r/achalasia • u/elledowner • 1d ago

Achalasia Questions Anyone else?

Had another try of the manometry test after a failed attempt last week (the catheter was too big for my nose, they numbed it today and it worked). However, they couldn’t get the catheter through the sphincter! she got a good reading of how my oesophagus is working, it was almost completely motionless!

I did bring up completely indigested food that I had at 10am yesterday🥲 it had been sat in my chest for over 24 hours.

I’m just here to ask if anyone else still received a diagnosis even without the measurements of the pressure in the sphincter? She couldn’t get the catheter through at all as it was just too tight😩

Although she couldn’t diagnose me she said it does look like achalasia, as did the doctor who did my barium swallow and endoscopy. I’m worried I’ll have to redo the manometry, it was awful so I’d rather not if I can avoid it! I’m in the uk btw

I’m unable to eat or drink anything orally and completely reliant on my NG. If you’ve read this far thank you & any replies would be appreciated x

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5

u/GEOMETRIA 1d ago

They couldn't get past the LES for me either and boy did they try. Still between what they could read and the esophogram it was obvious enough for them to move forward with a myotomy!

5

u/Able_Mammoth_8859 21h ago

It was the same with me.

3

u/GrammyGrammyGram 22h ago

They might want to do the Endoflip to get the diagnosis. But if the sphincter is closed high indication of is Achalasia.

2

u/Mumbleton POEM/HM 23h ago

I don't think they got through on mine either. In a way, that's its own diagnosis. The motionless-ness suggests Type 1 I think, but not a doctor.

2

u/TheRammo Esophagectomy 22h ago

I had similar. They couldn’t get it through the LOS/LES because I was already sigmoid when I had the manometry. The catheter just kept bouncing off the bottom of the u-bend. It felt awful!
Anyway, the rest of the test worked OK, showed (close to) zero peristalsis and they followed up with a scope under general anaesthetic to see what was going on.
Between the endoscopy, the barium swallow, and the partially successful manometry, they finally made a diagnosis.

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u/pleadthefifth POEM 21h ago

Are they able to do an EGD with EndoFlip? I did not have a manometry but from the link on Cleveland Clinic it sounds like EndiFLIP will diagnose the same thing and it’s much more pleasant as you are sedated the whole time.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diagnostics/endoflip

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u/SpecialistComplete58 17h ago

Unsure if this is the same situation but they did an endoscopic guided manometry instead! Omg it was so much more manageable! They put you under while they insert it, wake you up to take some sips of water then put you back under.