Motility test ?

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-12-2005
Motility test ?
5
Thu, 12-22-2005 - 11:24am
Hi, has anyone here had a motility test of the esaphagus? I have had swallowing problems most of my life and have had a number of tests. Apparently no definitive answers were found. Recently I was reading an article about a motility test for the esaphagus that determines various problems in the esaphagus and the appropriate treatment. It doesn't sound like a test I would enjoy - involves having that nasal tube put into your stomach, then drinking water. No one has ever mentioned this to me, maybe it is new. But it might give some helpful answers. Anyone know anything about it?
Community Leader
Registered: 10-01-2002
In reply to: pentin
Thu, 12-22-2005 - 6:36pm
Go to google and write in this and it will explain it better than
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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-06-2004
In reply to: pentin
Fri, 12-23-2005 - 7:12am


Hello there! I have GERD and my GI Doc saw erosive esophagitis on my upper endoscopy. I'm taking Protonix twice a day and prescription Pepcid at bedtime and the seconde scope showed it was healing but I'm still having random GERD attacks and general discomfort so I just recently experienced both an Esophageal Manometry and 24 hour Ph Probe and would be happy to share my experience. It was not the easiest of procedures but certainly not the worst (i.e. prepping for a colonoscopy wins the prize for that!!!LOL).

I was really fortunate that the technician that took care of me was very, very sweet and very patient otherwise it would have been worse. Before she started she explained everything to me & showed me the 2 different tubes that would be used and then during the test she kept reassuring me that I was doing good and let me know how much longer and what was next.

Unfortunately the tube for the manometry was very long and very thick and it hurt and gagged as she pushed it into my left nostril and down my throat and into my esophagus. To move it along she made me drink a big cup of water with a straw and take deep breaths. Once it was in I had to keep very still and not swallow until she told me to. She made me do some dry swallows and then for 20 minutes straight using a syringe she would squirt a little bit of water into the corner of my mouth and then make me swallow, then squirt and swallow etc. Then she pulled the tube up a little and did it for another 10 minutes and then pulled it completely out. I definitely was gagging during all of it but never felt like I couldn’t breathe. My eyes were tearing throughout the whole thing as well and I was very tense.

She gave me a few minutes to catch my breath and then she pushed in the tube for the 24 hour probe. It was narrower and not quite as long but it still gagged me going down. It was attached to a monitor which recorded the time and 2 different Ph readings. I had a form on which I had to record the time for some of the following activities: sleeping, reclining, eating, drinking, belching, heartburn, indigestion, reflux etc. The tech told me to try and eat my trigger foods if possible but just swallowing my own saliva was painful and when eating the tube sometimes pulled inside and felt scratchy. The thought of having a bad GERD attack with the damm tube in my throat was not a pretty one! I did force myself to have pepperoni pizza, ceaser salad and a Coke for lunch and you know I was so nervous worrying about what might happen that I didn’t even enjoy it as much as I used to!!! Friday morning I did force myself to have some orange juice – since I knew the end was in sight. Fortunately or unfortunately my GERD didn’t act up too badly. By the way I was told to take my meds (protonix & pepcid) as normal because the GI Doc wanted to see if I had acid breakthrough as I had complained about.

At 10:30 Friday morning I was back at the lab and the tech removed the tube.

Hopefully this isn't TMI but you asked what it was like. If needed I would do it again -I think the anticipation of never experiencing some of these procedures is worse than the test itself sometimes. Anyway as I said it wasn't that bad and if it helps you I would recommend it.

Sue

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-12-2005
In reply to: pentin
Fri, 12-23-2005 - 9:27am
Hi, thank you so much for sharing your experience. I don't know, it sounds really dreadful. At this point in life, I may choose to continue as I am unless of course that also gets to be dreadful. I have a very bad swallowing problem, drinking a whole glass of water would take hours.I refuse to even try an upper GI anymore, because the technicians have gotten angry with me because I could not do what they wanted. I appreciate the information. I do hope all of that helped with your problem. Lin
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
In reply to: pentin
Mon, 12-26-2005 - 8:45pm

Sue,


Thank you for sharing.

 
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-27-2000
In reply to: pentin
Thu, 12-29-2005 - 8:25am

Maybe it's just me, but I had this done last spring and thought it was absolutely miserable. Part of the problem, though, was I was having really bad sinus congestion, which was making it really difficult to get the tube down since my sinuses were puffed up and not happy to begin with. Once the tube's in place, it's not so horrible after that. They apparently can tell quite a bit from the test, though, so it has its place. Once it's down, they have you start swallowing small amounts and they begin with withdraw the tube bit by bit. Once it's back out you'll be a very happy camper!

 


~~joannaran~~