I was 25 when I was first diagnosed with achalasia. It began with difficulty swallowing and progressed to migraine headaches. My initial doctors knew right away what was happening in my esophagus and said I would be a good candidate for a Heller Myotomy with a fundoplication wrap which is a surgery to slice the sphincter muscle and wrap it around my stomach so that the sphincter remains open to allow the passage of food. While the surgery is costly, the effects are phenominal. I was a good candidate for the Heller Myotomy with fundoplication wrap because of my age, health, and active lifestyle. After three years of passing out, loosing considerable amounts of weight (down from 120 to 80 pounds and very unhealthy) and awful migraines, a gastroenterologist began with a Botox treatment that allowed me to last for two weeks. (I was too far gone for balloon dilation.) Then, I had the surgery. This surgery saved my life. I am a certified teacher, a mother, and a survivor of achalasia. While I still have the achalasia, I can now swallow and digest food because my sphincter is permanently open. I have a whole new respect for food and healthy living!

I was 30 years old when I was diagnosed with achalasia. I had just given birth to my first child and after a few weeks I began to have trouble swallowing and thought it was related to giving birth. After I realized the weight I was losing was not just birth weight it was due to me not being able to get my food down. Once I could not even get water down I knew there was something wrong. I was tested for different reflux and gastro problems, I was given a heart medicine that relaxed my muscle to eat but that soon no longer worked and made my skin rash. Finally, I was given a balloon dilation the first one was not large enough so I was back in. It was the 3rd dilation when a larger size was used that finally relieved me. It has now been 14 years and once in a while the symptoms occur. I drink only room temperature water because cold drinks tense up my esophagus muscle. It tends to happen with certain foods so I have my water ready at all times that I eat something. It also occurs when the kids are arguing when I am eating because it tenses my esophagus muscle.

I started experiencing difficulty with swallowing about 9 years ago. I was eating a turkey sandwich and the food just got stuck in my throat. I tried swallowing water to help push the food down, but the water would come back up and I had to spit the water out. Then I would get up and walk around trying to physically move or massage the food down inside my throat. I had my esophagus stretched and I've had the 24-hour motility study done, but nothing helps. My symptoms may disappear for a few days, but they are always back. Last month, I was rushed to the ER because my food was stuck, but now I can't breathe properly when the food is stuck. There is a pain that radiates from my chest to arms and neck. It feels like a heart attack. I only felt better after I threw up about 4 times and I could breathe again. I've had a gallbladder ultrasound, and there were no gallstones. I'm waiting to find out the result of the HIDA tests where the doctors checked to see if my gallbladder is functioning or not.

I have been suffering from achalasia for two years. It started about two weeks after having my daughter. When it was triggered, I have gone days without eating or drinking anything. I went though the tests about nine months ago after being seen in the emergency room for food impaction in my esophagus. For more than a year they treated me for acid reflux, heartburn, and nausea. No one seemed to understand what I was saying. I found a great doctor at University of California, Irvine. They redid the test and recommended a Heller myotomy. I had the procedure last week. I am still in recovery with liquid diet, then pureed food, then soft foods. I am having severe heart burn about every other day, which had gone away for about eight months before the surgery.

I was diagnosed with achalasia when I was 8 or 9 years old after suffering symptoms for a couple years. It started with difficulty swallowing and progressed to regurgitation, chest pain, and eventually food coming back up through my nose at night. I had two Botox injections, which helped for a year or two then finally had the Heller myotomy. I am now 23, and my food stays down, but I absolutely depend on water to swallow anything. I frequently get chest pains, which seem to be stress-induced.