Esophageal spasms or Esophageal sensitivity??

Medications do not help me either. I have throat and esophagus spasm especially when I eat. I have not done any tests yet. However, I do have acid in my throat.

kirkland

Welcome to HealingWell.  I am glad you found us and that you have already met some of our wonderful members.

I am sure others will be along to advise you well.

Again a warm welcome.

Kitt

 

Hi all,

Thank you very much for your responses.

Bill,

what is about this hypersensitive esophagus? I went to see GI doc and he also mentioned about it. But he said there may or may not be a solution for it. Not an exciting thing to know.

He said that it can't be bile reflux because nothing was found in my endoscopy. Is upper endoscopy a reliable test for bile reflux?

stkitt, thank you for the warm welcome. This is a wonderful forum.

eugenia,

Sorry to hear about your symptoms. I am going to have manometry and 24 hr PH monitoring. I was told that if they turn negative, I would be considered as having a sensitive esophagus. I think it is a nice way of saying 'just live with your symptoms' 

well, we are in it together, we will see how we can find some solution.

Hi Kirkland,
I can only share my own experience. None of my tests were indicating that I had a severe GERD problem, yet while taking 40mg Protonix twice a day (and sometimes additional 300mg Zantac at night, I still needed to have Maalox and Tums always at hand (where ever I went...in my purse, next to my bed, etc.).

My endoscopies were always normal with no evidence of inflammation or Barrett's changes--yet I suffered greatly from breakthrough heartburn, and whenever I took medications that irritated my stomach (like antibiotics), I would get a horrible "lump" mid chest, a feeling of irritation or burning. I had several stomach/esophageal inflammations that took months to resolve, and kept me from eating normally. Actually I would feel full after a very tiny amount of food. This irritation would last for months. However, from all the tests, no doctor would think I was not a candidate for GERD surgery. In fact, I had two GI docs tell me that my GERD was in the "normal" to "below normal" range.

However, my asthma and family doctors were both convinced that my uncontrolled asthma was being caused by GERD. They had pretty much thrown in the towel on my symptoms, and constantly nudged me to go forward with the Nissen Fundoplication surgery. Finally, my family doctor made me an appointment with a bariatric surgeon, who did more tests, and with the additional information provided by my family doctor, said that I was a good candidate for the surgery.

At this point I went back to my GI doc (a second one...I fired the first one for being ineffectual, and not listening to me. He always said that I couldn't be experiencing what I was describing. Hello! I was the one experiencing them. My second GI doc was much more respectful, and listened to me, at least.) He re did the 24hr PH monitor. The results were very average...the number was 14, which isn't indicative of surgery. My first PH monitor came up with a number of 4--and I was told that the GERD was not causing my asthma.

However, with he input of my other doctors, My GI doc thought the option of surgery might work in my case, and help with my horrible asthma symptoms. He even thought that I might be getting bile reflux, which could also irritate my lungs. He sent me to a highly recommended surgeon to discuss that option.

Long story short, I had the surgery, and my lungs have improved markedly. For the first time in probably 4 years (I was actually hospitalized at one point, for asthma caused by uncontrolled GERD brought on by antibiotic treatment.) I could breathe easyly, and was not coughing up tons of mucous from my lungs. My lungs are great now.

I know you're not having lung issues, but I'm telling you my story because it is an example of a GERD problem that didn't follow the "rules"--the tests all looked normal, but it was causing a life-threatening (and extremely uncomfortable) problem.

I wish you lots of luck in finding an answer to your problem.
You know best what you're feeling, and should pursue a resolution. Don't let doctors tell you that you're not experiencing what you know you're experiencing!
This forum is a great place to receive information and support.
Take care!
Denise

Hi dencha,

Thank you very much for your wishes.

Glad to hear that you are feeling better now. It is true that sometimes doctors think it is all in the patient's head. It gets really tough in such situations. A person suffers from symptoms, tests don't reveal anything, and doctors say everything is alright. A GI doc once told me "you are perfectly healthy, just go home and relax"

My present doc is nice. At least, he doesn't say that I don't need any further evaluation because my endoscopy and barium swallow were negative. 

This forum is also very helpful. I actually learn more from these discussions than from the doctor.

Hi kirkland,

The manometry test will definitely tell if you have spasms. My barium swallow came back normal and a couple of months later, the manometry diagnosed me with the diffuse esophageal spasms.


Sari218, if you only have the spasms a couple of times a year, you may not really have spasms, but rather pain from the heartburn. spasms are usually constant, from what I understand. they may subside for a day or 2, but usually come back. medicine may or may not help. It hasn't helped me, unfortunately.

But like kirkland, if you think you have spasms, you should have the manometry done. it's a bad test, but doesn't hurt and will tell you a lot...even if you have hiatal hernia.

My GI says GERD can cause asthma, or exacerbate it.

Best of luck to both, let me know what you find out. If you have any questions about esophageal spasms, I've done a lot of research in the past 8 months! I'm even trying acupuncture to see if it helps!
Uncle Leo