← Return to Yet Undiagnosed Serious G.I. Disorder after Bariatric Surgery

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Have you been to a Motility Specialist yet? I was having serious GI problems as well but my colon wasn’t moving at all . I would go for weeks with no BM but horrible pain, nausea, vomiting and the odd thing was I felt something was getting stuck in the middle of my esophagus every time I ate so I was afraid to eat or even drink anything! But my other symptoms came later in the middle of the night I would wake up with chest pains and feeling like I was choking or having a heart attack it was so scary at the time! I was sent to specialist after specialist first a visit with my primary care did nothing but prescribed acid reflux medications and sent me on my way ! Well I ended up in the ER with severe chest pains, choking, nausea, vomiting again did the usual tests blood work CT Scan , Urine tests nothing I was getting more and more frustrated! After several ER trips for all my symptoms they started referring me to different specialists Cardiologist,Pulmonologist,Neurologist, Neuropsychology,Rheumatologist, GI Specialist, Sleep Medicine Doctor, Gynecology, I was checked for everything imaginable! They finally sent me to a Motility Specialist had a swallow test done got choked instantly then they said oh we are looking at something so rare here we need more diagnostic testing so ordered a gastric emptying test it was abnormal so they ordered another test where you have a tube inserted up your nose and you where a computer monitor on your hip and every time you had to cough, vomit, burp, belch , stomach pain, choke or have chest pains you had to press a button. Lol it turns out that I was pressing it so much with all my symptoms they thought it had malfunctioned! Little did I know that this was the beginning to finding out what I had for many years! When they downloaded the data they were shocked to see what was causing my symptoms! It’s called LPR Larophaningo Reflux Disease which is the deadliest form of acid reflux because with all my symptoms I could have died in my sleep! After this diagnosis they sent me for one last test to see what was causing my choking as well. They did a test in the motility clinic called high resonance manometry test where they have you swallow a cup of liquid really slow then really fast like 20 times! Of course I threw up the liquid every time then they put a copper looking tube up your nose then have you swallow more liquid again while they take pictures on the monitor and watch what happens to your esophagus when you swallow, the tech that was doing the test felt so sorry for me because I was so sick during this test and when she finally saw the images of what was happening every time I swallowed, she was blown away she said oh you poor dear no wonder you have been so sick your LES ( Lower Esophageal Sphincter ) is not working properly ! I said what do you mean? She said that I had a very high rate of contractions in my lower esophagus and that everything that I was eating was being pushed back up at a very high speed! Of course I didn’t understand fully what all that meant! I waited for my test results and it came back as a rare disorder of the esophagus called Jackhammer Esophagus which was the cause of all my symptoms! Finally a diagnosis I was relieved but also scared to know that the only cure is surgery for this! 2 weeks after I was diagnosed I went in for surgery that repaired my LES also they did a Nissen Dysplundification which took care of my severe acid reflux disease LPR as well ! My surgery was a year ago and I have no symptoms now! My advice is this, never stop being persistent with finding a diagnosis! I had mine since I was a child and was probably born with it so don’t give up trying to get an answer! I know this was a long post but hopefully if someone else is having this issue maybe it can help? Good luck!

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Replies to "Have you been to a Motility Specialist yet? I was having serious GI problems as well..."

@dsoots My goodness!!! You have really been through a lot!! I’m so glad that you’re doing better!!