Severe Esophageal Spasms after Sleeve Gastrectomy

Hello, I'm new to this site. I've been searching daily trying to find someone that maybe has the same problems I have with esophageal spasms.

I had sleeve gastrectomy in May of 2012. For the past 8 months I have been suffering with PAINFUL esophageal spasms. My surgeon thinks they are caused by GERD which has gotten worse since my sleeve surgery. For those of you that may not know what sleeve gastrectomy is .. it is a new WLS where part of the stomach is removed. The crazy thing is I can't sleep on either side. I have to sleep on my back. If I turn on my side, I WILL get a spasm and it hurts so bad. Mine are different because I don't have a hard time swallowing. They usually begin with my ears hurting, then my throat, chest(feels like heart attack), then my stomach will spasm so hard then goes around to my back. At first, I thought it was my gallbaldder. Had that removed in March. Still having spasms. I am currently taking Levsin and Levbid which I place under my tongue and it does help but my thing is I want to sleep on my side!!!

Today I had a colonoscopy. I knew that I had to lay on my side. Guess what? I had a spasm! When they woke me, it was happening. Oh my goodness it hurt so bad!! I never had these problems until I had the surgery. I've done well with the weight loss part. I've lost 120 pounds and still have 20 to go but if I had to do it over again... I wouldn't. Now.. my surgeon says.. well we need to revise you to gastric bypass because it will help the GERD and in turn stop the spasms. I don't think that is the case nor do I want to have another WLS!!! I've done all I'm going to. I'm thinking that my vagus nerve was damaged in the first surgery. I remember having little spasms right after surgery when I would swallow but it finally went away. Then these started. UGH... so horrible.

My questions is does anyone on this forum have spasms while laying on your side at night? If you do, have you found out what causes it? I'm looking for any help I can get. I'm at the end of my rope. I hate to think that I have to live with these things forever. I keep hoping they will go away but nothing is helping really. They also hit me during the day. I can be at the grocery store and all of the sudden my ears will hurt and bam!! A spasm! I start to panic and then I have to put the Levbid under my tongue to stop it.

Please help someone!! I need some answers so awefully bad.

Thank you and I'm so happy I found this forum.

Erica, thanks for the reply.

I have been to several doctors. Had numerous test done. Tried several medications. None seem to stop them. I do take magnesium. It stopped them for a short while and they returned. Seems there isn't an answer. I'm so discouraged by this. They have taken over my life. :(

Erica, Is peppermint oil bad for GERD? I just wondered since it is mint. I've heard that is helps.

I have been to see several GI and none of them really know what to do about them. I wish I could find one that would know what to do. I may google once more in my area and see what I find.

Thank you!

I'm not sure if you are still around but I'm hoping you are because I'm in the exact same boat. Here is my story..

I'm 5'2 265lbs and 20 years old. It is 4/29/14 and I had a gastric sleeve in late December of 2012. I did all my pre-op correctly, went under, came out and was in pain of course but nothing too crazy. I did the barium swallow because they won't let you consume liquid until that's done and I watched the oddest thing happen on the screen. The nasty liquid went down to where my esophagus meets my stomach, I actually saw my esophagus spasm and the liquid came shooting back up. I didn't throw it up but it was this awful feeling of it being stuck, after an hour or so the liquid went back down and they took me back to my room. I got home and was in so much pain, eating was impossible, drinking was impossible and I was miserable. I assumed this was normal, took my Lortab (liquid vicodin) and dealt with the pain. I went back post op and we did another barium swallow with the same results. Doc said give it time, it'll heal. I waited about a month before I was banging down his door for answers and more pain medicine. (The only way I kept hydrated was to take the pain medicine at the same time I had protein shakes or water) He did another barium swallow at 1 month post op and same results. He admitted me to the hospital and did an endoscopy with a dilation where I was having the spasms. I went home the next day and was back a few days later. His solution at the time was, you are healing slowly here take more pain medicine. So, we are now at about 2 months post op and I can't eat or drink without the medicine, this is bad very very bad. I'm a 20 year old nursing student, never smoked a cigarette in my life, never did drugs, was a pretty model citizen. I couldn't eat without taking vicodin which led to a strong need for vicodin which was scary for me and my doctor. We decided that I had to stop taking that, I was taking too much and it was bordering too close to addiction. He prescribed me Cartia which is a calcium channel blocker for the spasms. It helped a lot but I still had pain with eating and the barium swallows showed the same thing over and over. He put me on Amitriptiline for the spasms as well, again it helped a little but didn't fix the problem. Over the course of my 3 month post op I was admitted to the hospital 5-6 times and was dilated through an endoscopy almost every time I was hospitalized. Nothing was working, I was constantly in pain, I hated food so I kinda gave up. Things like pudding and ice cream were easiest to eat so that's all I ever had. I never, not one day met my protein requirements nor did I meet my fluid requirements. It was impossible to get anything down.

That was all in early 2013. Now it is April in 2014 and I'm just miserable, I haven't lost any weight because I don't eat the right stuff nor do I eat enough and my metabolism is nearly shut down. I'm vitamin deficient, I'm tired all the time and food sucks. Through all of this I've managed to stay in school and keep my grades relatively good. I went back to my surgeon last week and begged him to fix it. He couldn't believe I was still having problems, he did another barium swallow and a endoscopy and saw that my esophagus is in the exact same if not worse shape than it was directly after surgery. He apologized a million times and is trying to help me. His suggestion now is more aggressive, he wants to put a stent in my esophagus next week but warned me that 70-80% of people don't tolerate it. If I don't tolerate it, he will take it out and convert the sleeve into a bypass. I'd love an update on you, did you get the bypass? Did it work? I'm trying to think anatomically and I'm having trouble understanding why spasms at the junction of my esophagus and stomach could be fixed with a bypass. Wouldn't there still be the same junction, just into a smaller pouch that bypassed straight to my jejunum (mid small intestine)? I need this to be fixed and am willing to do anything to get there but if I'm going under for another major surgery it better dang well fix the problem.

Sorry for the book, you aren't alone and I hope to hear from you soon. BTW, how old are you?

I'm so sorry you're going through this. My niece had a similar surgery and has had good weight loss, but it has changed her life forever. She now says she should have just stayed on a diet before, because the weight loss diet prescribed was much easier than the post-surgery diet she has to remain on for the rest of her life. She must eat a small amount of protein every one-two hours or she will get sick and perhaps pass out. Many foods, including bread, are not tolerable for her.

This also points out an excellent reason why any sort of GI problem has long been considered a contraindication for bariatric surgery. I don't think some surgeons are frank enough about life after surgery with their patients.

I haven't had weight loss surgery but I have had esophageal spasms for 16 years. They just about ruined my life. I could not make plans because I never knew when it would start, and my spasms, pain and vomiting could last for 3 days at a time. I was placed on many different meds, for GERD, for pain, for spasms, etc. and nothing worked. I had also been to many different GI doctors, and finally found someone who suggested Botox injections, under synesthesia, into my esophagus. Through trial and error, we found the schedule that keeps by spasms at bay, and I now receive the injections every 4 months. It has changed my life. It might benefit you to look for a GI doctor who can do the Botox injections. I highly recommend it, it really has changed my life.