RE: Spasms - Gaviscon

[Guest guest]

Hi and anyone who has had Gaviscon.

Does it work for anybody? I am curious because I see it is an alginate - made from seaweed and it is supposed to 'absorb' the acid while it 'floats' in the stomach. [?] Now what happens when I, with my hugely dilated E, takes it? It may not reach the stomach and sit in the dilated E. It would absorb the acid that is manufactured there [good thing] but how does it go down further if at all ? There is no peristalsis to push it anywhere and the LES is small.You are supposed to take it after meals and before bedtime. At that rate I would be chock a block full of alginate after 24 hrs !

Just wondering!

Joan

RE: Spasms

Hi Kelley,

I just had the heller done 2 weeks ago, and have been having spasms regularly since. What has so far 90% of the time for me is to drink a glass of really cold water, or milk, as soon as I feel them coming on. Sometimes that by itself helps. If it doesn’t right away, then I try to eat something dry and crunchy like graham crackers (any crackers work, but graham ones taste better!). My surgeon told me to try extra strength Gaviscon. He says it should help some for spasms, as well as heartburn, but I have not tried that yet. Good luck Kelley.

Chilliwack, BC

· <I was wondering if anyone had any surefire way to relieve spasms>.

[Guest guest]

Hi Joan,

Gaviscon and to a lesser extent, Pepto Bismol tablets, have been the

only antiacids which has provided me with any relief. My surgeon

said he understood this because these items coat the esphag. as well

as the stomach (if it gets that far). I see your point about the

floating nature and I'm not knowledgable enough to speak to that

issue.

Perhaps it's worth a try?

Gayle in San Francisco

> Hi and anyone who has had Gaviscon.

> Does it work for anybody? I am curious because I see it is an

alginate - made from seaweed and it is supposed to 'absorb' the acid

while it 'floats' in the stomach. [?] Now what happens when I, with

my hugely dilated E, takes it? It may not reach the stomach and sit

in the dilated E. It would absorb the acid that is manufactured there

[good thing] but how does it go down further if at all ? There is no

peristalsis to push it anywhere and the LES is small.You are supposed

to take it after meals and before bedtime. At that rate I would be

chock a block full of alginate after 24 hrs !

> Just wondering!

> Joan

> RE: Spasms

>

>

> Hi Kelley,

>

>

>

> I just had the heller done 2 weeks ago, and have been having

spasms regularly since. What has so far 90% of the time for me is to

drink a glass of really cold water, or milk, as soon as I feel them

coming on. Sometimes that by itself helps. If it doesn't right

away, then I try to eat something dry and crunchy like graham

crackers (any crackers work, but graham ones taste better!). My

surgeon told me to try extra strength Gaviscon. He says it should

help some for spasms, as well as heartburn, but I have not tried that

yet. Good luck Kelley.

>

>

>

>

>

> Chilliwack, BC

>

>

>

> ·

> <I was wondering if anyone had any surefire way to relieve

spasms>.

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Joan!

I have not yet tried the Gaviscon….

I actually have not even bought it yet….I keep forgetting when I am

grocery shopping. When I do need to try it, I will let you know. As for it

sitting in your E….don’t the rest of the liquids you drink do the same

thing, and just take extra time to go through? I would assume the Gaviscon would

go through at the same rate as milk or ?? It should be interesting to read other

posts…

[Guest guest]

HI All:

The only thing that gets me through my spasms/heartburn episodes is

Gaviscon extra strength. I usually only get spasms at night, waking

out of a sound sleep to that nasty pain. I get up, chew two tablets,

drink half a glass of water, and its gone in seconds. I guess it

just sits in my esophagus - thats why I only drink a little water,

so aspiration is not an issue. I can almost do this in my sleep,

and it has always worked for me. Hope this helps!

Ellen

> Hi and anyone who has had Gaviscon.

> Does it work for anybody? I am curious because I see it is an

alginate - made from seaweed and it is supposed to 'absorb' the acid

while it 'floats' in the stomach. [?] Now what happens when I, with

my hugely dilated E, takes it? It may not reach the stomach and sit

in the dilated E. It would absorb the acid that is manufactured

there [good thing] but how does it go down further if at all ? There

is no peristalsis to push it anywhere and the LES is small.You are

supposed to take it after meals and before bedtime. At that rate I

would be chock a block full of alginate after 24 hrs !

> Just wondering!

> Joan

> RE: Spasms

>

>

> Hi Kelley,

>

>

>

> I just had the heller done 2 weeks ago, and have been having

spasms regularly since. What has so far 90% of the time for me is

to drink a glass of really cold water, or milk, as soon as I feel

them coming on. Sometimes that by itself helps. If it doesn't

right away, then I try to eat something dry and crunchy like graham

crackers (any crackers work, but graham ones taste better!). My

surgeon told me to try extra strength Gaviscon. He says it should

help some for spasms, as well as heartburn, but I have not tried

that yet. Good luck Kelley.

>

>

>

>

>

> Chilliwack, BC

>

>

>

> ·

> <I was wondering if anyone had any surefire way to relieve

spasms>.

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

The bottle of Gaviscon I have here is liquid and it says in the package insert that it expands and absorbs the acid so as I read it, it become thicker inside you. Haven't tried it yet as I was a bit wary of not being able to get rid of it !

Joan

RE: Spasms - Gaviscon

Hi Joan!

I have not yet tried the Gaviscon…. I actually have not even bought it yet….I keep forgetting when I am grocery shopping. When I do need to try it, I will let you know. As for it sitting in your E….don’t the rest of the liquids you drink do the same thing, and just take extra time to go through? I would assume the Gaviscon would go through at the same rate as milk or ?? It should be interesting to read other posts…

[Guest guest]

My personal experience is that Extra Strength Gaviscon did not work. I have had

no clue about spasms until I read the postings here which totally opened my eyes

as to what I have been experiencing and what it really is. I never understood

why my " heartburn " would not go away under traditional methods and as described,

I too have found myself wailing and rocking and making deals with my maker. I

still have half a bottle of gaviscon in my medicine cabinet always hoping it

would help my next attack. I always found that several slices of bread helped

and I traveled with some all the time.(which of course then gets stuck and you

move to the next problem!) Now as I look back, it was probably filling and

expanding in my lower E and stopping the spasm. Being 8 days post op, I am not

allowed to have bread for a few weeks and I am trying to find other things to

stop the spasms that I still am having, although less intense as before.

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I have a number of things to try out to

find my own way in coping with them.

Rita in Cincinnati

[Guest guest]

Rita, I hope that SOMEthing works for you sooner rather than later! It must be so frustrating to not be able to use your usual "fix"!Debbi

My personal experience is that Extra Strength Gaviscon did not work. I have had no clue about spasms until I read the postings here which totally opened my eyes as to what I have been experiencing and what it really is. I never understood why my "heartburn" would not go away under traditional methods and as described, I too have found myself wailing and rocking and making deals with my maker. I still have half a bottle of gaviscon in my medicine cabinet always hoping it would help my next attack. I always found that several slices of bread helped and I traveled with some all the time.(which of course then gets stuck and you move to the next problem!) Now as I look back, it was probably filling and expanding in my lower E and stopping the spasm. Being 8 days post op, I am not allowed to have bread for a few weeks and I am trying to find other things to stop the spasms that I still am having, although less intense as before. Thanks for all the great suggestions. I have a number of things to try out to find my own way in coping with them. Rita in Cincinnati

[Guest guest]

Abigail --

Like you, I also try to catch them BEFORE they get to full force, and I can usually head them off at the pass and keep them down to a slight breeze instead of a Category Five Hurricane. I think after all these years I'm getting pretty good at detecting one coming on now, which I think helps a lot in catching them before they get real bad -- in the early years I wouldn't realize I had one until I was already a "hurricane" and then I was at the "making deals with your maker" stage already.

Now when I feel one coming on, I go for chugging warm tap water right away. If that doesn't work then I go straight to the meds. (I have good luck with nifedipine, too.) I've found that if I catch them early enough, just half a capsule will do the trick, which is better for me b/c I have low blood pressure to begin with and really shouldn't be taking nifedipine. I also don't seem to get the headache if I only do a half a capsule, so I can live my life instead of spending the next four hours sleeping off the headache.

Debbi in Michigan

Hey Rita the only thing that works for my spasms are channel blockers I use Nifedipine 10mg. I open 1 up with a pin and push the liquid under my tongue and it takes about 10 min then the pain gets less and less. The trick is don't wait to take it until the spasms are so bad because it will only take longer to work. Take it right away. wHEN i GET SPASMS tHEY normally last a few days and i have to keep taking the medicine untill they are completly gone. I would really talk to your Doc about channel blockers. I also had a heller mytomy done. They say the spasms sould go away a few years after surgery. I am 1 year after surgery and I get them less and less. Good luck. Abigail

[Guest guest]

Abigail --

Have you tried any of the anti-depressant meds for your spasms? (There

are several to try, it may take a while to find one which would work for

you.) The beauty of the a-d meds is that you take a low dose once a day

and it can stop the spasms from even starting, rather than having to cope

with them and trying to get them to go away after they're already

torturing you.

Sandi and I attended an esophageal conference at The Cleveland Clinic in

April of this year, and a doctor presented a seminar on the subject of

using a-d meds for non-cardiac chest pain. Much of his research is based

on previous work he's done studying a-d meds as a treatment for Irritable

Bowel Syndrome. It seems to be a combination of the med's effect on

serotonin levels (serotonin is present in the entire GI tract) along with

a " calming down " effect on the way the brain " misfires " over these spasm

pains.

I haven't had any caffeine yet, and I can't recall the name of that doc

right off the top of my head. He has a background in both

gastroenterology and psychiatry, and has been studying the relationship

between a-d meds and the GI tract for a couple decades now, though, so

your doc should be able to find some of the research by him w/o too much

trouble.

Good luck!

Debbi in Michigan

> Debbi I also get the headaches, they are bad too. Sometimes one pill isn't

> even enough for me.sometimes it takes the secound pill 6hour latter to

> help me out. I hate this condition i have really been in alot of

> discomfort latley. not with spasms just i can't swallow food it sits in my

> e for ever. Pluss I have Crohns and i keep getting these painful olsers in

> my mouth and e and it hurts so bad i have to take oxycodone. the medicine

> that makes them go away cause the motility to get worse and I can't

> breath. It sucks so I can't take the swizzle mix. I wish for once that I

> felt good. I have been sick 8 years and I hate it. I am only 24 now. I'm

> so glad we have this group of people to help us out. thanks Abigail