I continuously cough as if i'm choking whilst eating solids. I am ok with soup and yogurts but anything i start to cough sometimes i vomit what little i have eaten or it gets me down so much i give up and don't eat. My throat is now sore as i have coughed so much today and i find i feel i have a frog in my throat more. when i last saw my consultants registrar at the hospital he just said it was the muscle reacting as i don't have a stomach valve anymore. I am thinking of seeing my GP again to refer me back to the hospital as it is making me feel that i don't want to eat again! has anyone else been through the same thing?
Marg
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margie1
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I remember having this cough for quite a while after I first had surgery and my consultant said it was caused by reflux.so maybe it's the same thing for you. I would definitely see my GP over this,he may have some helpful suggestion. My cough did go away after a while.
I was given a card , when I left hospital, with the telephone numbers of the ward, and the specialist nurse. Did you get one? If so I would ring them and tell them all about it. You can go to your GP but he will probably refer you to the hospital anyway.
You'll have to wait for a GP appt. but you can ring the ward now, even on a Sunday.If you tell them you've stopped eating because of it, they will take it seriously.
I don't mean by this that it's anything to worry about, just why should you put up with the misery longer than you must!
When I first came out of hospital I frequently rang them for advise, and they were very kind.
I agree with all patchworker says. I am 3 years post op and my cough is just beginning to subside. My surgeon referred me to ENT to see if there was anything they could do, the consultant ENT said he thought it could be sensitive scar tissue, but basically I don't think they really know. My surgeon said he was learning from his patients about all the problems we are having, due to the fact we are surviving this awful disease.
Hope you get some help soon, I vomited with almost every meal due to coughing for quite some time, so although distressing try not to worry too much as getting tense can cause more problems with swallowing, I still avoid eating in public due to coughing.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel and you will get there,
thank you i feel reassured now having read your reply i think i tend to over worry when i get new symptoms. I am starting to worry now as my 6 month CT scan is due in August and i will worry even more until i get the results. I do need to try to stop worrying but finding it difficult.
Best wishes to you and hope all is well
Margxxx
Dear Margie
It is perfectly natural to worry about regular check ups. Everyone does, so you are not alone. The number for whom there is enormous relief afterwards far outweighs those were they find problems, but it ids all part of gradually and slowly regaining confidence in your body.
Do go back to the hospital about your coughing. It is probably reflux and the nerves jangling but it is very unpleasant. The other thing to bear in mind is that when most people think of reflux they think of stomach acid; it might (and this is pure speculation) might be bile that is causing you the trouble, and there are tests and medication that they can give you to combat this. Bile is an alkali and the usual PPI medication like omeprazole will not affect it. So it is always worth asking the doctors the question - could it be bile?
It will probably affect your sense of taste and other things so it is not something that has to be put up with unless they really have explored ever avenue and discounted it.
If so it is very early days.As one gradually adjusts to the new reality for most of us there is a continual spectrum of symptoms coming and going.
Although alarming these seldom indicate anything serious.
As a Mum it might help you to think back to when your Daughter was borne --didn't it take 3 even 4 years for her eating habits to form ?
If my own experience is anything to go by then a similar period of 'education' or ,more correctly,'adult re-education' was required before getting back to a new normality. Even so I still make mistakes and get a dreadful coughing fit -- and my Op was 22 years ago !
Keep experimenting to find what works.
Spoil yourself,tickle your palate with lots of little treats,whatever you fancy.
If you have just done the RFL you have the strength for anything.
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