up through my nose and mouth.

    I’ve found very few doctors who even know what it is, much less what to do about it. Keep up the good work. Maybe if enough of us make this problem known, someone will do more research that will help us.

    Thanks,
    Connie