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Spasms after Whipple

Pancreatic Cancer | Last Active: 6 days ago | Replies (14)

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@vector

My wife had Whipple surgery mid-December 2023. We're not sure they are spasms but we have assumed they are. There is a pain as you describe that she gets. Sometimes she can breath through it, other times it provokes vomiting. There is no nausea involved. The palliative care folks have given her Hyoscyamine, which helps a bit. The frequency has diminished, but she still gets them occasionally.

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Replies to "My wife had Whipple surgery mid-December 2023. We're not sure they are spasms but we have..."

My spasms are also the kind that last 1-2 minutes, and are calmed somewhat by focused breathing. I joke with my wife that I'm having flashbacks from the LaMaze class we took when our first child was born. Also, there is no previous general nausea involved; sometimes just 10-15 seconds of my mouth watering followed by a cough-like vomiting spell.

I had hyoscyamine first because it was available as a sublingual dissolving tablet, but it got to where the dissolving residue sometimes trigger the gag reflex in my throat and led to more vomiting.

I (just me personally) have traded out the hyoscyamine for the Bentyl capsules. They've worked slightly better for me on the spasms, but a bigger advantage is that I don't wake up several times at night with extreme dry-mouth like I did on hyoscyamine.

Thank you for sharing. Good to know that these spasm will eventually diminish with time. I am surprise that thus far doctors don't seem to know the root cause of what causes these spasms. Wishing your wife the best!