I use a 48FR dilator, but have a 46FR as a backup. I have to insert it 20” (white “35” on the dilator) past my incisors (front teeth). I haven’t had an endoscopy for two years. I was having one every week, and then had stents until I started the self dilation. I could write a book about problems I encountered with stents. The only advice I can offer about getting your dilator to go farther is the dilator sometimes “coils” and it is difficult to “push” them when this happens. What, if anything are you using for lubrication?? I used to use McKesson Lubricating Jelly. It worked well but I eventually stopped using anything and have not had any problems. How often do you dilate?? I do it every day, but have discussed with Doc about reducing the frequency and see what happens. He said to go ahead and do that and I had about a 50/50 chance it would work. If it doesn’t work it would mean an endoscopy to get back on track. I haven’t had the guts to try yet. It took almost 6 years to get this far and I don’t want to screw anything up.

Just thought of a couple more things. You say “30 inches”. The dilator is not quite that long from end to end. You might mean 30 cm, which would be the “white 30” on the dilator. You also say you have 3 different dilators. I am assuming they are different sizes. You should only need to use one and it would need to be the correct size (mine is 48FR/aka 16mm). How did the doctor measure you for your dilator?? In my training, the Doc started me with a smaller size (around 42FR), and gradually increased the size until I could not pass the dilator through the “connection”, which in my case was 51FR. That is how I settled on the 48FR and have been using it since (2 years +). If yours is hanging up at the “connection” it may be a little too large.