Achalasia

Posted by ladawki143 @ladawki143, Jul 7, 2011

Anyone else with achalasia from Mayo? I'm heading up to Rochester soon for surgery.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Digestive Health Support Group.

Profile picture for andreafl @andreafl

I have also been using a CPAP for 2 months and have experienced pain that I believe is related to my achalasia.
I started having symptoms of achalasia when I was 7 or 8 years old and was on death's door when I was finally diagnosed at 14 (I had only gained 5 pounds over 6 years and weighed only 76 pounds when I had my open Heller Myotomy at 15). That was in 1985 and it honestly saved my life. Other than GERD I only notice issues related my achalasia a few times a year, but I can deal with that.
However, since starting CPAP I have experienced intense pain right around where my lower esophageal sphincter is. It has happened twice (once each month). After the first time, the doctor lowered my pressure from a max of 15 to 11. I'm waiting to hear back from him now regarding the second episode. The pain feels like an extreme muscle tear/stretch and it hurts to cough, laugh, or breathe very deeply. Last time it took a week to recover from it and I'm on day 3 this time. I can get through the day ok but the nights are horrible because any little movement causes pain. I can't use the CPAP when this happens.
I was wondering, has anyone else experienced this same thing? If so, what did you do for relief.

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@andreafl and @rick336, There are others in the CPAP discussions who have posted about problems with reflux and gerd. I did a quick search but you may want to change the search words for specific symptoms. Here's what I found - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/comments/?search=CPAP%20causing%20reflux.

Here's an older research article from 2007 on the topic:
-- The impact of continuous positive airway pressure on the lower esophageal sphincter:
https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/ajpgi.00476.2006

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