Achalasia

Do you know what is causing the pain during the night? Is is due to acid reflux - a common problem associated with achalasia? If so, possible actions your dad can take are (based on my own experiences) -

[b:e616480873]Lose weight [/b:e616480873](any tendency towards a pot belly makes acid reflux worse)

[b:e616480873]Don't eat late at night

Don't eat spicy food

Sleep on his left side, not the right[/b:e616480873]

If all else fails he could try creating some sort of support so that he sleeps in a semi-upright position. I don't know of an operation.

The pain could well be a result of acid reflux. He should go to his GP and describe the pain before taking any advice from people here.

However, if it is acid reflux disease (GERD), there is medication (proton pump inhibitors) that his GP may be able to prescribe, which reduces the amount of acid produced by the stomach and can help cut down the occurrence of acid reflux.

Otherwise, from personal experience, I echo the advice of William. I also find that sipping water (depending on how easily you can swallow it), a hot shower or an application of heat to the place where you feel it can be effective in relieving pain. If in bed he should get up straight away because it's not something that will just go away if you ignore it. Contrary to some common advice, milk should be avoided. It's alkaline so helps neutralise acid initially, but causes the stomach to produce more acid in reaction. I find that eating banana and dried apricots as soon as I feel early signs that an 'attack' is imminent can avoid a full flare up.

Diet is very important for avoiding occurrence of acid reflux. I think the causes differ from person to person, so keeping a diary of what he eats may show some patterns. I think having the right amount of fibre is very important, to ensure the digestive system works as well as possible (apart from the obvious issue of the Achalasia); constipation, bloating or an unsettled system can increase the internal pressure of the digestive system causing acid reflux. Again that's where bananas and dried apricots come in handy.

Sleeping completely horizontally makes things worse. My bed is on blocks to lift it up slightly at the head. I also spent some time last year trying to find a memory foam wedge to sleep on which would lift me up even more. I found a very high quality wedge here: [color=orange:b3512653c9]*********** [/color:b3512653c9]. I would recommend it highly.

Again, don't just assume that it is acid reflux. It may be, but your Dad should see his GP just in case it's something else.

[color=orange:b3512653c9]

(Sorry but Patient Admin have removed either a telephone number, an email address, and or web address, from this posting, as it is the policy of Patient UK not to publish these on this forum.

If you wish to communicate directly with people, you should register, for free, with the forum (click Register in the menu list below the green banner above). You and other registered members will then be able to communicate with each other via Private Messaging (PM) or e-mail.) [/color:b3512653c9]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your Dad.

I am 43 and suffered with regular severe chest pains due to achalasia.

I had the op about 10 years ago and as I understood it, this would not alleviate those pains .... the op is aimed at alleviating the problems with swallowing food.

To combat the chest pains I carefully recorded exactly what I ate/drank and when the pains occured and how severe.

I realised that there were certain foods (in my case potato) that caused more frequent and severe pains.

I have almost erradicated potato from my diet and this has significantly reduced the frequency and severity.

Also, I ensure I always have cold water (the colder the better) at my bedside. When the pains start, a very large gulp of water helps in combatting the pain.

Hope this helps.