Question:
Strictures

What exactly are strictures and what are the symptoms?    — lesleigh07 (posted on June 27, 2009)

June 29, 2009
Hi Lesleigh...I had a stricture at 6 weeks out. It is where scar tissue forms around your stoma (the opening into your intestine), effectively blocking food from going down. I was throwing up 3 out of 5 meals. I wouldn't necessarily KNOW it wasn't going to go down until the 45 minutes later when I would try to drink. Then, the liquid would be backing up my esophagus and I'd be trying to swallow saliva and the "stuck" feeling would just get worse and worse. At first I just had to wait until my body was ready to get rid of it, but later, I was able to make myself throw it up. When you throw it up, it sometimes looks like you are throwing up foamy stuff at first (that's all the saliva you've been trying to swallow - and so therefore, some people call it "the foamies"). You aren't getting your protein and nutrition in, so you (or at least I) stopped losing weight, my body went into starvation mode and was holding on to every pound. I finally mentioned it to my PA when I went in for my 6 week checkup, and she said it sounded very much like a stricture and I should see the EGD doctor right away. I made an appointment, and they sent a tube down my throat and I did indeed have a stricture that had made the size of my stoma about an 1/8th of an inch across. They enlarged it with a balloon. The whole procedure is done on an outpatient basis, takes about 10 minutes, and they usually do it with conscious sedation. Sorry, NOT for me. I told them truthfully that I panic when someone tries to put something down my throat, and that I would certainly fight them, and asked to be put completely out. They complied without question. Now, the only thing is... I thought I might be getting another stricture back at my three month checkup, and another PA told me you rarely see strictures after 2 or 3 months, and did not encourage me to go see the EGD guy again. I still occasionally throw up, and sometimes it's the foamies... but I think these issues are mostly because I either eat too fast or too much or don't chew well enough. I hope this helps.
   — Erica Alikchihoo