I hope everyone had a wonderful christmas!! I just got back in from having a swallowing study done and was wondering if anyone else has issues with this. They said they would fax the results to my neruo. The speech path said that it appears the muscle that controls the esophagus is not working right. The longer I eat or drink effects my ability to swallow, it feels as if it gets stuck in my throat. The speech path said she thinks it is a muscle issue.
Any thoughts or opinoins would be greatly welcomed. I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful new year.
I have swallowing problems. I think that it is a muscle issue as well. On the problem days I have to choose my foods carefully on those days. Some foods have been removed from my diet completely.
msjayhawk, Thanks for your reply. For right now all I have been instructed to do is eat small quanities and more meals so that I do not fatigue the muscles. I was at a broad meeting a couple of weeks ago and choked on my on spit, it was embarrassing. I have read that if you eat something cold first it will help, do you find this true.
I have choked on my own saliva often. I have trouble if I am not propped up in bed. If I slip to a flat position, I will awaken choking. Yes, I think that something cold helps. I drink ice water all year long and it seems to help the most. (of course I still have a Diet Dr. Pepper 1-2x a week).
I , as well, choke on my saliva when I sleep . I have difficulty swallowing for the last 2 year. I remember it started from frequent heartburns at night because I usually eat late at night and go to sleep right after. Soon after 4-5 months after these frequent night time heartburn I began experiencing swallowing difficulties. I couldnt even drink water when I was really thirsty. All came back out while gagging. Solid/semi-solid food, forget it. I was constantly rushing to the bathroom to extract it back out. Going to restuarant was no longer a night out for me or even eat with my friends or family because I was soo embarrassed/tired of them asking me whats wrong even though I told them like a million times. Everytime I eat i would hide, thats how bad it is.
Anyways, took a trip to the doctor 8 months later into my problem. They hook me up to an endoscope/upper GI. Results were normal so no biopsy was taken. Just some spasm on the esauphagus which cause some narrowing. Wrote me some Nexium and sent me on my way. After finishing up a 2 month of the prescription the frequent night heartburn was gone. However, the trouble with swallowing is still there. Today, drinking water is normal but only at room temperature. Any soda or cold drink will slow it down. Food is still a battle. All my life I have had high metabolism and gaining weight for me was a hard thing to do,so I was always slim and having this problem makes it even worst.
I've lost about 10 pounds since then and I keep trying to push every amount of food down as much as I can to keep my body nourish. Sometime my eyes will turn red and tears will come out trying to squeeze the food down with water, thats how bad it hurts.
I find that eating while standing make the food go down better. Now I get questioned from people to why im standing when eating lunch. Never ending saga. I was scared of choking and dying at first but now I could careless if it did. Im just sick and tired of it. I know thats not positive to think like that but its getting irritated and stressful when your starving and just want to get a bite of a hamburger just so that you get get back to work and live life.
kn240t, welcome, and sorry to hear you are experiencing problems, too. It is indeed frustrating, but with perseverance, it is but a bump in the road. I, too, work around it and when it is impossible, some how God makes it possible. If eating while standing works for you, I am going to give it a go too!!
I hope everyone had a wonderful christmas!! I just got back in from having a swallowing study done and was wondering if anyone else has issues with this. They said they would fax the results to my neruo. The speech path said that it appears the muscle that controls the esophagus is not working right. The longer I eat or drink effects my ability to swallow, it feels as if it gets stuck in my throat. The speech path said she thinks it is a muscle issue.
Any thoughts or opinoins would be greatly welcomed. I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful new year.
swallowing problems 
