When do I insist on seeing the gastric doctors at hospital again.

[GaynorH]

I wrote in here before about the various medications the GP is prescribing to help with the violent spasms after food getting stuck. I now have domperidone added to the mix of imipramine, amitriptyline pregabalin, ranitidine omeprazole, dapagliflozin, metformin,levothyroxin, and atorvostatin, chlorphenamine, paracetamol and codeine. The spasms haven't stopped by the way, and now I am choking on food, and I think my last choking episode where I passed out I inhaled something and have a chest infection building up. It took a year for the results of the manometry? and was just told I have dysphagia and medicinal recommendations for the GP. Tonight I feel rough, tomorrow I think an emergency appt at doctors. Any advice for digging my heels in and asking for more tests?

[patchworker]

Is it not possible to see a different GP? Maybe another partner in the practise? Some Doctors seem to have a blind spot about some problems. I think you need a fresh pair of eyes to look at your problem.

[Mark4]

You are taking a lot of drugs and I wonder if that regime needs to be reviewed by a gastroenterologist- immediately. Clearly the drugs do not work which raises the question of why they are being taken, and maybe diet is something you need to look at?

[Hidden]

If your spasms occur when or after food gets stuck, it does suggest that this might be the cause of the spasms. So I wonder whether the emphasis should not be on investigating how to stop the blockage. If you have had an endoscopy, manometry and a barium swallow test it should be possible to diagnose whether or not you are suffering from achalasia.

I have no real idea about the effectiveness of the medications you mention except to think that it is an awful lot, and that the medication route may have been tried to no avail, and that now you need to consult an experienced surgeon at a specialist centre.

So I think I would ask for a second (specialist) opinion and suggest to the GP that you are considering stopping all the medication and asking their advice before doing so, in case there are some that you should really continue with because of other issues.

[GaynorH in reply to Hidden]

thank you, will see GP this evening