Re: Newcomer - need your advice

[Guest guest]

, my name is Vinnie, I am 36 and live in

Wisconsin ( moved her from Brooklyn recently ). I was

diagnosed with Achalasia about 4 months ago. I had

symptoms 8 months ago but it did not get really bad

until November. I could not eat anything. I lost 85

pounds in 3 months. At one point I was losing 10

pounds a week. I found that eating yogurt with a meal

replacement packet with protein ( got at GNC ) really

kept my energy up and stabalized my weight somewhat (

only losing 3 pounds a week ). Find something that

you can eat and add supliments to it. I had the

Hellers Laproscopic surgery 3 weeks ago. I would

reccomend it to you, especially with how young you

are. I was out of the hospital in under 24 hours and

was eating tacos in 5 days. It is not a cure and I

still have very minor problems, but I am living again.

If you want to speak more e-mail me at

coachvmurray@... , Remember, anything that you

are going through is valid. People that do not

understand this do not understand what it is to have

it. Let me know any questions you may have.

Vinnie

--- <contessakay@...> wrote:

> Hi everyone!

>

> I'm a 23 yr old girl who has just been diagnosed

> with achalasia. The

> gastro dr. told me there is nothing that can be done

> for me, but

> while doing research online I have seen treatments

> that seem

> successful and even surgery. I have one more test to

> complete and

> then am planning to try to find help somewhere

> outside my city. I'd

> like to know if some of you have the feeling of food

> sticking in

> your throat, rather than in the chest. I do feel the

> pressure in my

> chest but my main problem seems to be my throat,

> where I feel food

> gets stuck. The tests have shown that I should be

> able to swallow

> food if I stand up while eating, drink lots of water

> and don't eat

> big pieces. However, I just can't get past the way

> my throat feels -

> like I'm choking.

>

> I went from eating hamburgers and tacos one day to

> waking up 8 hours

> later and not being able to eat applesauce. Have any

> of you had this

> happen this fast?

>

> Also, does anyone have any recipes for smoothies, or

> have you found

> any certain foods that are easier to eat? Right now

> I am eating the

> runny yokes of eggs, milkshakes, soup and Ensure

> (Yuck!!!) I've 15

> pounds in 3 weeks.

>

> I'd really appriciate any advice you could give me!

> I just love your

> site - it is so encouraging to me to find others who

> have this rare

> problem. Thank you so much!!!

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

wrote:

> Hi everyone!

>

Hello .

> ...just been diagnosed with achalasia. ...

I am sorry you have it, but glad you found us.

> The gastro dr. told me there is nothing that can be done for me,

The first thing you need to do is get a better doctor.

> I have one more test to complete and

> then am planning to try to find help somewhere outside my city.

Which test is that?

> I'd like to know if some of you have the feeling of food sticking in

> your throat, rather than in the chest.

Yes, before I had my surgery, I think that is common. It can happen for

more than one reason. One, if food gets stuck down low it may cause food

to pile up until you have some stuck up high. Two, the muscles can act

funny and actually push food up instead of letting it go down. And, the

feeling, or some of it, that you think is coming from higher up is

actually coming from lower than you think.

> The tests have shown that I should be able to swallow

> food if I stand up while eating, drink lots of water and don't eat

> big pieces.

In this test did you actually eat anything or just drink. A barium drink

will often go down when a barium meal will not.

> However, I just can't get past the way my throat feels -

> like I'm choking.

>

It can be a scary felling. It can feel like you are going to choke to

death, but the chances of that are very small.

> I went from eating hamburgers and tacos one day to waking up 8 hours

> later and not being able to eat applesauce. Have any of you had this

> happen this fast?

Sometimes it happens fast. In my case it happened very slowly over

years. How long ago did this happen to you? There is primary achalasia,

which most of us have, and secondary achalasia. Sudden onset can be a

sign that it is secondary. Secondary means it is caused by another

disease. You should confirm that you don't have secondary achalasia.

notan