Swallowing problems at night....

Hi! I don't have swallowing issues at night, but I do/did frequently have episodes of gasping/choking awake in the middle of the night. Mine turned out to be LPR, the type of reflux that affects your throat, or at least, that's what they seem to be. If it's that type of reflux, a GI doctor may not be able to diagnose it. I know I've had two EGD scopes done all the way through my stomach, and they've come back fine, but it wasn't until my ENT did a throat scope that we found signs of reflux. The reason, apparently, is that the EGD scope just breezes right by the larynx and doesn't start checking out anything until it enters the esophagus proper.

The burning is consistent with LPR, or so I've been told, but I never had any burn with mine.

Definitely check with your doctors and see what they have to say. And of course, if they don't find anything, a sleep study might be a good next step.

Good luck!

percycat

Hi njam,

I know this is an old thread, but I have had this problem for several years, and it's kind of scary, so I know what you mean about a "panicky feeling".

I thought maybe I had some nerve damage, or was getting MS or an illness that would cause motility problems.

I have had reflux and talked to doctors about this partiular symptom, but none seemed to be familiar with the problem.

My symptoms are like this:

I wake up in the middle of the night, I try to swallow, but I can't, it's like nothing is working, my throat feels completely numb. Then after great effort, I can swallow.

The thing is, I never have a problem swallowing food or liquids.

It seems that my throat is dry when this happens though.

My best guess is that it's related to reflux.

I did have the 24 Hr PH monitoring test done and unfortunately, that night I didn't have any symptoms, so nothing was confirmed.

If you found any other information about this problem, please let me know.

Thanks