Off the Reglan - trouble swallowing :(

Reglan caused depression for my husband. It took him several weeks being off of it before the depression went away. He is now taking a drug called domperidone(we order from Canada not available in US) which helps in digestion as I understand it. It does not help with swallowing. The only thing that helped with swallowing was dilation. It took two weeks to set up the first dilation. It is not something the Dr. Office sets up commonly so getting thru to the scheduler what we needed done was the hardest part. His GI doctor know what to do once we got past the front desk, but that was a process. So I would recommend starting now if you think that is what he may need. Our first move was to talk to his surgeon how did some test (can’t remember what they were checking) then recommended the dilation and referred us back to the GI doctor who first diagnosed him.

Luvs24 said:

Mom convinced him!
I suggested calling but he balked at it. But then mom called to check in and suggested it too so he called. Yeay! He is getting more tired today.

UGH.

Thank you so much for your support! Hopefully he can get some relief this afternoon!

Beth

Keep calling until you get answers.
Beth,
It is hard to know when to call, but if he is having problems swallowing saliva, it’s time to call. That will not get better without some help, in my experience. Dilation is not a difficult procedure, much like having a scope from the patients’ stand point. I can only imagine it would be easier for the Dr. if things are not totally closed off, so the sooner the better in my opinion. It was very concerning and downright scary when they can’t swallow.

Take Care
Lee Ann

jim2011 said:

dilation
Another plus about doing a throat stretch (if that is what his doctor recommends), is that an expert is then also going down and checking things out and looking around. I am always glad that I did the dilation when its done. Peace of mind and really helps to be able to eat and swallow pills and water...
If you are not to freaked out about things like that then go to youtube and you can see several being done. WOW! 4 weeks out of surgery. I remember being very weak at that time.
Wish you guys the best.
Jim

agree with Jim maybe a throat stretch
Hi,
Just wanted you to know some people need stretching soon after the surgery. I did not but I know one woman who had to be stretched 25xs after her surgery and she is fine now. Could be a combination of post surgery recovery problems. I was lucky that I did not take Reglan with all of its side effects. They gave it to me and I threw up immediately so never stayed on it. Hope the drs find out what is going on with your Dad and keep at them till they give some good solid answers. take care,
Donna70

Luvs24 said:

Dehydration?
Thank you BirdieQueen for you comments. Very interesting about the Reglan. I am sure that had a lot to do with some things he has been experiencing.

At this point too I am wondering if he is dehydrated.

Thank you for the info about the Dilation. We will see what Rodiguez says, then contact the GI doc - Dr. Meredith.

We are not sure if he needs the dilation or just hydration and calories. He dropped 6 pounds in the last week.

Time to speak up
Hi there,

My husband had surgery the same time as Terry's and Erica's husband, actually just a bit before them, in two days it will be two months. My husband also had trouble with getting in calories and enough hydration. Unlike the other ladies husbands mine is doing a round of post op chemo. Once the Chemo started Jeff took a turn for the worse his body could not handle the drugs. We were started on a drug called dexamethasone, this is steroid that helps with nausea, but it also encourages appetite. He also was started on the feeding pump (which he had not used up to that point, thankfully the oncologist had refused to let him take it out). And the most important was daily hydration that we do at home through his port. The body can go for a long time without food, it can not go long without water! As soon as the hydration started he felt ten times better, the nausea stopped and his appetit returned. I am actually thankful that the Chemo made him not feel well otherwise they would have let him go on struggling. I would suggest asking for the hydration, it may help with everything else, and it sounds like he needs a dilation. Hoping you can get some answers soon.

Niki
Wife to Jeff T2N1M0
IL 9/6
Clean Path
planned 8 rounds of post op Chemo

Janet Runge said:

Jim how are you doing
JIm How is your appitite and eating. My husband is contantly not hungry and just had the dilation last week and hopefully will be eating more
Janet

Dexamethasone
Hi Janet,

My husband is in post op Chemo right now, they subscribed dexamethasone for nausea but it is a steroid so it also has the added bonus of increasing appetite. Maybe it could help

Niki

Janet Runge said:

Jim how are you doing
JIm How is your appitite and eating. My husband is contantly not hungry and just had the dilation last week and hopefully will be eating more
Janet

eating
It was tough at first after surgery. Each day got just a little bit better with some bad days mixed in but then before you know it the good days added up to a normal day or two and I could honestly say that I feel 99% some days.
The dilations really helped alot and now 7 months later I ate a nice size porterhouse and some beans for supper with zero issues. Of course no eating 3-4 hours before bedtime. I drink alot of water during the day and I also do very moderate workouts and yard and house work. Lunches and suppers are easy but I am bored with breakfasts. I can-not have milk so cereals are out.
Jim