Esophageal spasm is unreal

Welcome to the forum, alleykat.

You might try keeping a food journal to check if you have food sensitivities. I and a number of other people who get reflux, tachycardia or chest pain that is triggered by certain foods have found this helpful.

I won't post the same information over again, but you can easily look up some of the threads by putting a few keywords in the search box near the top of the page.

Seeing a gastroenterologist to get tests is very worthwhile to rule out hiatal hernia, esophageal problems, etc.

Best wishes. I hope you will let us know how things turn out.

alleykat-
Welcome to Healing Well.
Have they tried any meds for the spasms? There is 3 or 4 meds that can stop them. I know 3 are heart meds. One is nitro pills, another one starts with a "d", and I was told of one other when they thought I was having spasms. I was given the one that starts with a d and also nitro pills. Didn't work for me because as I told them it was the hole in my esophagus acting up again not spasms, but they never listen even when you have a ct scan showing the hole opened up again.
Anyhow, if it is spasms they can be triggered by something cold usually and sometimes something hot. That's not the only things of course that will trigger them.

Take care,
Bill

Hi Alleycat, & everyone

I am new to this also, but I have exactly what you're describing, except the swallowing. You are right, the first time I got it, we all thought it was heart related, but the ECG came normal. I was never really properly diagnosed, the doctors just labeled it as an Esophageal Spasm by the process of elimination; I never had any tests for it.

The way the doc explained it is that there are 2 types of Nutcracker esophagus (which is what they assumed I had on account of the spasms being very rhythmic): one usually causes difficulty swallowing and the other produces chest pains; a person usually has one or the other, but having both is very rare (which is what it seems you have, alleycat). The difficulty swallowing (or Dysphagia) is easily diagnosed with endoscopy or barium x-rays and responds to several treatments; the other one shows up normal on most of the tests, the only way to confirm it is to do a manometry (not sure about the spelling) during the actual spasm... Also, the doc said that although there are several proposed treatments, not one is really effective. (I did some medical statistics as a summer job, so I know how they judge effectiveness - all they have to show is correlation, which does not always prove causality! The same way they say: Esophageal Spasm is "associated" with GERD, but they can't say one "causes" the other. They use the same logic for meds!) Basically, the way the doc explained it, since it is not correlated with any complications, no one really deems it a priority to find out why it happens; and since no one knows why it happens, the only thing they can do is try and treat the symptoms, somewhat successfully. Also, because it ranges in severity, people (and doctors) underestimate the discomfort it brings. My mother-in-law has a mild version, which lasts a couple of minutes and she doesn't even break a sweat (it just so happens that she's a doctor), so her reaction is: don't get anxiety, it's just pain; just sip cold milk slowly, and it'll help! First of all, it's not an anxiety attack, i'm actually having trouble breathing and moving; it's not just pain, there is also severe discomfort; and i'm not crying, my eyes are watering and my mouth is drooling - it is that uncomfortable!

The pain is surreal! I also get extreme Veso-Vego (parasympathetic response - I feel lightheaded, my whole body becomes weak, hands and knees tremble, eyes tearing. I get extremely flustered and covered with sweat in seconds, flashes of hot and cold. Sometimes it's so bad that I would pass out). The longest it lasted so far was 3 hours; I cannot imagine doing this for 16! As far as I can tell, the episodes are completely random and are not related to eating or drinking: sometime it'll happen when I ate, other times when I hadn't eaten; sometimes it'll happen in the morning on the bus, in class, or in the evening when i'm on the computer or watching tv, still once in a while it'll wake me up at night. Afterwords, I feel completely drained, like I've just given birth. I usually feel very weak for the rest of the day, and have soreness around xiphoid process. Also the weirdest thing is that during and after the episodes, my xiphoid process feels like it's protruding outward, and there's a bump on the solar plexis region. Does anyone else feel that?

Is there anything I can do? I don't know how many more of these I can take - I literally want to smash my head against the wall just to knock myself out!

While at the University of Iowa hospital thy thought I had this and treated it it nitro and other her meds. Of course it didn't wok for me because my pain was from the hole in m esophagus opening back up.

Take care,
Bill

11 years ago I was diagnosed with Nutcracker Esophagus...I had all the tests known to man & woman and have taken all the meds that have been mentioned on this forum.....The member LiteRally has the closest symptoms to mine that I find here. My Dr. tried everything to no avail...If I strain my arms or upper chest the chest pains start...This happens mostly at night as I can control it in the daytime....The one thing that no one has mentioned in all the threads is that my pain stops when I eat....These pains wake me up at least 4 times a night...I get up and eat a cookie..you may ask why..because in order for the pain to stop it has to have substancial substance for it to work...It can't be like applesauce or something soft...These chest pains are just like heart attack pains....I begin to sweat as the pain is so intense..I start trembling and feel so weak...If I let the pain get to the point of no return then I wake up on the floor after passing out...I think my blood pressure drops from the pain...The things is that I have no notice of passing out...I just wake up on the floor...I hit the ceramic tile the first time last year and broke all my lower teeth and smashed my sinuses on that side....The next month I keeled over and hit the corner of the counter top with my right eye and forehead...Big gash and stitches...This esophagus stuff rules my life....Does anybody else have my symptoms?? Only food will make it stop as everyone else seems to think food causes their pain...I've tried all the beta blockers, procardia, ativan, & many more..Nothing works...

I realize this is an older thread, but this is the first place I've found online where others have similar experiences so I thought I'd share mine.

5 years ago, I had an episode where I was drinking water and it felt like it got stuck in my throat and was extremely painful for a few minutes. For a week or so, everything seemed to get stuck in my throat - hard foods, soft foods, liquids - and then it went away. A few months after that I had severe chest pain that made me think I was having a heart attack, but it subsided after about 20 minutes and I was fine. This happened again a few months later, but again was gone after about 20 minutes. Then it started happening more and more frequently and lasting longer and longer. I also had what felt like an ulcer in my stomach, but had a scope which showed everything was fine.

The pain was in right below my breast-bone and slightly to the right side of my chest. Usually it also hurt between my shoulder blades in the back too. I had lung x-rays, a ct-scan, a cardiac work-up, and everything came back as normal, yet I continued to have the pain on a regular basis.

I moved from one state to another in the summer of 2008 and continued to have problems, but had found that if I stuck it out for about 20 minutes or got in the shower or found a way to sleep, it would go away. Then, in October I had such severe pain that nothing would help and after 3 hours of agony, my children called 911 and I was taken to the ER and again they did a cardiac work-up and x-rays and everything check out fine. They did give my nitro-glycerin in the ambulance on the way to the hospital and then some good painkillers once I got there.

I was then referred to a gastroenterologist who then did a barium swallow and a manometry test. The barium swallow x-ray came back normal, but the manometry showed very strong uncoordindated spasms and thus I was diagnosed with esophageal spasms.

As treatment, I was put on calcium channel blockers and given nitro-glycerin pills to knock down the painful episodes. I was on these for a few months and the side effects of the calcium channel blockers were awful. I moved again back to my original state and decided I was going to find a way to get off these meds because they weren't really helping (continued to have episodes daily) and I hated the side effects. I normally have very low blood pressure and the calcium channel blockers caused it to be even lower.

But, before I could find help, I again had a very painful episode and took the nitro-glycerin as directed. I was on my 3rd pill after a period of about an hour and my blood pressure bottomed out and I was incapacitated on my bedroom floor while trying to get to the phone for help. My family came home and found me and called 911. At that point my blood pressure was something crazy like 80/40. I was rushed to the ER and treated for the low blood pressure.

After this, I was determined to get off the meds and sought the help of a trusted naturopath. They suggested testing for vitamin/mineral deficiencies and food allergies (blood testing). When the tests came back, they showed I was deficient in folic acid and vitamin E and allergic to 9 different common foods that I ate on a regular basis. It was suggested that I do a 90 day elimination of these foods. I didn't really think it would work, but was desperate to get off the meds. After 3 days of eliminating these 9 foods from my diet, I was pain-free. After 90 days I added these foods back into my diet a little at a time. Now, when I have 'too much' of these foods, I have an attack.

I have also been taking magnesium oxide and L-tryptophan supplements daily. The magnesium relaxes the smooth muscles and the L-tryptophan also helps keep things calm in my digestive tract. If I miss these, I have issues. My episodes are now far and few between.

My theory is, for me, inflammation sets off the spasms. Food allergens, lack of sleep over several days, getting sick with a cold or flu or something all sets these off.

That's my story thus far. I wish I could say I found a cure, but have really just found a way to manage them for the most part. I try to eat healthy, avoid my allergen foods, take my supplements, and for most days in the last 3 years I am spasm free. I hope that helps someone or at least lets someone know they aren't alone in their experiences.

Post Edited (arkieaz) : 8/15/2012 12:17:26 AM (GMT-6)

Alley cat, I've been just where you are for years. All the tests in the world. I'm now controlling life via spasms with nitrostat.4 when the knife is going into my chest and heart-the spasm is gone in 30 seconds and peppermint that stops all of the minor spasms. I also eat nothing after 5:00 pm and nothing wierd or spicy at all. No coffee, no fat-- all the usual. Esoph Spasms are the worst pain in the world and very few Dr.s ever address them and no one knows much about them.

good luck Craig

Sheba,
How about starting your own thread. It will get more answers. Just hit the "Post New Topic" button at the bottom of the page and put as a topic esophageal spasms or something similar. You can also find old posts by searching with the search box at the top of the page. A lot of people on the forum are familiar with esophageal spasms.

I still get some foods and medications stuck even after my surgery, but my problem is post-polio syndrome where my nerves are dying. I have had a weak swallow for years.

Weak swallow is one of the things that can be tested when a gastric surgeon is ordering tests to find out if surgery is necessary or will help.

There are medications besides nitro that can relieve esophageal spasms. I'll try to think of those to reply to you when you start your own thread.

Waiting to hear from you again!

Thanks - I'll start a new thread.  I've seen people have had some success with magnesium supplements, maybe I'll look into that

This thread seems pretty old but I stumbled upon it and wanted to post some info. I've suffered from esophageal spasms for almost 20 years. My first attack came in my mid twenties and I thought I was having a heart attack. The pain is severe....everyone who has this knows what I am talking about. Mine starts in my chest and jaw and just intensifies quickly. I have found a way to halt the spasm...it works every time and I wanted to let people know. The minute I feel one coming on I start chugging water or whatever liquid I have available. The repeated swallowing action seems to resolve the spasm. It works for me everytime. Sometimes more water is needed than others but if I don't do this, the pain will last for at least an hour. And it is excruciating. see your Dr and follow their recommendations but please try this to save you during an attack- it's worked for me for almost 20 years and I pray it continues to work because I don't know what I'll do if it stops... Hope this post is helpful.

Hi gr88mrb! I am new here too. I signed up because of my anxiety and my GERD.

My GERD started about 7 months ago when I was having trouble swallowing and caused a lot of anxiety. I got it under control with zantac and diet.

Two or three weeks ago, things changed. As I started to experiment more with food (because I hadn't been eating much); I started getting chest pains, pains down my arm; I couldn't sleep and I had exessive belching. I increased my Zantac which didn't work and I ended up going to the ER three times thinking it was my heart, the walk in clinic once and my family doctor, all in the span of those few weeks. All tests on the heart came out fine.

They changed my medication recently to Pantaloc and I hate it. I still can't sleep, my belching got worse and I was struggling with my breathe.

I skipped any medication for 1 night and while I slept, I am paying for it today -- I've never experienced such pain in my upper back -- I'm freaking out thinking it's my heart again but I am belching and tasting so much acid, I am wondering now if my esophagus is spasming. I can't keep going back to the hospital. Is this common??

I am not overweight. I am 5'6, 115lbs and I teach fitness and I feel like I am falling apart.

Anyway, I am so sorry you're all having these difficulties. Please keep posting so we can all help eachother.

spiritspinner said...
Hi gr88mrb! I am new here too. I signed up because of my anxiety and my GERD.

My GERD started about 7 months ago when I was having trouble swallowing and caused a lot of anxiety. I got it under control with zantac and diet.

Two or three weeks ago, things changed. As I started to experiment more with food (because I hadn't been eating much); I started getting chest pains, pains down my arm; I couldn't sleep and I had exessive belching. I increased my Zantac which didn't work and I ended up going to the ER three times thinking it was my heart, the walk in clinic once and my family doctor, all in the span of those few weeks. All tests on the heart came out fine.

They changed my medication recently to Pantaloc and I hate it. I still can't sleep, my belching got worse and I was struggling with my breathe.

I skipped any medication for 1 night and while I slept, I am paying for it today -- I've never experienced such pain in my upper back -- I'm freaking out thinking it's my heart again but I am belching and tasting so much acid, I am wondering now if my esophagus is spasming. I can't keep going back to the hospital. Is this common??

I am not overweight. I am 5'6, 115lbs and I teach fitness and I feel like I am falling apart.

Anyway, I am so sorry you're all having these difficulties. Please keep posting so we can all help eachother.

It might be your esophagus and it might not be.  You say 2 or 3 weeks ago things changed because you started to experiment with more food.   It's quite possible one (or more) of these foods could be a trigger for you.  If I were in your shoes I would go back to the diet you were on before you started having these problems for at least 1-2 weeks and then introduce one new food at the rate of one per week to see how you respond.

The reason why I bring this up because it took me a couple of years of trial and error (and lots of research) to finally figure out what triggered my episodes.  For me it was anything with sulfites and MSG in it.  The MSG issue was really tough to figure out because in small doses my body handled it ok.   But in larger amounts (such as in certain Chinese foods) I found that it caused me problems.

At this point having a food journal is critical, keeping track of what you eat, at what times, and in what amounts, as well as what you are drinking. 

Do you drink any wine or beer?  When you were experimenting with food did you go out to eat at restaurants?