A British woman suffers from a rare condition that makes her vomit at least 60 times a day and she must stand up while eating and drinking anything or risk choking to death.
Elise Baynard said she was diagnosed with achalasia, a swallowing condition that affects the esophagus. Since the nerves get damaged, it makes it hard for the muscles of the esophagus to squeeze food and liquid into the stomach, collecting it in the tube—sometimes fermenting and washing it back up into the mouth. For the 25-year-old, it is practically impossible to eat or drink anything normally, and Elise says she finds herself regurgitating food or being sick all the time.
According to Elise, it all started in 2020, when she suddenly struggled to swallow and felt a tight pressure in her chest. Her doctors suggested it was acid reflux and prescribed her medication; however, her issues kept on getting worse.
Elise struggled to eat her favourite foods like bread and pasta as it all came out in vomiting.
And so, a year later, further tests revealed her condition after she lost a lot of weight and had a limited diet—mainly consuming cereal soaked in milk and crisps. “I can’t sit down when I eat; I have to stand up, so the food actually goes down. One side effect is an oesophageal spasm—pain in my jaw, neck, and back—which literally feels like having a heart attack. Some days I’m left sobbing on the floor in pain,” she told The Sun.
