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Posted 1/20/2014 11:04 PM (GMT 0)
Hello everyone, I am new here on this forum and glad to be here. I have been diagnosed with active chronic lyme a few months ago, which I believe I have had for a very long time. Although I had a lot of symptoms initially, years ago, such as bells palsy, irregular heartbeat, CFS, etc... it now seems to be arthritic lyme, along with tingling and burning sensations in the body, etc....all of which I understand can be part of the lyme picture. What is new however is that I have a hard time swallowing. It can get scary and going out to dinner lately has meant i only feel comfortable ordering soft foods, soups etc... It takes me such a long time to eat as I have to cut things in tiny morsels and to wash down my food with water. Also my vision has gotten more blurry and very sensitive to light but I wonder if that is due to the doxy ( 400 a day ) I have recently been taken along with tinadazole. Please let me know if anyone experienced the swallowing issue and also if the medication could be making the swallowing as well as the vision worse.
Many thanks....
Posted 1/20/2014 11:19 PM (GMT 0)
Hi and welcome to this great support forum.

Are you taking probiotics? If not, those antibiotics you are taking may well be enabling Candida yeast overgrowth, which can cause difficulty swallowing (amongst other problems)...

And make sure you don't lie down within an hour of taking the Doxycycline, otherwise the pill (or pill contents) can reflux up into your esophagus, causing inflammation and difficulty swallowing ("reflux esophagitis").

There is also the possibility of a die-off reaction (also called a "herx" - short for Jarasch-Herxheimer reaction) from the antibiotics...when the bacteria die, they leave behind a lot of toxins that can cause many symptoms.

Make sure you discuss this with your doctor, and also it would be good to check out the thread at the top of the forum for those new to Lyme for some excellent information that will help you deal with herx reactions and other issues.

I hope this helps...take care,
Posted 1/20/2014 11:22 PM (GMT 0)
My daughter used to have that problem and it wasn't from any drugs. I think it was her tonsils being swollen and a homeopathic remedy corrected that, which was good since she can now swallow most pills. She could only swallow the tiniest capsule before and it was still hard for her.
Posted 1/20/2014 11:23 PM (GMT 0)
Also, welcome to the forum!
Posted 1/20/2014 11:33 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, I have had swallowing issues. Especially with medication, does not matter what I do it just gets stuck in the middle of my esophagus and I have to eat and eat and eat and drink to get it down. I have also had a problem with choking. I get the scary part.
Posted 1/20/2014 11:42 PM (GMT 0)
Forgot to add, yes Lyme itself (and Bartonella, and possibly other coinfections) can also cause difficulty swallowing...
Posted 1/20/2014 11:53 PM (GMT 0)
Your not alone, I also have difficulty swallowing and food gets stuck in my throat and I have to drink to get it down. I also choke on my food. These symptoms aren't constant, they come and go.
Posted 1/21/2014 12:00 AM (GMT 0)
en arc ciel,

As you can see, there may be several possible causative factors to cause swallowing issues. I want to add another one. When we went to the Hansa Center, Dr. J. informed us on day 1 that Heather's jaw was malformed and that it was causing her Autonomic Nervous System to be in a permanent state of fight or flight. In other words, her nervous system was in a chaotic state. He also said that until that was corrected, her immune system could never be fully restored regardless of the treatments she received. He recommended that we take her to a Biological Dentist that has expertise in such matters. We found such a dentist nearby and he used a treatment approach called Oral System Balancing (OSB) which corrected the problem. Her choking vanished as well as her tendency toward hyperventilation.

arc en ciel- I know that that issue is a troubling one. My daugther was so scared of choking that she ate her food very slowly. It took her about 1.5 hours to eat a meal! I hope that you have success in resolving that problem.

Don
Posted 4/6/2014 9:00 PM (GMT 0)
Hi en arc ciel, Your swallowing issue, coupled with your arthritic symptoms and double vision, seems to point to the co-infection Bartonella. Certainly there is overlap with Lyme, but I think your body is trying to signal you that something else is amiss.
Dr. Mary Ross has some great information on the co-infections, and what has worked in his practice to kill 2 birds with one stone i.e, the Lyme bacteria and Bartonella. My husband is treating for both right now with excellent results--minocycline, 100 mg. 2 a day, plus Rifampin, 600 mg. once a day.
Best of luck in your recovery.
Posted 4/6/2014 10:25 PM (GMT 0)
I have swallowing issues too, among other other symptoms. This one is pretty scary. Mine started in December 2013 with no previous health issues. I just started doxy about 2.5 weeks ago and about to ramp up on treatment for Bart. Mine had gotten a little better for a while but just flared up again. I also get a burning in my throat with it at times and some nausea as well.
Posted 4/6/2014 10:28 PM (GMT 0)
Hello en arc ciel,
I read your post and our stories are very similar.

I was recently dx but feel I have had this for quite a while. I too
am new to this forum and am also experiencing swallowing difficulties (amongst other symptoms). I am on doxy (400mg), azithromycin and atovaquone. I can put food into my mouth; swallow and it sort of just sits there! It comes and goes.
In addition, I have noticed that when I wake up, for a few moments, I have double vision. Scary stuff!
I will keep you posted if I find out anything more. Good luck!
Posted 4/7/2014 2:30 AM (GMT 0)
I have found it difficult many times to swallow pills, felt like my throat had swollen. Also at times difficult to swallow certain foods. Never thought to attribute to lyme or co.
Posted 4/7/2014 2:55 AM (GMT 0)
I have it and it's not whole eating it's just swallowing my own saliva, which I've noticed I salivate a lot... Weird. Sometimes I feel panicked bc I can't swallow. I didn't know that was a Bart symptom, I have Bart.
Posted 6/10/2014 7:31 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone: I didn't look at this forum in a while and didn't even realize I had all those responses. Thank you everyone for contributing to the swallowing query. I just want to add that as per Bruhner book I started taking the homeopathic drops called Alanthus Glandulosa and it seemed to help with the swallowing a bit.
Heathersdad, thanks for the info on the jaw. Oddly enough, I notice that sometimes my jaw hurts one side more than the other possibly due to the RA and joint pain. I wonder also if that contributes to the difficulty swallowing?
I was tested for co-infections and I do not think I was positive for Bartonella. Having said that my vision has gotten worse, very sensitive to light and also blurriness. Again, as in the swallowing it comes and goes but seem to be staying for longer period ( along with lightheadedness and low blood pressure - all new )
Due to these symptoms I have stopped taking all the burner herbs - japanese knot weed, cats claw, stephania ( particularly for eyes). I thought they might be contributing to eye issues and low blood pressure. So now I am not on any antibiotics or herbs. blurried and confused, waiting to see my LLMD next month.
Posted 6/11/2014 1:43 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Rainbow,

I've had trouble swallowing for years, and as far as I know, there isn't much you can do about it, except retrain yourself.

A speech therapist might help you with that. They told me to sit upright while eating, don't talk, and etc. I don't even remember what else they told me. I still choke on both water and food (as well as saliva), but water more than anything else.

Careful about stopping treatment. I had these symptoms long before I was treated for Lyme, although I don't have much blurred vision. I never stopped having trouble swallowing.

Margaret
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