Re: To scope or not to scope

[Guest guest]

Hi a,

 

Sorry to read about your most unpleasant experience. Regarding your question, my

answer is kind of ambiguous.  Only by having a scope can you determine if you

needed to have one in the first place. You may not need one, but you won't know

until you have one. For " peace of mind " you might consider having one done.

However, from what you wrote, it appears that your starting to drink water " too

little, too late " is probably the culprit. Most likely this was an isolated

incident and you should move on and be more aware of the inherent risks in not

drinking. If it happens again then call your doctor and schedule an appointment.

 

 

PS: though its not a foolproof way of eating, every meal should be started with

a good clearing drink. If the drink gets stuck at that time, you know not to

start eating. If there is food from a previous meal still sitting there, the

drink might clear it; food may not.

From: a Stuhlman <pstuhlman@...>

Subject: To scope or not to scope

achalasia

Date: Thursday, September 22, 2011, 9:03 AM

 

Hey everyone. So, I had a pretty scary day this past sunday. I was eating chips

and cheese on vacation. Well, I must have had too many before water. After I

took a drink of water I felt it...stuck...usually this will last about 20 min or

so and I can get the food to go down with water and gravity. but not this time.

3 hrs later I was still in a bad place. I tried to vomit and get the food out,

but I have not been able to do this since surgery. I tried and was able to get

just a tiny bit of food to come out. Then, it was every time I took a drink of

water, the water and just water would come back up. I was in a little town in

Texas and the nearest ER had no idea what achalasia was, go figure. They tried

to give me somthing to relax the esophagus and to hope the food would pass.

Well, when your muscles are pretty much dead, not sure relaxing dead muscles

would help, I'm just saying. Then, they gave me warm water to drink. I felt like

s circus act, everyone

in the ER looking at me. They ended up transfering me to another hospital. Much

better and not only did the doc know what I had, the nurse did to! I guess since

so much time had passes, I was able to get the food down, but didnt know it

because my insides felt so bruised and my chest still hurt. They did a swallow

test and could see a small stream going into my belly, about 30 min later, most

of the fluid was in my belly. I saw my GI doc's PA yesterday. She recommended an

endoscopy to make sure I didn't damage anything from all the retching. She is

going to run it by the doc first, but I also wanted to get all your expert

opinions. Should i get scoped for the 2nd time this year?

hugs from St. Louis,

a

[Guest guest]

Before my HM I found milk sometimes helped get stuck food down or help generate

mucus to get it up. Shortly after, mashed potatoes sometimes brought up

particles. Follow your doctor's advice, although waiting a little while may not

hurt. If we can't vomit after the HM, what happens when we get those 24 hour

stomach bugs? Ann

[Guest guest]

a wrote:

>

> ... I saw my GI doc's PA yesterday. She recommended an endoscopy to

> make sure I didn't damage anything from all the retching. ...

>

There are two things that come to mind in the way damage from retching.

a tear, or a hernia. I have a hernia from retching but I don't see

fishing for a hernia. Even so, she may know something about your case

to want to. A tear could bleed. If your stools are darker than normal it

could be a clue. Most of the time when we have these event nothing

happens but as in my case sometime they do and you may not notice. I

didn't notice it.

notan

[Guest guest]

pizza_slayer wrote:

>

> ... If we can't vomit after the HM, what happens when we get those 24

> hour stomach bugs?

>

Some can some can not. It is hard for me. I do a lot of retching while

bring up very little. I once spent a night having bouts of retching only

minutes apart. My ribs, back and muscles felt like I had been hit by a

bus the next day.

I try to drink a lot of water and force it out the other end. Usually

that works for me but in the above case I guess I was to late at trying it.

notan

[Guest guest]

I am not sure that no vomiting is a given post HM -- I know I have (who would

have thought I am relieved I can throw up!)

On Sep 22, 2011, at 8:36 AM, notan ostrich wrote:

> >

> > ... If we can't vomit after the HM, what happens when we get those 24

> > hour stomach bugs?

[Guest guest]

Hi a -

Sounds very scary -- sorry you had to go through that and with so little support

at the first hospital. I am sure you and your doctor will figure out whether a

scope is the right thing or just time to heal. More mashed potatoes on your

horizon ?

On Sep 22, 2011, at 6:03 AM, a Stuhlman wrote:

> Hey everyone. So, I had a pretty scary day this past sunday. I was eating

chips and cheese on vacation

[Guest guest]

You know, I was wondering that, too. I guess some people can vomit/regurgitate

after HM, some cannot. I can, as I found out a couple of days after my surgery

on Aug. 24th.

>

> Before my HM I found milk sometimes helped get stuck food down or help

generate mucus to get it up. Shortly after, mashed potatoes sometimes brought up

particles. Follow your doctor's advice, although waiting a little while may not

hurt. If we can't vomit after the HM, what happens when we get those 24 hour

stomach bugs? Ann

>

[Guest guest]

Yes, if the swallowing has go worse with food sticking for that long then again

i would say yes have another scope to check things out.

________________________________

From: a Stuhlman & lt;pstuhlman@... & gt;

achalasia

Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2011 2:03 PM

Subject: To scope or not to scope

 

Hey everyone. So, I had a pretty scary day this past sunday. I was eating chips

and cheese on vacation. Well, I must have had too many before water. After I

took a drink of water I felt it...stuck...usually this will last about 20 min or

so and I can get the food to go down with water and gravity. but not this time.

3 hrs later I was still in a bad place. I tried to vomit and get the food out,

but I have not been able to do this since surgery. I tried and was able to get

just a tiny bit of food to come out. Then, it was every time I took a drink of

water, the water and just water would come back up. I was in a little town in

Texas and the nearest ER had no idea what achalasia was, go figure. They tried

to give me somthing to relax the esophagus and to hope the food would pass.

Well, when your muscles are pretty much dead, not sure relaxing dead muscles

would help, I & #39;m just saying. Then, they gave me warm water to drink. I felt

like s circus act,

everyone in the ER looking at me. They ended up transfering me to another

hospital. Much better and not only did the doc know what I had, the nurse did

to! I guess since so much time had passes, I was able to get the food down, but

didnt know it because my insides felt so bruised and my chest still hurt. They

did a swallow test and could see a small stream going into my belly, about 30

min later, most of the fluid was in my belly. I saw my GI doc & #39;s PA

yesterday. She recommended an endoscopy to make sure I didn & #39;t damage

anything from all the retching. She is going to run it by the doc first, but I

also wanted to get all your expert opinions. Should i get scoped for the 2nd

time this year?

hugs from St. Louis,

a

[Guest guest]

Thanks everyone for your comments! The scope is scheduled for tomorrow. The

doc agreed I need to be checked out. I have had some pretty bad heartburn

attacks over the last few days. I just hope I didn't cause any damage last week

> >

> > ... If we can't vomit after the HM, what happens when we get those 24

> > hour stomach bugs?

> >

>

> Some can some can not. It is hard for me. I do a lot of retching while

> bring up very little. I once spent a night having bouts of retching only

> minutes apart. My ribs, back and muscles felt like I had been hit by a

> bus the next day.

>

> I try to drink a lot of water and force it out the other end. Usually

> that works for me but in the above case I guess I was to late at trying it.

>

> notan

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

So, the scope was ok. Nothing has changed since the last scope in January, so I

guess that is good. The doc said he used a bigger, whatever it is they use to

dialate the LES. He said my LES was pretty tight. He wants to see me for a

follow up visit in 3 months and I need to start keeping a food journal and

documenting when I have issues. Feeling pretty good, just tired and my throat

is pretty sore, but that just means I get ice cream!

Hope all is well,

Hugs from St. Louis,

a

> > >

> > > ... If we can't vomit after the HM, what happens when we get those 24

> > > hour stomach bugs?

> > >

> >

> > Some can some can not. It is hard for me. I do a lot of retching while

> > bring up very little. I once spent a night having bouts of retching only

> > minutes apart. My ribs, back and muscles felt like I had been hit by a

> > bus the next day.

> >

> > I try to drink a lot of water and force it out the other end. Usually

> > that works for me but in the above case I guess I was to late at trying it.

> >

> > notan

> >

> >

> >

> >