Symptoms of a Stricture?

Have you had a endoscopy by a G.I doctor to confrim that you do not have a stricture? that is the only way to rule out a stricture.(also a upper G.I. test as well). If you do have a stricture it can get really bad but easily corrected by this balloon thing they place in you while you are under for the endoscopy. I had a stricture form three days out of my initital RNY surgery. It was so bad it needed to be surgically corrected to fix. There was no time for an endocsopy, then the balloon thing etc. Tavia

Hi, Kathy I'm nearly six weeks out from my RNY, and I developed a stricture a little over two weeks ago. Immediately after my surgery I had no trouble swallowing liquids whatsoever, but a couple of weeks later when I was supposed to be advancing to pureed foods, I developed difficulty even getting down the liquids. The first symptom to me was a "stuck" kind of pain a few minutes after I'd swallowed something... and it was PAINFUL... like a big rock stuck down at the base of my breastbone. Then came the "foamies" (first time I've heard that expression... kinda funny... the expression, not the foamies... ). Sometimes the pain was so severe that I'd force myself to throw up to relieve the pressure in my chest. After about a week of that, I began to develop terrible heartburn... a BIG bummer, especially since I thought the surgery was supposed to reduce or eliminate heartburn. I finally went to see my family practitioner who got me in for an upper GI that afternoon (unfortunately, my surgeon is in another state). Like you, I was not losing an excessive amount of weight and was not dehydrated. Though I'm not a medical professional, I question your surgeon's assessment. NOTE: if the UGI radiologist tries to give you those pop-rocks things that you swallow with water to make gas to expand your stomach, DON'T DO IT! The pain was excruciating! The barium wasn't nearly as bad. They found a stricture, and I had an appointment for an endoscopy with dilation the very next day. This procedure was painful for me both during and after... and my stricture was so tight that they were only able to dilate it a little, but it helped quite a bit. I still couldn't eat most pureed foods, but the liquids went down a lot easier. I had a second endoscopy week before last, and they were able to stretch the anastomosis a little more. I was immediately able to comfortably eat most soups and pureed foods and have been able to advance to some very well chewed meats (salmon, crab, shrimp, and finally some tender chicken... YAY!) I even had a couple of bites of salad yesterday... also EXTREMELY well-chewed... and they went down just fine. ANOTHER NOTE: I had terrible pain after the first endoscopy because air had been pumped into my stomach and intestine and left there. It had to work it's way out of my still tender and stressed colon! I found out at the second procedure (which was virtually painless) that this pain can be avoided if the doctor simply sucks out some of the air. I had a different gastroenterologist at the second procedure, and rest assured I will NEVER see that first doctor again! I have one more dilation scheduled for next Wednesday and that one I'm hoping be my last. Just a last thought: though the past few weeks have been extremely difficult, I'm grateful for the experience. I don't think there was any more effective way for me to UNlearn some old habits... specifically, I've learned to a) get into my thick head the size of my new stomach and guage my portions accordingly; b) take VERY small bites; and c) to savor every single bit of what I'm able to eat and chew it to oblivion! Oh... and I also found something else that works for me... I've never been a big sweet-eater, and have developed an aversion to the sweetness in protein drinks. Consequently, it's been difficult for me to get in enough protein without gagging down those drinks. Because one of my biggest goals was to learn to eat intuitively and not eat any food that that I couldn't enjoy or wasn't good for me, I really didn't want to get into the habit of eating something "just because". So now I don't. To supplement my protein, I've begun taking predigested liquid protein and it's made a huge difference for me, especially with my energy level. It's pretty gaggy, but I look at it like taking the vitamins and medicine that are now necessary. That way I get the nutrients I need, and don't have to force down foods that aren't comfortable for me to consume. Sorry for yammering on so long... haven't posted in awhile so I guess my brain had a dilated stricture, too. Good luck to you. I sympathize with your plight, and hope you get a speedy resolution. Debra

Thank you all for your replies to this question!!! My doc finally came around and did a scope on me and sure enough I had a stricture. In fact, I overheard a nurse talking to someone and it was a BAD stricture! I have had a total of three scopes now since my surgery and am hopeful this will be the end of it. I can now eat a wider variety of food and keep them down as long as I am very careful and don't eat more than 1/4 cup food at a time and eat very very slowly. I had been at a point where I could only swallow 1/4 teaspoon of water at a time and I was throwing IT back up! I have only lost 26 lbs since my surgery which was August 4,2005, so after all this stricture, pain, foamies, vomiting, weakeness, etc. etc. I am NOT a very happy camper right now. But, more weight will come off I am sure. How much it will be, who knows? After all the research I had done, I thought I was prepared for all of this, but I wasn't. Still waiting for my first WOW moment.