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Anyone else have Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome (SMAS)?
Digestive Health | Last Active: Aug 10, 2023 | Replies (130)Comment receiving replies
has anybody here had experience with a doctor or surgeon who will go straight to surgery rather than forcing conservative treatment? I'm a 21 year old girl and this condition has absolutely ruined my life. my doctor continues to prolong conservative treatment despite the fact that gaining the weight has not helped me the slightest bit. ive lost the weight again due to symptoms that continue to persist and never went away with weight gain. i never even had a weight loss prior to getting sick with SMAS. do you know of any mayo clinic locations or surgeons/doctors who prefer to treat this condition with surgery rather than force conservative treatment? this has gone on way too long, Ive taken a leave of absence from college, moved out of my apartment and live home with my parents who literally have to care for me because i'm vomiting constantly, i can barely keep liquids down. i am desperately seeking surgical intervention, this is so scary and no way to live. i want my life back. any help would be so greatly appreciated !!!!!
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It depends on if you have what they consider to be "true" SMAs or not. Also, a general surgeon is who performes SMAs, not a colorectal surgeon ((which by the way GI doctors don't even know)). This is such a rare condition and very controversial...I have seen several surgeons who wanted to resolve my other issues before addressing my SMAs and now know this is causing me problems. I haven't lost weight because of it but experience vomiting, nausea and severe pain. I have to watch my diet anyways and eat "soft foods" or liquids and have had to because of my crohns for 17 years...so maybe that's why I haven't lost weight. And from other meds like steroids...but my GI knows this is causing me pain as does my current surgeon. GI has been pushing for this surgery since I was first diagnosed...they have to measure the "angle" to determine if this is true SMAs and the angle needs to be below 18 degrees to be considered true SMAs. You should get relief from vomiting and nausea post surgery, but you can still have pain for some time. The surgery my surgeon does is a bypass surgery, not gastric bypass--but it bypasses the mesentheric artery. I have not had my surgery yet but will keep you posted. They don't want to do surgery if they don't believe it will help you...but many surgeons are honestly timid to do this surgery either way. Feel free to message me And I'm so sorry about your pain. I have to pop promethazine for nausea like tic tacs... Xx