For the past little over a month I have had an increasingly hard time swallowing solid food.
Over a period of about 1.5 months, I have gone from no apparent problem eating to only eating soup and protein bars that I can mince into small bits, pureed blender food and ensure to keep from losing more weight (about 20 lbs. total now)
Here is what I feel: Food gets to the base of my throat when I swallow and then seems to slow to a crawl down my esophagus. Even swallowed saliva feels large and slow.
Also, it seems like I sometimes get a stinging pain feeling in throat and esophagus when air moves across it from breathing and strangely it feels like breathing moves food in there too.
Background: 35 m/ with asthma periodically requiring inhalers (pro-air and qvar inhaled steroid). Started at 173 lbs. now down to 153.
Had a few sinus infections in the past 6 months.
Also been doing postural drainage for lungs (hanging almost upside down to drain mucus from lungs) which seemed to make the reflux a lot worse and burn my throat and esophagus from stuff coming up. I've felt it get up to my throat quite a few times and once while trying to sleep on my stomach it felt like pure acid washed up from my stomach up into my throat with THE most intense burning I've ever felt in terms of reflux pain.
Three times in a period of about 5 years I've had bad heartburn with radiating pain to back and throat lasting for 1-2 weeks, otherwise I never felt any kind of reflux type thing. The first time it happened in approx 04, I had an upper GI and my doc said I had reflux but no hernia.
Been taking prevacid 30 mg solutabs for 2 weeks now since I cannot swallow regular pills.
Saw GI doc about a week ago, described my symptoms and he said endoscopy and dilate if necessary. That happens in about a week and a half.
Gen doc just doubled prevacid dose since eating not improved and still getting some pain.
Lost about 10 lbs. from loss of appetite during the sinus infections, and another about 10 due to not being able to eat enough from swallowing problems now.
I'm pretty depressed and nervous about what is causing this.
I am just surviving on ensure, ridiculously chewed protein bars, bananas and pureed stuff.
I've wondered if reflux is what caused my sinus infections and non-stop drainage also.
I've read that weight loss and trouble swallowing can mean bad things.
* Does weight loss from low appetite and not being able to eat mean really bad things or does it have to be unexplained weight loss?
* Was this building for awhile, or is the frequent hanging upside down and stuff coming up into my throat what caused me the trouble getting food down?
* Something new that happens is that it feels like if there is pressure on my back from leaning against something even sitting up, that I start to get somewhat of a burning feeling in my esophagus and throat. Does this sound like a hernia?
* Anyone else experienced this or can offer some insight?
Post Edited (somebody) : 2/19/2010 3:25:47 PM (GMT-7)