Anyone had esophagus dilation?

Hi @anissa06, and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect! It must be a relief to have this procedure in your rearview mirror, but now frustrating not to be able to eat how expected.

I have not had this procedure but plenty others. I think surgeons have the perspective of when risks from surgery are over vs patients having a perspective of when the discomfort will end. I have read that after an esophagus dilation procedure you shouldn’t go back to normal eating and drinking until anesthetic has fully worn off. I wonder if this is what you GI doctor was thinking we he said you could return to your normal diet after 24 hours. “Because the anesthetic inhibits normal swallowing functions, fluids should be withheld until the anesthetic has worn off. This is to keep liquid from going into your lungs instead of your stomach.”

It goes on to say “You will likely also have a mild sore throat for several days after the procedure.” Uhg!

Are you able to swallow, able to drink or eat soft food?

Thank you for your response. Yes, it’s very frustrating. I’m mostly on a liquid/soft diet such as boost, yogurt, pudding, and had some mash potatoes yesterday.
But still an odd sensation when I eat.

I had this procedure done and, yes, with some slight throat soreness because of it. It does go away after a day or two, but if it’s still presents a problem for you then contact your doctor.

I had two esophageal dilations done so far this year, three months apart. I had a slight sore throat for a day but could go back to regular diet after 24 hours. The issue for me is the reason why I had dilation in the first place.
I still have to eat and chew carefully because I still have trouble swallowing, I guess I just have to live with that. There is always some discomfort when I eat and dilations did not solve the problem.

I had my esophagus dilated approx 8yrs ago and did not have any discomfort afterwards.Maybe your esophagus was in worse condition than mine but it should feel more comfortable shortly.

Thank you for your response. If you don’t mind me asking, what was your regular diet after 24 hours consist of.

Thank you for your response. Were you able to return to regular diet like not soft food within 24 hours?

Thank you so much for your response. Yes will do that.

I was able to eat immediately afterwards as I had toast after the sedation wore off.Just take it easy for a while and eat slowly and you should be ok.If soreness persists then I would visit doctor.

Oh wow, great. Will do. Thx again. 🙏🏼