Esophageal problem: food gets stuck, swallowing issues

Hi @faithann64, I'm sorry to hear that swallowing difficulties and stomach cramping continue to be a problem almost a year since you Nissen Fundoplication & Hiatal Hernia surgery. I moved your message to this exisiting discussion called "Esophageal problem: food gets stuck, swallowing issues." Click VIEW& REPLY to see the past messages. Several members such as @engelee @sickvick @ken82 @fourof5zs and others are talking about similar issues. I hope they will be able to shed some light.

Faithann, When will you get the upper endoscopy?

@faithann64 Is the hernia a large one? Mine was a large.. very stubborn.. paraesophageal hernia also known as a sliding hernia. The hernia would slide up into my chest cavity bringing my stomach with it. I had my gallbladder out at same time as the original Nissen Fundoplication surgery. I had diarrhea with it until my husband's cousin suggested I try Align. I tried other probiotics, but it is the only one that helped with the diarrhea.

I do think another endoscopy is a good idea it will tell a lot. You still may have to have other test to get the whole picture of what is going on.

Please keep us up on how your endoscopy goes.
ZeeGee

My surgeon is trying to get my upper endoscopy asap ??? Hopefully this can be fixed . Stomach pain all the time and eating becomes an issue trying figure out what to eat . I've tried soft and still have issues just swallowing anything ? Lost 38 lbs after surgery and didn't gain any back . It's sad when I have to force myself to eat just because I know every swallow is going to be painful . Told my surgeon this is totally ridiculous ! I had my gallbladder removed years ago . It worries me that I've let this go on for to long even though my surgeon was aware of my complications. My family doctor consulted with him recently and I think that's why he's going to redo the upper endoscopy !

@faithann64
I am sending you a link to an outline of my history. Please, do not let it scare you. I am an oddball on somethings. There are no ads on my blog.
https://zarogasnook.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-long-time-passing.html . I probably need to update the post. I meed to start blogging again.. I keep saying it and don't do it for some reason.

I lost a lot of weight, but this year have managed to gain some. I need to go back to the Mayo Clinic on Jacksonville. I am having some acid I should not be having and the ongoing battle with swallowing. I now have achalasia and Barrett's esophagus. My NP said for now because of covid-19 outbreak that we need to hold off on my endoscopy... which I agree with. So I have had Pepcid added to my meds. Two pills and it does not seem to be helping. I can call and they would probably go ahead and set it up it gets worse. I live in Albany Georgia which is a very hot spot still for covid-19. Our Governor has said more businesses like hair salons and indoor dining at restaurants can open. Only a few have opened. The number of cases has declined a small amount, but deaths are still happening.

One thing I have learned is do your best to chose the best surgeon. My first local surgeon retired that did the Nissen. The surgeon for the repair I thought I had research him pretty well. He made the mistake of putting mesh in a place he should not have. I saw a different local surgeon. He told me many here will tell you they can do the surgery you need, but they cannot.. you need to go to the Mayo Clinic where great surgeons fix other surgeons mistakes. This is a great surgeon to tell me it is beyond his and other surgeons capabilities. My first surgery at the Mayo Clinic.. an undo of the Nissen and removal of mesh with repair of hernia... the hernia repair failed. Not the surgeon's fault... just a very stubborn hernia. The idea was to see how it was in a few months with a swallow test and make a plan. That surgeon left the Mayo and I was assigned to Dr Bowers.. another surgeon. The rest of story at the link above. Dr Bowers is an excellent surgeon.

My best advice for you is to eat soft cooked veggies and fruit.. or canned fruit. No raw fresh fruits or veggies. .. except ripe bananas. They will be easier to swallow and digest. Meats should be juicy and tender.. dry meats are very hard to swallow even with small bites. I eat mostly ground beef. Tender roast and steak I can eat sometimes.. I prefer meat juice over meat instead of gravy or sauces like ketchup or steak sauce. I can eat very moist chicken. My favorite is Chick-fil-A. I have problems with some breads. Sometimes it depends on the day. Pork is hardest for me. Pulled pork is moist, but it tends to be stringy and can stick with me. Believe it or not, but crisp foods like bacon or roasted nuts can be easy to swallow. Chips are trial and error.. not much nutrients, but can help with weight gain. I eat a lot of Lorna Doone shortbread cookies to help with my weight. They actually seem to settle my stomach when I am queasy and so do Ritz crackers. I cannot swallow a saltine.

I hope a little of this helps.
ZeeGee

I'm new but I have systemic arthritis in places that are very unusual. PLEASE EXCUSE MY BAD TyPING, ESPECIALLY THE CAPS, because my hands are impaired and do what they want on the keyboard. I am not yelling at anyone; it's just my disabilities. Gastroparesis is normal for me. My epiglottis doesn't always move, my esophagus shuts down completely and I've got adhesions and permanent partial obstructions through my small and large intestines. I also cannot take meds and what's a meal without antacid? And must of us know the "it's in your head" theory, which is never right. One of thE THINGS I FOUND THAT CaN HELp IF MY EPIGLOTTIS WORKS BUT MY ESOPHOGIS DECIDES TO STOP IS A "TENS UNIT" USED FOR MUSCLES SPASMs IN ONE'S BODY. The case can be carried in a purse. THE ESOPHAGUS IS A MUSCLE, as is the throat. where I also have arthritis. After checking my TABOR'S, WHICH IS A MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA IN ONE book TO FIND OUT EXACTLY WHERE MY ESOPHAGUS IS LOCATED. I THEN TOOK THE HOOkED UP POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ON EACH WIRE, CRISsCROSE THEM TO GeT A MESSAGING EFFECT IN A VERY SMALL AREA AND WITHIN FIVE MINUTES OR LESS, I USUALLY HAVe THE ESOPHAGUS WORKING. AFTER THE FIRST SWALLOW, I TaKE SOME ANTAID FOR GOOD MEASURE.
Another PROBLEM COMES IS MY PUSHING OUT OBSTRUCTIONS SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK. I DO TAKE POLYETHYLENE gLYCOL, aka "Miralax" at a prescription-strength AND I EAT A LOT OF LEGUME BEANS, BARLEY AND DRINK WATER. IN FACT, IF ONE HAS STOMACH BURNING AND CAN'T TAKE ANYTHING, I MAKE WHAT EVERY 5-YEAR-OD IN Bangladesh can make except I didn't have to boil water I also took the expensive recipe on the NET and converted it to a much cheaper recipe I could afford and it works. It's simple--I can't convert our system into metric, so I got a pitcher that had two liters marked on it... What I am putting down is for 1 liter. It's 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, though I usually use 1 teaspoon per liter for me, 2 Tablespoons of fruit juice--I buy cans of fruit that are in 100% juice, Drain the juice into a container so I can make SEVERAL BATCHES AND I EAT THE FRUIT AND FILL WITH WATER fo make ONE LITER (OR IN MY CASE, DOUBLE EVERYTHING, ADD 1 EXTRA TEASPOON OF BAKING SODA, SO I CAN STOP the BURING IN MY STOMACH AND I DRINK IT. How much per day depends ON THE DAY AND IF MY EPIGLOTTIS IS BEHAVING ITSELF.
OBSTRUCTIONS COME WITH THE TERRITORY IF ONE HAS HAD ABDOMINAL SURGERY--NOT everyone gets them. EVEN WHEN THE SURGEON TEARS THEM OFF, MORE GROW. THERE'S NOTHING MORE MEDICINE CAN DO for me. IN FACT, THE LAST TIME I SAW MY GI DOCTOR HE DIDN'T WANT TO DO ANOTHER UPPER AND LOWER ENDOSCOPY BECAUSE HE'S CONCERNED he'd do DAMAGE AND THERE IS NOTHING HE CAN DO anyway. I've ALSO HAD TWO SURGEONS SEE THE SURPRISE--I HaVE ARTHRITIS IN MY INTESTINES--NOT FIBROMYALGIA, WHICH I DO HAVE, BUT ARTHRITIS. At 72, THERE'S NOT ANYTHING ANYONE CAN DO. The obstructions and other intestinal problems ALL STARTED WITH A BOTCHED SURGERY THE PERSON--I WILL NOT USE THE TITLE OTHERS HAVE WORKED HARD TO EARN for him and DIDN'T HAVE my PERmission TO DO AND I ALMOST DIED. I was awake during the whole thing. TtHE ANAESTHESIALOGIST SAVED MY LIFE AND OTHERs OVER THE YEARS HAVE TRIED TO FIX THE DAMAGE, FOR WHICH I AM GRATEFUL. I AM NOT A DOCTOR BUT I AM AN ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONAL AND I GREW UP VERY POOR, and we couldn't afford doctors. THERE IS ONE THING I WILL SAY RIGHT OUT--DO NOT, AND I MEAN--DO NOT--, DO ANY OF THESE THINGS WITHOUT CHECKING WITH YOUR MD. I ONLY CAME UP with them on MY OWN, because THe professionals RAN OUT OF IDEAS ON HOW TO TREeat because of severe, life-threatening allergies. They have done their best. Pegjoy

Hello @pegjoy, Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Thank you for sharing your experience and especially for adding your comment to check with your doctor first before trying anything you shared in your experience. You certainly have a lot of experience to share and I'm sure your story will be helpful to other members. I can relate to growing up very poor during a time when family doctors made house calls -- we had to be very sick before a doctor came to check us out.

I can tell from your story that you do your own research and are a strong advocate for your health. Do you have any tips on researching health problems that you would like to share or do you have any questions you are looking to get answered?