Throat Stretching

OK, so it's been three years of hell.  Food always gets stuck going down, the lump in the throat never goes away, no matter what I"ve tried.  And, it's not nerves...

SO...I'm thinking, should I get my esophagus dilated?  Have any of you had it done?  Do you know of anyone else who has?  Was it successful?

I just can't live like this anymore, life is passing me by!!

marthamae, thanks for sharing that!  Did the doctors actually see food getting stuck when you did tests?  Or was this just a symptom that you had to tell them about?

marthamae, but Schatzki's ring IS something that would show up on tests (at least that's what I read and also what I've been told).  And, for a couple of years now, food has been getting stuck for me, too and it's even been painful...Yet doctors don't see this happening in my tests.  So they have just ignored my symptoms.

WOW! For the past six months or so I have been getting liquid or food stuck in my throat. The first few times I thought I was going to die, it was so painful and scary. It happens at least once a week now. Sometimes I can feel it about to happen and stop myself from drinking something or spit out what I am chewing, but most of the time I am caught unawares and it is embarrasing. I try to remain calm and breathe through my nose.

I did not know this was an actual disease. I have been on prilosec for 3 months now and it does help my gall bladder pain, but the pain has not gone away (that is a little worrisome).

marthamae, how come my doctors said that they have to observe things getting stuck before diagnosing me with it? I obviously tell them the same things that you did.

I already have a GI for my ulcerative colitis and see him in less than 6 months (just saw him 2 weeks ago!). I will talk to him about it, next time I see him and yes, it has happened in public, I was eating a grilled cheese sandwich and it was horrible.

I just don't want one more thing wrong w/me, AAAGH (well who does, right?) If it gets worse between now and then I will up my appt.

thank you, thank you, thank you! At least I am not alone, I thought I was doing something wrong....

friendlygal

You sound alot like me. I have been dealing with this crap what seems like forever and it comes and goes. I was scoped 10-2006 and they found nothing wrong. Miracously all my symptoms disappeared after the scope. Well one year later they are back. I never had the GERd feeling prior just the swallowing issue. Well now its the darn gerd. I cannot get by more than 48 hours without a perscrption prilosec. I am giving it until the middle of may and if it has not cleared up back to the GI I go.

How long have you been dealing with this if you do not mind me asking?

marthamae, I've been scoped before.  They didn't see a ring.  So, then I guess that they DID actually see a ring in your case?????

 

I have gerd and a hiatel hernia in addition to UC.  I had my throat stretched maybe a year ago and it was no biggie.  The worst part was not being able to eat before hand and then waiting two hours after and the throat numbing spray tastes awful.  Other than that the procedure was fine.  I was feeling so good from the drugs when they did it that I didn't care less or feel a thing.   I had been choking to the point my family called 911 cause it was coming back up and I couldn't breathe.  I still have issues now and have to chew my food good. (esp. breads and dry food)  I will probably have it done again soon but I have a huge medical deductible so I'm waiting as long as I can.  My Dad had the same problem and my GI doc said One stretching could fix it or every year, couple years, etc.  Everyone is different.  Good luck and don't worry if you have to have it done.  It's worth it. 

UC is Ulcerative Colitis. If you are choking I still I would say definitely have your GI doctor (get one if you don't have one) and have an upper GI scope to see what exactly the problem is. If it needs to be stretched they can do it right then and there and if it's something else then they can direct you which way to go. Good luck.

Sorry I'm late in answering. I don't check in much these days. Hope I can help someone with my experience.

I have a history of choking over a long period of time. I got to the point that I had to crush certain medications with a mortar and pestle because it was the only way I could swallow. Well, I choked on a piece of macademia nut fudge. I could breathe, but if I ate or drank anything, it would come back up. I went into the doctor, went directly to a gastro doctor who had me scoped (upper endoscopic exam). Because I had been choking he went straight to that rather than an up GI at first. I had a case of Schatzii's ring, where part of the esophagus constricts and becomes one or more concentric rings. In my case it was several rings. A sliver of nut had bridged the top ring. The doctor dislodged the nut and then tried to dilate. It was so constricted that he couldn't even fit the smallest pediatric dilator into the ring. He then put me on liquid diet, liquid zantac, and told me to wait a week to heal. He then scoped again, dilated a bit, and then did it twice more over a couple of months. He did it in increments because he didn't want to tear my esophagus. This was back in 1999 or so. He scoped again in a year, found it had constricted a bit, and dilated again. I then went back in every three or so years. I never felt much acid reflux. He identified a hiatel hernia, so diagnosed silent acid reflux and put me on Prilosec and eventually Nexium. I couldn't get off of it because we assumed it was causing damage without me feeling it.

From what I gather, it is not necessary to see food getting stuck. After the first time the gastro doctor would observe my esophagus and note when it was dilated by the size of the esophagus. I'm sure there are ways to measure the opening.

Fast forward to 2005. I had been under a LOT of stress. I started feeling severe acid reflux. He scoped me and found some stricture, but no other issues. He dilated again and sent me home. about 48 hours after the scope I remember feeling something squirt UP my esophagus. It was like a water pistol shooting up from the stomach. Must have been acid. I felt totally awful for a long time afterward. I had to do it all --- take Nexium twice a day (on doctor's advice), acid reflux pillow, change the diet, etc. Over time I got better. I'm convinced that scope did something to the LES that allowed acid to back up. He says it wasn't possible, of course.

A year or two ago my younger brother went in with similar symptoms. He was diagnosed with esophilliac esophagitis (sp?). It is an allergic reaction -- they don't know to what. It can cause the esophagus to constrict. This has recently been identified and there isn't much history on it. Well, the doctor called me before I had a chance to call him. He had heard about the condition at a conference and immediately thought of me. The next time we scoped he took a biopsy, and sure enough, I have it. I went in for allergy tests but they didn't find a cause. There are some features to the disease, such as it isn't GERD and PPI's don't help. Also, it runs in the family. Most importantly, there is a higher probability that the esophagus can be torn when dilated. My gastro doctor said he will be less likely to dilate -- only if it has constricted enough to be likely to cause a life threatening choking incident.

Bottom line: make sure your doctor knows about the condition and agree beforehand what you are going to do. Your doctor should be less inclined to dilate if you have it. The problem is that he/she won't know until the biopsy results come back. Disclaimer: this info is over a year old. It is a fairly new identified condition and it's possible that info on the condition has changed.

Good luck.

mlp

Hi Pinkpest,

Did the doctors say why you needed it stretched in the first place was it from reflux?

I have had my throat stretched twice due to the reflux and it does help for a little while, but until the reflux is stopped there is no point for me in keeping doing it.

I would go back to your GP and ask them for an explanation of why they cannot do it.

All the best

Pink