Muriel Gray
Author, broadcaster and businesswoman. Born in East Kilbride, the daughter of a merchant seaman. Educated at the Glasgow School of Art, Muriel went on to become Assistant Head of Design in the National Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh. She also followed a secondary career as a member of the rock group The Von Trapp Family and it was this which led to her appearing as a presenter on the Channel 4 television series .
With her trademark bleached hair, sharp wit and opinionated comment, Muriel became familar as the post-punk presenter of a range of television programmes, including The Media Show (1987-9). She started her own television production company, Gallus Besom in 1989, and this was responsible for her shows Art is dead, Long Live TV (1991) which engendered a popularist view of modern art and The Munro Show (1991) which saw her climbing the mountains of Scotland. Her company Ideal World is now the biggest TV production company in Scotland. Known for her strongly held views, she writes regularly for various newspapers and became the first female Rector of the (1988-91).
By the late 1990s, Muriel had re-invented herself as a mother and successful horror-writer, with books including The Tickster (1995), Furnace (1997) and The Ancient (2001). A mother of three, her middle child suffered severe brain-damage following a drowning accident in a neighbour's pond while in the care of a nanny. Thereafter, she has devoted herself to full-time motherhood, followed by part-time writing once the children are in bed!
Please tell Muriel she is not alone. I have exactly the same oesophagal (?) affliction and have had it for many years. Its a type of hiatus hernia where the muscle (sphincter) in the oesophogus closes so food can't pass down. My understanding is that this is because of excess stomach acidity. The acid travels up the oesophagus and begins to digest the food before it reaches the stomach. The muscle 'gets confused' (if such a thing is possible) and closes as it would when you are digesting food normally in the stomach. As she says, the difficulty is making the muscle open again. Often its only after some mouthfuls (usually large ones in my case) that you realise it has happened and yes, I too have had some very embarrassing experiences in restaurant toliets!! I too hold my breath - but as she knows, this means that saliva gathers in your mouth and if you are still at the table, you can't speak and begin to panic in case of some massive embarrassment. I find that even when it has cleared, it can start again during the same meal!! It spoilt many meals. I found it was happening virtually every time I ate as well as excess acidity travelling up the aeosophagus at night (very unpleasant) . I had a barium meal where I could actually see the process happening live on the x-ray and am now on drugs (Omeprazole) to stop excess acid production. They are brilliant and completely solve the problem. If it doesn't happen often she can probably put up with it but if not it can be relieved.
Complain about this postI hope that helps!!
Clare
Please tell Muriel she is not alone. I have exactly the same oesophagal (?) affliction and have had it for many years. Its a type of hiatus hernia where the muscle (sphincter) in the oesophogus closes so food can't pass down. My understanding is that this is because of excess stomach acidity. The acid travels up the oesophagus and begins to digest the food before it reaches the stomach. The muscle 'gets confused' (if such a thing is possible) and closes as it would when you are digesting food normally in the stomach. As she says, the difficulty is making the muscle open again. Often its only after some mouthfuls (usually large ones in my case) that you realise it has happened and yes, I too have had some very embarrassing experiences in restaurant toliets!! I too hold my breath - but as she knows, this means that saliva gathers in your mouth and if you are still at the table, you can't speak and begin to panic in case of some massive embarrassment. I find that even when it has cleared, it can start again during the same meal!! It spoilt many meals. I found it was happening virtually every time I ate as well as excess acidity travelling up the aeosophagus at night (very unpleasant) . I had a barium meal where I could actually see the process happening live on the x-ray and am now on drugs (Omeprazole) to stop excess acid production. They are brilliant and completely solve the problem. If it doesn't happen often she can probably put up with it but if not it can be relieved.
Complain about this postI hope that helps!!
Clare
Muriel might have the same condition as myself. It's called 'Achalasia'. Achalasia is a rare disorder of the esophagus. The esophagus is less able to move food toward the stomach, and the muscle from the esophagus to the stomach does not relax as much as it needs to during swallowing. This relaxation is needed to allow food to enter the stomach.
Symptoms can be, stuck food, frothing like a mad dog, etc. I'm sure you'll read more on the internet.
Talk to your doctor and discuss having a manometry test. This measures the pressure all the way down your throat.
As Clare mentions, PPI drugs can help to reduce the acid, but if it's Achalasia you may need a little help with a balloon inflated to stretch the muscle to allow gravity to assist your eating, there are other options available but ask the experts.
Happy for Muriel, or anyone else with this conditon, to email me if she wants to discuss, as this is a rare and unusual condition.
I hope this info helps too.
Complain about this postAlan
Hi...
This POST needs fixed. I just posted a message for Muriel about Achalisia and instead of seeing it displayed, CLare Furlonger's message is posted twice. Can you fix this message board. Let me know by email if I need to re-type it as I think it is important information for Muriel and for the other readers.
Alan.
Complain about this postI had exactly the same symptoms as Muriel, and they were associated with a hiatus hernia, and they were completely cured by a daily dose of 20mg of Omeprazole. MAGIC
Complain about this postArtist/Band: Laine Frankie
Lyrics for Song: Cool Water
Lyrics for Album: The Best of Frankie Laine
All day I've faced the barren waste,
Without the taste of water:
Cool water. (Water.)
Old Dan and I, with throats burned dry,
An' souls that cry for water: (Water.)
Cool, (Water.)
Clear, (Water.)
Water. (Water.)
Keep a-movin, Dan,
Don't you listen to him, Dan,
He's the devil, not a man:
Spreads the burning sand with water. (Water.)
Dan, can you see that big, green tree, (Water.)
Where the water's runnin' free? (Water.)
It's waitin' there for me and you? (Water.)
The nights are cool, I'm a fool.
Each star's a pool of water.
Cool water. (Water.)
But with the dawn I'll wake and yawn,
And carry on to water. (Water.)
Water, (Water.)
Water, (Water.)
Water, (Water.)
Keep a-movin, Dan,
Don't you listen to him, Dan,
He's the devil, not a man:
Spreads the burning sand with water. (Water.)
Dan, can you see that big, green tree, (Water.)
Where the water's runnin' free? (Water.)
Waitin' there for me and you?
Cool, (Water.)
Clear, (Water.)
Water. (Water.)
Cool, (Water.)
Complain about this postClear, (Water.)
Water. (Cool, clear, water.)
Much as I enjoy Muriel's 'opinions' she does go on a bit doesn't she, so I giggled at the thought of her being silenced at social gatherings by her oesophageal spasms. The other guests would be glad of the chance to get a word in edgeways
Complain about this postThe song Muriel asked about is on an LP called "At Western Campfires" by the Sons of the Purple Sage.
Other tracks are "Tumblin' Tumblweed", "Streets of Laredo", "Riders in the Sky".
My brother loved it and played it endlessly!!!
Complain about this postI was really interested to hear your throat problem I have had the same experience periodically over the last 4/5 years. Your throat shuts off, and the harder you try to breath the worse it seems to get I had a bad experience at Christmas.
I also heard a colleagues' uncle has had a similar experience and went to hospital the young doctor said he had only experienced this problem when in the operating theatre giving aneasthetic some patients throat seizes up and they have to wait until it relazes before they can insert the air way tube, he couldnt give any advice on how to deal with it when it happens.
There must be an answer/ advice out there somewhere.
Regards
Moira Coleman
Complain about this postre Muriel Gray's Gastric Problem. What she was describing and the reaction that her family have to her plight at the meal table can only lead me to conclude that she is a fellow sufferer of a congenital condition called Schatzki's Ring. It is a narrowing of the oesophagus as it connects to the stomach.Schatzki's ring is the sphincter that controls the passage of food into the stomach. When I suffer with it, it causes excruciating oesophageal discomfort which is called oesophageal dysmotility. I've had it since I was a child but didn't know definitely until I was diagnosed via a barium swallow. I subsequently had a gastroscopy and had my oesophagus streched (It didn't really work). I could go on ....... If you haven't been told this already i am happy to commiserate at any time and compare symptoms.
Complain about this postYours (and otherwise healthy) David Jago
I also suffer from Muriel's complaint but I'm not sure its either of the two conditions described above.
Mine seemed to be brought on by stress initially about 4/5 years ago - families, don't ya love 'em - but then occured regularly for the next few years but its occurence has diminished considerably in recent years.
It seems to be a spasm of the wall of the oesophagus, or maybe a refusal of the sphincter to open but it traps food etc in the oesophagus, after a while it relaxes, you can feel the obstruction pass through, and the problem goes. Maybe because its linked to the first stressful occasion but for its more likely to be brought on by steak and chips with a glass of red wine.
Daily drugs, ballons stretched what is 99% of the time a normal oesophagus? I find a large glass of still water, tap or mineral, drunk straight down,
Complain about this postis usually sufficient to wash the obstruction through, problem solved.
A hard pill to swallow?
Complain about this postHello fellow sufferers. I experienced the onset of these rather alarming symptoms following a trip to hospital about five years ago which ended in surgery for a stomach ulcer. This involved a breathing tube being inserted down my throat. Could this have damaged my oesophogus or purely coincidence? My local GP couldn't offer any real help or even a proper diagnosis, so it is of some comfort to find that I am not alone. I would really appreciate being able to contact other sufferers to discuss remedies/strategies for coping with this distressing condition. Thanks, John
Interesting comments.. :D
Complain about this post..Rather helpful information you have here. Grazie!
Complain about this post