From June to December of 2009 I had dropped from 185 pounds to 145 pounds. After removing the foods that produced the strongest response on the IgG test, my weight stabilized in the mid 150s which is where it still is today. One nice side effect of the weight loss is that my blood pressure came down. On advice from my cardiologist and primary care physician I stopped taking blood pressure meds. I've been monitoring my blood pressure and it has remained normal.
In April I saw yet another gastroenterologist, Dr. P., and had a 24-hour pH study which ruled out reflux. Dr. P. also ordered another upper endoscopy which indicated that my lower esophageal sphincter was not relaxing. This is the first time anyone suggested it could be achalasia.
The regurgitation had mostly gone away but there were still times it seemed that my throat was clenched or blocked. Eventually food or liquid would usually pass, but sometimes came back up. There were also times, particularly if I was salivating or anticipating food, I would spit out large quantities of foamy saliva. On a Friday in mid June I could no longer keep anything down. Even a swallow of water would come back up in a few minutes. 24 hours later I was in the ER for another upper endoscopy which found bits of food sitting in my esophagus, blocking other food from passing. The doctor who supervised the upper endoscopy speculated that the food had been there for days or weeks. The food was removed and since then I've been on a full liquid/soft food diet. I started working with another gastrointestinal doctor, Dr. K., who ordered my second esophageal manometry. The results of that test indicated that my lower esophageal sphincter was not relaxing enough and that my throat was not contracting in a way that would effectively move food. Now I had the diagnosis of achalasia.
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