GERD spasms

[Guest guest]

Taken from my " friends " over at the GERD support site.

 

>

> " Has anyone ever had one of these.

> 

I wasn't sure if I was having a heart attack or what. Intense chest

pain lasting for 5-8 minutes then would calm down somewhat, then come

back. Started around 9pm - 11pm. Some throat tingling as well. Lasted on and >

off for several hours. Finally went to emergency room at the hospital.Worked up

for heart. But that was all clear.

>

> Has gastritis and irritable bowel. Don't take much of anything. As all

the drugs bother me. Etc. hadn't eaten anything unusual etc.

>

> Not sure what to do if it happens again. Have appt with gastro dr. in

10 days. "

>

 

Another GERD sufferer responded:

" Yes....scariest thing ever. Ive been living with GERD for a long time and take

Nexium. These spasms are new for me. For me they occur in my back between my

shoulder blades and a little higher. Sometimes the pain will go into my neck and

jaw...super scary. I tend to belch a lot when this happens. Dr said it is

because the spasm is trapping the air. Dr gave me Bentyl b/c she thinks I have

IBS...I have none of the lower GI symptoms so I'm not sure but was always

wondering if the Bentyl would help the spasms. "

 

I can't help but wonder if there might be any relationship between what they go

thru and what we experience.

 

[Guest guest]

wrote:

>

> Taken from my " friends " over at the GERD support site.

> ...

> I can't help but wonder if there might be any relationship between

> what they go thru and what we experience.

>

The esophagus is at the beginning of the gut but it is a lot like much

of the rest of the gut in the way it has muscles and how those muscles

work. If you consider what happens in the lower GI system when you eat

something that disagrees with you or when you have a stomach bug you may

notice that these things can lead to " stomach cramps " which are lower GI

spasms and not all in the stomach. I believe that irritation from these

things can confuse the nerves that control the gut (the gut brain) and

cause spasms. Acid reflux in the esophagus will irritate the esophagus

and I believe that can lead to esophageal spasm. Some people in our

group have reported that they get less spasms when on a PPI. Also acid

in food and the acid from from decaying food which are trapped in the

esophagus can also irritate it and cause spasms. But just taking an

antacid may not stop a spasm because the esophagus may already be

inflamed or damaged by the acid and will remain irritated until the

esophagus heals. During that healing time spasm may come and go. Lower

GI spasms may also be from toxins in the food or produced by the stomach

bug which have the gut brain a bit intoxicated. In the case of achalasia

the gut brain itself is damaged. In achalasia the gut brain can be

confused in other ways so some spasms may not have anything to do with

irritation but some do and in those cases where it does we are like

those with GERD. Also in GERD the gut brain may not be working correctly

to keep the esophagus closed as much as it should. The GERD gut brain

may also be chronically confused like the achalasia gut brain resulting

in more spasms even without acid reflux.

Review article: oesophageal spasm - diagnosis and management.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16669954

" Recognizing that simultaneous contractions may result from

gastro-oesophageal reflux this diagnosis should be investigated or

treated first. "

[Diffuse esophageal spasm (DES). Practical concepts of diagnosis and

treatment].

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17966375

" Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) can coexist in DES and GER has also been

implied in the pathogenesis of DES. "

Comparison of the esophageal manometric characteristics of idiopathic

and reflux-associated esophageal spasm:

evaluation by 24-hour ambulatory esophageal motility and pH monitoring.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14705816

" DES has been classified into reflux-associated esophageal spasm (RDES),

caused by acid exposure, and idiopathic esophageal spasm (IDES), of

unknown causes. ... Based on the results, we have proposed a refined

definition of RDES. "

notan