Abdominal pain

Have you already contacted your medical team to explore this? If so, what information and/or suggestions did they offer?

Has your Doc checked the B12 levels. Very common for us EC patients to have low B12. I take a supplement and have no issues. Prior to the supplement they were quite low and I had similar symptoms as you.

For the stomach, Cepacol lozenges have done wonders for me. You might try Gascon or OTC Pepcid. It all depends on the cause...

Three years out here as well. No stomach pain but I have the same issue with being tried and fatigued all the time. Best way to describe it is like having the tail end of the flu and having to go out and mow the lawn. I can do it but when it's done I'm completely exhausted. I have have many tests. B12, Iron , Ferriten, ect. Doctors are saying this could just be the new normal for me, but I have dicided not to accept that idea. Since the surgery I have been sleeping upright and just don't get as much sleep as I used to. I think this might be the problem so the next step for me is to figure out how to get more sleep.

I'm about 20 months out from surgery and have similar fatigue. My body feels drained, especially my legs. My oncologist and GI attribute it to 8 months of Opdivo, but that ended almost a year ago. I also still get food stuck which is painful. None of my doctors have figured it out, but I believe its a nutrient deficiency. We'll keep searching.

I’m also 3 years out and many times after a meal my abdomen feels so full, achy, and the pressure is awful. I am also tired all of the time and agree the sleeping situation is awful. I just can’t get comfortable and do not sleep through the night.

I take Lansoprazole everyday to control my stomach acid. From what I understand, because of the lack of stomach acid, I do not absorb many vitamins through food. I was so tired and when tested, my B12 was low; however, after taking supplements it has spiked but now my platelet & WBC counts are extremely low they want me to see a Hematologist.

I don’t know if it’s the new piping or what but I can completely relate. I hope you find some relief and possibly consider asking for a full CBC. Best of luck!

@lionsfan I finished chemoradiation at MD Anderson on 5/15/25. My tumor was confined and my regional nodes clear and I was 85, so I forewent the surgery. By fall, I was NED in the esophageal region, but I had a very small nodule, not biopsy-able, in my upper left lung lobe. It's not skip node, since there's no node where it is. So, another round of radiation, SBRT this time, with TrueBeam. For those unfamiliar, it's a concentrated, scary high radiation beam focused on the little nodule (1/2"). Five treatments, lasting about 30 minutes, but with only a 2 minute blast of radiation. So, another round of fatigue. A lot of oncologists sometimes don't think cross-discipline enough. My urologist picked up on the fact that all the treatments had knocked the stuffing out of my testosterone level and started supplementing immediately and with immediate results with fatigue level. (Same thing may be true for females also, just not as high levels.) Just something to check out. Without testosterone, you will have fatigue, greater in direct proportion to your level.

What I really started to write about was the stricture, which I've written about before. I don't understand the docs not having figured it out. In my case, my tumor, although confined, was advanced and had closed off my throat to the point that they couldn't even get a guide wire for a camera down. I'd traded tumor for scar tissue. I've now had four dilations and can eat normally. The painful spasms have gone away. Some people have to have many. It's minor, as a surgical procedure goes, and is done under general but outpatient. I understand some docs do it in office and some people actually DIY. (This would have to be with preceding surgery, I think. Mine is 1/3 the way down, further than I think I could reach with a enlarging tube.) I'm just throwing in food for thought. Keep looking until you find a knowledgeable doctor...

Thanks for the comments. I'll take a look at the testosterone levels issue. I do a lot of weight lifting and its been difficult building up muscle so that makes sense. Appreciate it!

My sleep is fairly rubbish also which I know doesn't help my general situation.. the new normal thing just annoys me as I don't want to accept it. I get quite depressed and do the whole why me thing. People constantly say how I'm looking really good and I can only think well I don't feel it but the alternative is not being here at all. Guess I'm struggling in more than a few areas. Thanks for listening

Oh yes, I can tell you. My husband had his surgery 5 years ago and the first two years he did not eat anything proper, he felt awful, was in the worst mood ever, a different person, no energy, totally exhausted, depressed and frustrated. No wonder, he did not have any appetite, no hunger, no thirst, so how should he get energy or feel good without any proper food or water. After two years it was so bad that he finally was at a point where he let me help him, and he started with supplements after several appointments with the wrong doctors and nutritionists, we finally found one and she helped a little. I have to admit, we learned the most with asking ChatGPT the right questions and doing our own research afterwards, asking doctors the right questions with the results we had from our research and now, after 5 years, he finally feels better. I don't know if you have a problem with histamine intolerance as my husband, but you need magnesium and zinc, but both not in the usual standard supplement everybody takes, you need Zinc Bisglycinat, e.g. https://swansoneurope.com/en/swanson-zink-carnosin-pep-zin-gl.html (European page, sorry) or https://www.nature-love.de/products/zink-bisglycinat-tabletten (I hope it will show in English when you click on it) and Magnesium bisglycinat (https://www.nebraskamed.com/health/healthy-lifestyle/primary-care/7-types-of-magnesium-which-form-is-right-for-you) . He also has ashwanganda capsules for better sleep, and several vitamines. There are also supplements for pushing your serotonin, whose lack in your brain causes depression. Do some research on supplements, make a blood test with all the micro nutriants and then ask a nutritionist for help what is best for you to supplement. Best wishes and don't give up, never!! It is worth it