Guest guest Posted March 4, 2011 Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 first thing that came to my mind was " why do you ask? " I have to wonder, i am moody and more emotional and treat everything with more urgency the last few years it seems I know i am depressed as well, and yes i have tried meds which caused other problems which just seemed to make me more depressed. On Fri, Mar 4, 2011 at 10:56 PM, debbie <dromangirl@...> wrote: > > > Has anyone had a mental issues with their achalasia. Does it effect the > brain? have studies been done to see if achalasia and the brain are > connected in terms of degenerative? > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 5, 2011 Report Share Posted March 5, 2011 This disease does wear on a person. It does not help eother when others around you do not understand what is going on or if the medical people you go see tell you its all in your head. I went to see a neuroligist and had a complete exam done. I was found to be functioning normal with the exception of the Achalasia.  I am working on looking into some research right now as part of a larger project. As things evolve with the project I will keep every one here posted.  in Georgia <font face= " comic sans ms " color= " #ff0000 " size= " 5 " > in Georgia </font><img src= " http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/04.gif " > From: debbie <dromangirl@...> Subject: Mental Issues achalasia Date: Saturday, March 5, 2011, 12:56 AM  Has anyone had a mental issues with their achalasia. Does it effect the brain? have studies been done to see if achalasia and the brain are connected in terms of degenerative? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 5, 2011 Report Share Posted March 5, 2011 Hi Debbie I struggle with stress and have really suffered with depression in the past. I think it is a natural reaction to suffering with a difficult condition that so many people don't understand. For many years I was simply told to 'get on with it' and made to feel that if I had a bad day I was being pathetic. I manage this much better these days because I see it as a natural part of suffering with achalasia - we wouldn't be human if we didn't have the bad times. best wishes, Kay > > Has anyone had a mental issues with their achalasia. Does it effect the brain? have studies been done to see if achalasia and the brain are connected in terms of degenerative? > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 awww well yes it can sure get you down specially when your having the trouble, now not related to this topic what is funny is when i first got this trouble twenty odd years ago, got told it could go as quickly as it came hehehe well hmmmmmmmm may for some, but since surgery ten years ago or more it has helped, but they cannot do nothing for the top part difuse spasms just the achalasia, but better than it was, but sometimes think its coming back more so but could be just on a bad day thinking that when having trouble, anyways debbie no worrys think it gets us all down at times hugs sue On Sat, Mar 5, 2011 at 12:36 PM, Kay Davies <kayf.davies@...> wrote: > Hi Debbie > I struggle with stress and have really suffered with depression in the > past. I think it is a natural reaction to suffering with a difficult > condition that so many people don't understand. For many years I was simply > told to 'get on with it' and made to feel that if I had a bad day I was > being pathetic. > I manage this much better these days because I see it as a natural part of > suffering with achalasia - we wouldn't be human if we didn't have the bad > times. > best wishes, Kay > > > > > > Has anyone had a mental issues with their achalasia. Does it effect the > brain? have studies been done to see if achalasia and the brain are > connected in terms of degenerative? > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 Debbie wrote: > Has anyone had a mental issues with their achalasia. Does it effect the brain? have studies been done to see if achalasia and the brain are connected in terms of degenerative? > Patient-centered measures for achalasia. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18027052 " SF-36 ... mean for the mental component score (MCS) was 37.61.... " An average score for SF-36 would have been 50. An interesting thing is that the MCS did not correlate well with the achalasia severity measure. Compare that MCS score to these studies of other disease: Severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA), worse outcomes, comorbid illness, and sociodemographic disadvantage characterize ra patients with fibromyalgia. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15088293 " SF-36 mental component score (29.5...), ... " Fatness and fitness: how do they influence health-related quality of life in type 2 diabetes mellitus? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2626587 " There were no significant differences between participants with and without diabetes in the mental component score. " We don't score as bad as people who have rheumatoid arthritis with fibromyalgia (RAF), but we score worse than people who have type 2 diabetes. The diabetes patients scored about the same as normal subjects. This is interesting because diabetes was supposed to be a risk factor for depression. The RAF score is not surprising because of the pain and the interference with activities it would cause. But the 37.61 achalasia score still seems like a bad score to me even if it isn't as bad as the RAF score. The achalasia score did not correlate well with achalasia severity so in the case of achalasia it isn't just because of the physical symptoms. Many have questioned if achalasia is caused by stress because they were going through a very bad time in their lives when achalasia developed. This is not unique to achalasia. People report that for a lot of disorders. But if it is true for many with achalasia then the stresses of life that may have been part of developing achalasia may also have done some mental damage, or vice versa. Another thing that can lead to depression is the removal of a rewarding (pleasurable) activity. Eating is a rewarding activity. So is sleeping. Achalasia effects both of those. Diabetes requires changes in diet but that may not have the impact that achalasia has on the pleasure of eating. Being involved in social activities is also rewarding but many of them are around food and drinks. Then there are the spasm which for some can be terrifying and debilitating. Add to this the treatments for achalasia. Having cameras put down your throat and sensors put up your nose and down your throat. Surgeries and treatments that one may not have the money for. Family thinking you are nuts because you can't eat. Fear of choking. Fear of cancer. Fear of the unknown. There are lots of things to mess with the head. So, 27.61 may be a bad score but it may be right. Achalasia damages neurons that are connect to the vagus nerve. Vagus nerve activity has some connection with depression that is not understood, but that achalasia damage is at the esophagus. As to nerve damage. I know of no studies that suggest there is that kind of damage in the brain to account for this score. It can be important to replace lost rewards and pleasures with new ones. notan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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