Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
911669 tn?1294099188

Stretching of strictured esophagus and hiatal hernia...

Hi everyone,

I had been having a lot of trouble swallowing the last few months.  It got to the point that I was having gurgling sounds in my throat even with liquids and my own secretions.  Food had become very difficult.

I went to the GI doctor.  Thursday I had EGD, which showed immediately strictures upon entering.  He had to stretch my esophagus several times and then found I also have a Hiatal Hernia as well.  This had been putting extreme pressure on my diaphragm/stomach for awhile I think.  Lying down after eating always made it better.

So now, I will have to live with episodic esophageal dilatations in the future.  It was absolutely no fun and it has taken me about 4 days for the inflammation to go down in my throat.  I will also have to stay on OTC Prilosec in the future.

My question is who with MS has had this as well?  

The esophageal spasms must play a role into the narrowing of the esophagus is what I am assuming.

I hope in January my neurologist will use this information to diagnose what stage of MS I do have.

thanks...

Terri
13 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
Avatar universal
I, too have MS, initial symptoms included esophageal spasms which have been controlled over the last 12 years with nexium. Recently upper GI series showed a muscle on one side does not move at all, so I choke a lot. Sometimes that side feels as if it has shrunk and even the smallest pill gets stuck, then that makes it incredibly sore for weeks.  By the time my dr. appt rolls around, it disappears. I just spent 6 days in hospital getting IV cortisone to stop a flare that has been wrecking havoc on my blood pressure, causing it to plummet so fast I hit the floor. Now I have a pain in the lower right abdomen that is really sore, and puffy.  I'm thinking hernia, because of the lifting I've been doing, but have 10 days to my neuro appt.  So I definitely think hernias can be caused by MS. After all every muscle that is controlled by nerves can have a lesion on it- it's not always in the brain.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Please post by starting a new question.  This post is several years old and many people would not scroll down to the bottom of the list to find your request.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
hi there my name is Teri...! i have a small hiatal hernia and am being diagnosed for MS...I think it is a symptom have you found out any more definate answers about this...interested and impatient and frustrated!
Teri G
Helpful - 0
294425 tn?1288528395
Hi Terri...

I had the same thing around a year ago.  I had gradually noticed I was having trouble swallowing, but didn't finally go to the doctor till I was having trouble with things like mashed potatoes and scrambled eggs - then I KNEW something was up, lol.  I was also having ALOT of stomach pain.

Went to the GI doc and he did the EGD.  It showed 3 ulcers and an esophageal stricture that I had to have dilated also.  Not fun at all.  I had alot of discomfort afterward, which seemed to surprise the doctor - go figure.  I'm kind of relieved to hear that you had pain afterward too - I was thinking it was just me!  I called the office on the 2nd day after the dilation and he prescribed me a concoction of Maalox and lidocaine, which tasted disgusting but helped with the pain.

He said I had acid reflux, which I've never had a problem with in my life, and put me on Zegerid.  He also did a gastric emptying test, and it turns out my stomach no longer wants to empty on it's own.  Mine literally took double the upper normal time to empty - the GI doc said he's only ever seen a couple cases that were worse than mine.  The delay in emptying was causing the acid to hang around in there.  That in turn caused the ulcers and then irritated the end of the esophagus, causing it to scar and narrow.  I also had a small bowel test, and it seems that portions of that are no longer working as well.

We ruled out all other causes, so it seems the MS has now affected my digestive system.  My neuro said it's not common, but it does happen.  Then we both laughed, cause I never do things the "normal" way anyway, lol.  Leave it to me to get the weird stuff... ;-)  

So now I also have to take Reglan to make my stomach empty.  I'm not thrilled about it, because Reglan has some potentially nasty side effects of it's own, (it has a black box warning), but I'm kinda between a rock and a hard place.  There isn't much available to treat the problem, but you kind of have to have your stomach empty.  I was still having stomach pain, so the GI guy recently increased the Reglan dose, and that does seem to help.  I take as little as possible to still get the job done.

Have they checked your gastric emptying time at all?  I do not have a hiatal hernia, so I don't know if maybe that could be causing the problems for you.  I just wanted you to know you're not the only one.  If you have any other questions or anything, feel free to PM if you'd like.  Talk to ya later....

Rita

Helpful - 0
911669 tn?1294099188
THESE ARE (LINKS) regarding dysphagia, strictures, etc.


http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003115.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/difficulty-swallowing/DS00523/DSECTION=causes
http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec02/ch012/ch012b.html#tb012_1_title
Helpful - 0
645390 tn?1338555377
Hi Terri,

My mom had this issue as well. Had the dilation a couple of times, for swallowing issues and a hiatel hernia.

I don't think it helped her all that much(sorry), but then again she stopped following up with any docs. She was also on GERD meds.  I "think" she had MS(probably 99% sure, but I am no doc, but she again stopped going to docs. She had enough of the medical procedures at that time.

I hope you feel better,
Michelle
Helpful - 0
911669 tn?1294099188
Good morning all,

Thanks for the replies....

Ess, I hope you stay on your same path and do not have to be dilated for a long while...it is no fun....  Ess, I agree with what you are saying.  I have thought about the whole "benign MS thing" and I now truly want neuro to say is that I have secondary progressive, which I know is my stage.  Now with this actual visible finding/documentation, I hope that in January he will step up, so that I can get something disease-modifying.  

Linda, hello... I do not know if we have ever talked.  Sorry to hear about your swallowing problems as well.  Over the past several years, I have had lots of problems with swallowing due to spasms that is for sure.  This time with not being able to swallow food or liquids, I knew there was a problem and glad that I went to the GI.

I have found some interesting links that I will be posting sometime this morning as far as pathophysiologic findings on difficulty swallowing, strictures etc.

Terri
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi.. I had trouble swallowing ...food was very difficult, it would get stuck and  if I tried to drink water  to push it down it would gurgle and I would start to choke untill it moved down or  it would come back up slowly.I had to buy the health master to get me through those few months...I had smoothies and soup...even that would get stuck..but at least it didnt feel  as bad as solid food.


They found a small  Hiatal Hernia..which the doctor says is to small to cause any problems...the swallow test came back good too.  I am on Prilosec..I take one each day..but never noticed any reflux symptoms??

The GI doctor thinks the reflux is causing the ms to act up amd cause esophageal spasms ....I found out I have ms in July..The same time my esophageal spasms showed up...  

I have been feeling much better and have been able to eat solid food again..but there are days when I feel it acting up and I watch what I eat ...


Love&Light, Linda
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
If your doc believes this problem is related to MS, that might move him to get off his keister and give you a real diagnosis. As you may know, I have no use for 'benign' as it applies to MS. We've discussed this many times here.

Anyway, you have nothing to lose by getting tested by the speech pathologist. I had that done. It was painless and quite interesting. They have you swallow bits of stuff in liquid to solid form, and use imaging (flouroscopy?) to watch the stuff go down. You can watch as well. Mine bounced around at the bottom several times before making it through the sphincter to the stomach, thus indicating the stricture. On that day I wasn't having trouble with pain, which I personally am convinced came from the muscles in the esophagus malfunctioning and spasming, so nothing of that sort showed.

Speech pathologists are very knowledgeable about the whole eating process, and can produce good reports for your doctor. The issue of whether MS is at the basis of problems is not one they'll get into. Doctors disagree on this one.

Good luck,
ess
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have had an esophageal stricture for the past couple of years at least. Had esophagus dilated once and the GI doc wants to do it again but things seem fine right now, so I'm letting sleeping dogs lie.

Never have had swallowing problems, but have experienced great pain once past that point. Not at all recently, though. I also have industrial strength GERD, but am virtually 100% helped by prescription generic prilosec once a day.

FWIW, the GI doc says none of this is related to MS. Go figure.

ess
Helpful - 0
911669 tn?1294099188
Hi Ess,

Sorry to hear that you have this as well.  It can be very painful when the food goes down as well.

As soon as I got home from the procedure, I started vomiting about 5-6 times what looked to be old dark red blood clots, basically black material, which was terrible.  If it would have been bright red, I would have know to go to the hospital.

I told my GI doctor that my last relapse at the end of summer, I almost could not swallow "at all."  My neuro sent me to the ER because of it and he wanted me to have a "speech pathologist" look at me, but at the time I refused because I didn't know why he wanted that.

Ess, when I go back to my neuro, do you think he might possibly use this towards giving me the stage of MS I have, instead of saying, benign MS?

thanks..
tjj
Helpful - 0
911669 tn?1294099188
Hi and thanks for writing....

Sorry to hear your mother had this as well with Sjogren's.  Not being able to swallow and eat is very aggravating.  When the gurgling sounds started in my throat, I knew something was wrong and that is why I went.

I did find somewhere on the internet, still researching, that there is an association with autoimmune diseases and the stricturing of the esophagus.  The body certainly comes up with strange things, doesn't it.

Well take care of yourself...

terri
Helpful - 0
279234 tn?1363105249
Hi,

My mother has this issue, but she doesn't have MS, but does have Sjogren's Syndrome.

I think on the pamphlet that they gave her from the GI doctor about narrowing of the esophagus, they aren't sure what causes this. It's just one of those weird unexplainable things.

She has to go in every so often to the GI doctor & have the condition rechecked to see if it narrowing again. She also has a peptic ulcer which acts up as well. She has several GI upper and lower digestive issues complicated by her Sjogren's disease.

I hope that the surgery was a success for you. I know that when my mother had it, she no longer choked on food and had the swallowing difficultly she had before.

Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Multiple Sclerosis Community

Top Neurology Answerers
987762 tn?1671273328
Australia
5265383 tn?1669040108
ON
1756321 tn?1547095325
Queensland, Australia
1780921 tn?1499301793
Queen Creek, AZ
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Find out how beta-blocker eye drops show promising results for acute migraine relief.
In this special Missouri Medicine report, doctors examine advances in diagnosis and treatment of this devastating and costly neurodegenerative disease.
Here are 12 simple – and fun! – ways to boost your brainpower.
Discover some of the causes of dizziness and how to treat it.
Discover the common causes of headaches and how to treat headache pain.
Two of the largest studies on Alzheimer’s have yielded new clues about the disease