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3/17/12 9:35 A

I had esophageal spasms and stricture. The spasms did feel like a heart attack. Years of reflux burned out the bottom of my esophagus which caused scar tissue and the stricture. I have been dilated (stretched) twice over the years which has helped a lot. Good luck!

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3/13/12 12:00 P

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3/13/12 8:50 A

Could be. If you're having trouble with it, it's worth mentioning to at least your primary doc to determine if you should see a GI doc.I think I let it go too long, thinking it was just the way things were going to be (any kind of chronic condition can certainly get you to that mindset). The thing that finally got me to go to the doc (urgent care, actually!) was having two episodes at night of waking up, thinking I was having a heart attack (crushing chest pain, radiated through my body to my shoulder blades - so scary) - after MANY heart tests and an overnight in the hospital, they declared my heart just fine, and said see a GI for "indigestion". Although that was clearly NOT the right diagnosis, at least it got me to go in to get it checked out.

The stretching is usually done for a specific kind of esophageal spasm, achalasia. It can increase acid reflux, though, so it's not a miracle cure. How did you sis do after she had that done?

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3/12/12 11:24 P

my esophagus has been giving me lots trouble maybe thats what mine is my sis has fibro and a bno thyroid had cancer she had to get hers stretched

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3/12/12 4:52 P

Hi, all - SO cool that there's a board for us here!

I'm Katie, age 44 (today - woot woot - survived another year!). I've been diagnosed w/fibro for a few years (3ish?), and it was such a relief to give my "issues" a name. I have a pretty good rheumatologist, and I'm currently on amitriptyline 50mg, which seems to be working for the most part (i.e. I'm functional almost every day, and my flares don't last as long - not running marathons, but getting in some activity/exercise).

I have some additional medical things (don't most of us?) - my biggest annoyance is diffuse esophageal spasms (DES) - I get a charley horse in my esophagus when I eat or drink, several times a day, and can't always swallow or get what I've already swallowed to go into my actual stomach. I've been diagnosed with that fun for about a year and a half -- I'd be VERY curious to hear from any other fibro folks with esophagus problems, as I'm still trying to figure out if they're related to the fibro or my lap band or both or neither. As a result of this condition, I'm on lots of acid suppressors and nitrates, but fortunately amitriptyline is rx'ed for both conditions.

I have 2 lovely daughters, 14 and 16, and a great hubby for support. They're all very understanding, but I know these conditions wear on them sometimes almost as much as they wear on me. There are times when groceries do not magically appear on a set schedule - if it's too much to do that day for me, it's too much.

I'm working on losing weight right now to hopefully improve both conditions. For fibro, it'll reduce the bulk I have to haul around, so I'm hoping for more energy. For the DES, it should reduce my intra-abdominal pressure and hopefully reduce the frequency of the spasms (please please please!).

Anyway, I'm overall a very optimistic person, although these conditions do erode my sunniness on occasion - I know chronic stuff can really drag us down. I'd love to hear from anyone about either topic, the types of exercises you find work best, etc. We're all together in this!

All the best,
Katie