Posted 8/19/2016 6:23 PM (GMT 0)
I have suffered esophageal spasms since 06/2011...I was having them about once a week; went to a young GI who put me on a PPI. A friend warned me about becoming reliant on PPIs so I stopped taking them. As the GI stated there was nothing available to help with the spasms but nitro glycerin, I figured the spasms were the new normal. I went on a low dose of SSRI because I read that those can help with the pain. I didn't have any other problems, so I just sucked up the pain.
A few months ago, the spasms started coming almost every night but there was a new twist: they came with stomach spasms that forced me to produce a huge amount of saliva. After waking up one night with a 104 fever because of nighttime reflux going down my lungs when I was sleeping, I knew I had reached a new level of the problem. After the fever, I got stricture and I realized that I probably have a hiatal hernia (maybe from the stomach spasms.)
Then a friend mentioned offhand that he got a spasms once from heartburn. He had said this before on and off, but I didn't listen because the GI said they didn't know what caused the spasms. But for some reason this time, when he said it, the light went on. Was the stomach's effort to produce saliva my body's attempt to protect itself from acid that was coming up from my stomach at night?
I went back to the doctor and got a script for PPIs. I researched and got a wedge pillow to keep the reflux from coming up from my stomach. I stopped drinking diet soda and alcohol, stopped any eating past 7:30 at night, and ate small low acid meals. I started taking liquid Gaviscon at night.
The result? The stricture seems to easing. But the big news is I haven't had a spasm for over a month. After having them almost every night, I know now that for me the spasms seem to a heartburn issue.
What is the moral of my diatribe? The first obvious one is that my friend seemed to have had the solution all along and the young GI doctor could not give me any direction. It seems to me that the younger more inexperienced doctors will throw their hands up at your issue if it can't be cured it with a pill or removed by surgery.
Here is what I can add to the conversation. Listen to your body....my spasms occurred at the same time of night and always after going out with friends, eating and drinking a lot and going to bed right after. PPI's have consequences, but for me they are probably the solution. I would like to be able to swallow normally again. I don't care if I have to take them for the rest of my life.
Perhaps if I didn't rely on the young GI's statement there was nothing she could do, I would have looked earlier for the solution. Maybe if I would have listened to my body and how it was trying to counteract the acid, I wouldn't be dealing with stricture....remember that no one cares more about you than you. Research, research and listen to what others have experienced and don't stop until you have an answer.