Firstly, can I open the thread just by stating, explicitly, that I'm not asking for medical advice - hence why I'm booked for an operation!
I have a condition called
Achalasia. It basically means my oesphagus doesn't push food, or drink, down to my stomach very effectively and my stomach muscle doesn't open up enough to let any food in.
It's not life threatening, isn't heriditary (as far as is known) and there aren't any underlying causes, generally. It can be reasonably well treated.
The reason I'm starting this thread isn't for sympathy or anything like that, but more so a place just to share my experiences of the condition, explain a bit about it and, like today, to vent a bit of frustration.
A bit of back-story:
I don't recall suffering when eating food at any point until about 18 or 19 years old. In fact, I had a very healthy appetite and could even eat on my belly on the floor.
When I was at uni, I'd bus into town at the end of lectures and grab some food - usually something like McDonalds. Because I'd go to meet Laura (my fiancée) from work, I'd wolf my food down. Occasionally, it would stick in my throat and could actually be quite painful. I used to sit and just wait (and by Zen power) try and force it down. Then it'd go and I'd be fine. This would only be a small proportion of the time I actually ate at McDonalds - so I attributed it to just trying to eat too fast.
This eventually extended to things like curry or chicken wraps - foods that were high in carbs and 'stodgy', but again, this was only a small proportion of the time. It developed from here - I could no longer wait for the food to drop to my stomach. I had a strong urge that I would be sick, and I would have to regurgitate it.
However, I still thought nothing of it really, and would often blame it on the fact I was eating too fast, or on my belly, so I made sure I took my time and ate more civilised at the table whenever I ate a meal.
Within the past couple of years (2006) it actually developed to the point where nearly every meal would become a struggle, even sat upright at the table with plenty of water. I knew something wasn't right, but only bothered looking up on the internet what it could be. I thought it was mainly psychological, too.
It came to a head on Laura's birthday in Nov 2006. We went for a meal at Frankie and Benny's and I just couldn't keep any of the starter down (let me just re-iterate, this is not vomit but chewed food and saliva). The main came out and I'd spent more time in the loo than with Laura - I felt awful, but she understood
Went to see the doctor who referred me to hospital, cue tubes down neck, up nose and lots of examinations. I was diagnosed with the condition and offered a choice of treatment (due to my age/fitness etc) -
1) Botox; which would stop my stomach muscle still and let mavity do the work. Only temporary.
2) Inflated balloon; simply inflating a balloon at my stomach sphincter and splitting it open.
3) Heller's Myotomy; using an endoscope they slice the muscle open which allows food through, then wrap skin back over to acid reflux - my choice.
This is a vid on YouTube of it, for the sick
Option 3 is all booked for 13th Feb. I can't wait now.
I spend every meal thinking whether I'll be able to eat it hot, warm or cold. Even worse, at work, I get 35 mins lunch to eat which is a nightmare and is embarrassing to have to dash to the loo to donate my lunch to it. It's taken me 3 hours before now to eat a meal and I'm often left hungry and it's destroyed my love of food. A steak sandwich with a nice spicy sauce - biggest no-no ever.
I sometimes choke on a drink I've had 3 hours before going to bed, as it comes back up my throat.
I still try at present to eat every meal, although breakfast is now diminished to a slice of toast on the walk to work. Even water is problematic. My saving grace is a kebab or takeaway pizza (which must have that much fat it slides through, lol) and a cup of Redbush. I've also lost 2.5 stone through a combination of diet and losing 50% of meals, lol.
My aim is to regularly update the thread with how the day has gone and answer any questions - a bit of blog which I think people are more likely to read than on Blogspot or whatever.
Thanks for reading (go rest your eyes!).
Syph.
