I am just wondering how much dicomfort is involved. I know what the information sheet says but would like to hear from anyone with first hand experience.
Been there done a lot of that. I was in a clinical trial for a Medtronic device called Gatekeeper (for reflux). I got implants and everything. Had, like, 4 or 5 pH probes and nasal-gastro manometry. Not bad…just that feeling like you have a piece of food stuck inthe back of your throat that you need to swallow, but can’t.
Kind of uncomfortable when they yank it. They tell you to cough…do it. Otherwise you get that disturbing feeling of pulling something out of your nose…from your toes.
Thanks- can you drive after the procedure?
Minor discomfort as the tube goes in. It made my eyes water bad enough that tears ran down my face - but it wasn’t painful, it just irritates the nasal cavity as they put it in.
While it was in, it annoyed the hell out of me and I was so glad to have it removed - but it was never painful and I drove myself to and from the procedure to put it in and remove it.
Thanks- I may need a drink as my eyes water at the thought.
Oh yes, that was fun.
For me, the worst part was getting it down as I have a wildly hyperactive gag reflex. After several attempts, I asked if they had any Cetacaine. A quick squirt later, the sensors were in.
No issues with driving - you don’t get sedated for this.
Are you in consideration for a fundoplication?
Yes- had one about 25 years ago and it seems it may need redoing.
I was out for the upper GI (Propofol, ask for it by name). So I have no recollection of the insertion…only the removal. I could not drive home since I had been under general anesthetic.
I’ve got a bad feeling about this…
Well, I had the oesophogeal motility stduy this morning- that was pretty unpleasant, like a pencil shoved in your throat. I could not have undertaken it with a hangover.
I am undergoing the oesophageal ph sudies now- I have had the wire in for about 8 hours and it is not too bad although the recording device does get in the way.
Tomorrow it is all over.
Yeah, not too bad, but annoying. I was damn glad when they finally took it out.
Well I have eosinophilic Esophagitis and need a fundoplication.
I’m told that normally these are not terribly difficult - I know that many hospitals will do them laproscopically (sp). Mine went bad, but I was born with an esophagus that was too short. Anyway, good luck with yours!
I had mine immediately after an upper GI. They knocked me out for the GI scope and I woke up with the tube in my nose/throat. It wasn’t all that bad, the tech and I had a good time passing jokes and stuff and it was over before I knew it with nothing more for my troubles than a mild sore throat.
As a result I got the mighty fundoplication (hooray for the laproscope!) and the GERD was gone just like that. Any discomfort I felt from the tests & surgury were more than a bargain for the discomfort I got rid of. And the fundplication wasn’t all that bad either. I was up and walking within a couple hours of waking up, and on my way out the door a few minutes later.
It can be unpleasant, sure, but considering what you’re getting rid of…bliss.
I had a laparoscopic fundoplication about seven or eight years ago.
The worst part about the procedure was the ache in my shoulders - a side-effect of the nitrogen gas used to inflate your belly so they can see what they’re doing in there. Mine was done late-afternoon, and the next morning, I was chasing the doctor down the hall and begging to go home. (Why do hospitals have to be such noisy and un-restful places?!)
Do not try to “push it” with regards to getting back to solid foods. If they say “Eat nothing that can’t be sucked through a straw for two weeks,” they mean it. The top end of your stomach will be quite annoyed at you, and it will not let solids pass. Eventually, your body will realize that something’s been sitting there for too long, and it will be ejected. Even now, I still need to be careful not to swallow too much at once. Dry foods or foods that will hold a shape on the way down such as plain bread or a mouthful of rice are especially tricky.
Overall, the most striking thing was going from needing to carry rolls of antacid tablets in my pockets at all times, chugging bottles of antacid at work and keeping bottles of antacid bedside to not needing them at all overnight. I wound up throwing them all away a couple months later when I realized that I no longer needed the stuff.
Thanks. However, due to a highly selective vagotomy many years ago it seems a laparascopy is out. Hopefully that is not the case but I will be prepared for the worst. Today has not been good.
Anf fundoplication it is. Another endoscopy in two days time to see the lay of the ground.
Sweet. Dunno how it’ll be without the laproscope, but you will feel a lot better when it’s all over.
Oh, and don’t go out the day after you’re out of the hospital and get so drunk that you puke. My doc was telling me about a patient of hers who did this and ended up ruining all her hard work. Had to redo the surgury.
And it takes a while (like a year or so) to learn how to burp.
Thanks. Hopefully I will never get that drunk anyway but I think it will be the last thing on my mind.